July, 1912 THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Canadian Gardens — A London Prize Garden 



165 



IN a pretty situation, that of 29 Garfield 

 Street, London, Ont., lives a most 

 enthusiastic lover of flowers, Mr. 

 Wm. Bartlett, an Englishman. Mr. 

 Bartlett's prize record stamps him as a 

 successful grower, while his enthusiasm 

 would convince anyone that growing 

 flowers properly is the highest form of 

 enjoyment one can find. 



Last year Mr. Bartlett received from 

 the London Horticultural Society first 

 prize for best lawn, first prize for ver- 

 andah, first prize for kitchen garden, 

 and second for asters at the Agri- 

 cultural Show, and two seconds at 

 the Western Fair. While Mr. Bartlett's 

 grounds were pretty at the time of my 

 visit they would have looked better some 

 few weeks later, as he is an extensive 

 aster grower ; in fact, these are his forte, 

 as the large bed of some twenty varie- 

 ties give promise of future blessings that 

 he is now anticipating in the form of 

 first prizes. He grows his plants in his 

 greenhouse, and gives good, clean cul- 

 ture with the best rotted manure. This 

 he claims is sufficient for almost any 

 annual. 



HOME-MADE GKEENHOTTSE 



Mr. Bartlett is a great lover of petu- 

 nias. The number of double and fringed 

 varieties he possesses shows that his 

 taste is refined and up-to-date. He has 

 a greenhouse of his own construction. 

 In it he raises his own plants, pots and 

 pricks out his own stock, and, in fact, 

 does all the work pertaining to such a 

 useful building. 



As you approach his home from the 

 street you are pleased with the veran- 

 dah, and do not wonder at his receiving 

 a first prize, for the clematis covered 

 building, in its several colours through 

 the shades of white to the dark purples 

 is simply fine, and it will, when its bank 

 of asters planted in front of them are in 

 blossom, be something worth seeing. 



THE LAWN 



On a level with the rear of the house, 

 a neat lattice fence cuts off the lawn 

 from the garden. The intervening space 

 is filled with a nice piece of lawn flanked 

 on the side nearest the house with asters 

 and on the left hand side with a fine 

 perennial border filled to overflowing 

 with some very choice peonies, peren- 

 nial phloxes, larkspur of all shades, Col- 

 umbines, mullen pinks, roses, and peren- 

 nial glows, which carry the eye to the 

 end of this space, where a fine bed of 

 grand tuberous-rooted begonias is situ- 

 ated. He has the finest plants of these 

 beautiful flowers seen this year. When 

 asked as to their culture, so far as he 

 gives it, he stated that in the fall he 

 takes them up, places them in boxes of 



A. J. Elliott, Aylmer, Ont. 

 ARTICLE No. 7 



sand, the bulbs just resting thereon, root 

 side down, and stows them away in the 

 house where they will not freeze. To- 

 wards spring he moistens the crown of 

 the begonias with a very little water, and 

 as the weather gets propitious, he plants 

 them in pots and removes them to his 

 greenhouse, Which, by the way, is with- 

 out heating apparatus, and shortly they 

 take up the duties of life and develop 

 into such grand plants as I saw. 



THE DRIVEWAY 



On the other side of the house is a. 

 driveway, and as Mr. Bartlett is in busi- 

 ness as a drayman and consequently 

 uses this road very much, as it leads 

 back to his barn, chicken houses, and 

 other offices, one would think that it 

 might be a rough affair. Nothing of 

 the kind! The perennial borders on 

 either side of the drive are clean and 

 unmarred by the hard usage one might 

 imagine would come from constant driv- 

 ing through them. Here in profusion 

 are all the perennials imaginable, inter- 

 laced with wild clematis and crimson 

 ramblers, which prevent any detractiof. 

 from what might be easily conceived to 

 be an eyesore to a pretty home. 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



We then pass through the lattice 

 fence gate and find ourselves in his 

 flower garden proper. The first thmg 

 that strikes one is a fine bed of rosos 

 nicely in bloom. Some grand specimens 

 of the bedding varieties meet the eye. 

 Although the past winter was very try- 

 ing and hard on the wood these are 

 bushed out finely and literally covered 

 with buds and blossoms from the purest 



white to the darkest crimson. The 

 whole is flanked and bounded by rows 

 of beautiful pansies and dianthus. Then 

 follow in succession his beds of asters 

 and petunias. Of the former there is a 

 bed of eight hundred plants comprising 

 the best sp)€cies of the kind, Gregos, 

 branchers in all colours and names, 

 Vicks, Globe, Comet, and twenty other 

 varieties. Here, you can see, is Mr. 

 Bartlett's "long suit." And here T 

 might pause to ask. Why is it that all 

 our successful growers of this grand 

 annual find that Dreer, Henderson, 

 Vick, and others of the United States 

 supply them with so much better seed 

 than do our own Canadian growers? 

 It should not be so, but it is true in my 

 experience, and should not obtain. 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Passing through another gateway we 

 enter the vegetable garden. In it is 

 found all that could well be expected in 

 such a place. The wet spring rendered 

 the clay soil backward in bringing the 

 vegetables along, but Mr. Bartlett is 

 sanguine that all is well here too. 



One is struck with the absence of 

 weeds, cut worm, and club root from 

 the plants. Mr. Bartlett believes that it 

 is due to the fact that as soon as prac- 

 ticable he lets his large flock of chickens 

 loose, and he claims that they do won- 

 ders in keeping the crop of these nuis- 

 ances down the following year. Lack 

 of time made it impossible to obtain the 

 photographs of this garden that should 

 accompany this article. The garden, as 

 we trust will be seen, is one that will 

 afford delight to every true lover of 

 flowers who may be privileged to visit it. 



The Front Approach to Mr. Bartlett's Prize Winning Garden 



