August. 1910 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



189 



ness so common as poverty or exhaus- 

 tion of the soil in the case of plants that 

 have not been moved for many years. 

 In addition to making ili<- --"il ii'''i nnd 



• 



Three- Year-Old Paeony "Edulis Superba." 



deep before planting annual dressings of 

 manure should be given. Give each plant 

 a space of at least ten square feet. The 

 planting may be singly or in groups in 

 the hardv plant border, in full sunshine 

 or in partial shade ; or in beds specially 

 laid out and prepared. What can be 

 finer than the bloom in .|une, or the 

 luxuriance of plant-growth from the 

 earliest stages until the time of killing 

 frosts in the fall, of a bed of say twenty- 

 live "Festiva Maxima?" 



Insects on Rose Bushes 



"I liiivo a ro.se bush covered with tureen 

 lice. Have used Paris green and kerosene 

 with no results. Will you kindly recom- 

 mend a RfKid sprav.^"— P. V. G., Stirling, 

 Ont. 



The best remedy for green aphis or 

 green lice is to sprav with strong tobacco 

 solution. Sulpho Tobacco Soap and 

 Rose I-eaf Extract of Tobacco are both 

 good and are sold in small quantities at 

 seed .stores. Spraying the bushes with 

 water or soapy water under pressure 

 will also dispose of a great many of the 

 grc-en aphis. — W. Hunt, O.A.C., 

 (iuelph. 



Coal Ashes as a Fertilizer 



What effect will coal ashes have in a 

 ;;;u(l<'n? The soil is a clay loam. — M. F. C, 

 .\ilsa Craig, Ont. 



Coal ashes do not contain any of the 

 fertilizer constituents in appreciable 

 (juantities, with possibly the exception 

 of lime. Lime is always beneficial to 

 clay soil as it acts as a liberator of 

 pr)tash. Coal ashes will l)e slightly bcne- 

 lirial to the soil and will not be detri- 

 mental in any way unless applied in very 

 large quantities ; however, they are of 

 so little value that I would not advise 

 their use in Ihe garden. I woulfl rather 

 get good lime and add it than depend 

 upon the lime of the ashes. — Prof. R. 

 Harcourt, O.A.C, Guelph, Ont. 



The Perennial Border 



C. Wateri, Port Hope, Onl. 



The formation of a perennial border 

 necessarily takes the shape of a slope 

 or bank, caused not by the soil, but by 

 the different heights of the plants them- 

 selves. .'Mthough this is requisite from 

 a spectacular point of view, it has the 

 disadvantage of the low growing var- 

 ieties in the front flowering in the spring, 

 while the taller growing sorts flower in 

 the summer and autumn months. To 

 obviate this, and to soften the formality, 

 it is well to have sufficient space between 

 the perennials in the front of the border 

 to sow or plant some one or more of the 

 showy hardy annuals, such as nastur- 

 tiums, Shirley and French double pop- 

 pies, marigolds, and others. 



The border shown in illustration has 

 as a background Golden Glow, alternat- 

 ed with spirea palmata in front of which 

 come delphiniums, lilium candidum, 

 phlox, German iris, hollyhocks, in front 

 again are paeonies, aquilegias, and 

 oriental poppy. The edge is composed 

 of daffodils, narcissi, polyanthus, for- 



It was strongly manured and dug over 

 before being planted. 



The hedge having become overgrown 

 has now been cut out and replaced by a 

 4.6 foot wire fence with Virginia creepers 

 planted at intervals of four feet. These 

 are now covering the wires, giving a 

 background of green in the summer and 

 a glorious variegation of color in the fall. 



Lawn and Garden Hints 



A little attention to the llower garden 

 at this time of the year will be well re- 

 paid by the increased quantity of bloom 

 which may be secured. Keep all seed 

 pods picked off of annuals, except any 

 which you may desire to save for seed 

 for next year. A great deal of vitality 

 is required to develop seeds, and where 

 these are allowed to form the flowers 

 soon stop blooming. Antirrhinum or 

 Snapdragon will be encouraged to yield 

 a second crop of flowers by keeping all 

 seed pods picked off. 



Keep sweet peas and all annuals well 

 watered. Do the watering in the even- 

 ing if possible. Never give overhead 



Flower Bed and Pereaniil Border in Oaraen of IVlr. 

 See articir on Pcrcnn 



get-me-not, and campanulas of different 

 varieties. A border arranged in this 

 manner will give a succession of bloom 

 from early spring until late fall. 



The great advantage of a bed of this 

 kind is that the perennials re-appear 

 year after year, and require but little 

 attention beyond thinning out. In the 

 late fall a protection of straw and leaves 

 is placed over the bed to prevent winter 

 frost. The removal of this and an early 

 weeding in the spring constitutes the 

 work. 



The bed illustrated is planted along a 

 slrai'vht privet hcdive, from which it 

 spreads outward in a low curve from foiu" 

 feel deep at the ends to sixteen feet in the 

 centre, and bordered by a i)alh in front. 



Barlow Cumberlaad, "Danain," Port Hope, Ont. 



ial Border on ttiis page. 



watering to sweet peas during the heat 

 of the day, especially if they are sulTering 

 for want of water. Keep the ground 

 well cultivated where possible after a 

 rain, to conserve moisture. 



Keep all old flowers cut off your 

 rose bushes. If troubled with green fly 

 spray the bushes with nicotine or a .solu- 

 tion of soft soap. The latter may be 

 [prepared by dissolving .soft .soap about 

 the size of a walnut in two or three 

 gallons of water. Ko.ses may be budded 

 this month. In this way undesirable 

 varieties may be converted into desir- 

 able \arieties. 



See th.-it dahlias are well fertilized 

 while the buds are swelling. This will 

 insure much larger blooms. 



