Continuity of Blootn in Small Gardens'" 



I 



W. T. 



TO one person a garden seems small if 

 it occupies ten acres or more of 

 ground, while to another a garden 

 of one acre will appear very large. The 

 man who has but a small area at the 

 back of half a city lot thinks that his 

 neighbor who has the back and part of 

 the front of a whole lot has a large gar- 

 den compared with his own. One's stan- 

 dards as to what is or is not a small 

 garden may thus be set in various ways. 

 The garden of a true lover of flowers is 

 always overflowing, and if he cannot 

 expand, his garden always seems small. 



In offering suggestions to obtain 

 "Continuity of Bloom in Small Gardens" 

 I have presumed that the kind of gar- 

 den in mind by those who suggested this 

 title is such as may be found in a town 

 or city and occupying anywhere from 

 part of half a lot to part of several lots. 



One of the main features of a small 

 garden should be a well kept lawn. 1 

 prefer a well kept lawn without flowers 

 to flower beds in a plot of uncared-for 

 grass. Fortunately a large proportion of 

 our citizens have well kept lawns, hence 

 these are not as rare as well kept flower 

 gardens. This, however, is by the way 

 and has nothing to do with continuity 

 of bloom, but a flower garden without a 

 lawn might be compared to a picture 

 without a frame, or a precious stone 

 without a setting. In the case of the 

 garden, however, the picture and frame 

 have changed places. 



THE FRONT EFFECT. 



In front of the house most of the 

 ground should be given up to grass for 

 various reasons, but there should be at 

 least one bright spot from early spring 

 until late summer ; not a bed in the 

 middle of the grass plot, but if possible 

 close to the house or bordering the walk 

 to the house. Here there should be 

 tulips followed by scarlet geraniums. 

 There is nothing in my experience so 

 satisfactory for this particular purpose 

 as these plants. If there is some place 

 within sight of the entrance where Scar- 

 let Salvia can be planted this, also, is 

 one of the most satisfactory plants for 

 massing, but as it will fail if the summer 

 is hot and dry it should not be in too 

 conspicuous a place. 



There should be climbing plants on 

 the house or verandah, and if the right 

 kinds are planted there will be continuity 

 of bloom from early summer until 

 autumn. Among the most satisfactory 

 are English Honeysuckle (which, how- 

 ever, is too tender for the colder parts of 

 Ontario), Scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle ; 

 Clematis virginiana, the common Vir- 

 gin's Bower of our woods; Clematis 



•A paper read at the recent convention in To- 

 ronto of the Ontario Horticnltural Aasoolatlon. 



Macoun, Dominion Horticulturist, Ottawa, 



Jackmanni ; and Clematis paniculata. 

 Of climbing roses three of the most sat- 

 isfactory are Crimson Rambler, Tausend- 

 schon, and Dorothy Perkins. Where it 

 succeeds, the Wistaria is one of the most 

 useful and beautiful climbing plants. It 

 is not hardy in the colder parts of On- 

 tario . 



SHETTB8. 



A few flowering shrubs should find a 

 place in nearly all small gardens. They 

 not only help to keep the continuity of 

 bloom, but will be attractive even when 

 not in flower. Where there is room for 

 only a very few specimens great care 

 should be taken to plant those with a 



Ont. 



As neither of these shrubs is particularly 

 attractive when out of bloom they should 

 not be planted in too prominent a place. 



Lilacs, of course, should be in every 

 garden where there is a place for them, 

 but the blooming season of each variety 

 is short, hence, if the space is so limit- 

 ed that there cannot be enough sorts 

 planted to give a succession of bloom, 

 we should not devote much space to this 

 popular shrub. If there is room for one 

 small tree let it be a European Mountain 

 Ash, attractive in flower, foliage, and 

 fruit, and if there is room for one more 

 a Bechtels Double Flowering Crab apple 

 will give delight by its bloom and also 



A Walkerville Business Establishment — Would there ware more like it. No. 5. 



graceful outline and attractive foliage 

 which will be pleasing to the eye all 

 through the growing season. Two 

 shrubs which have these special features 

 are Spiraea arguta and Spiraea Van 

 Houttei. They both bloom in the month 

 of May, the former several days before 

 the latter. A mass of several specimens 

 of either or both of these against the 

 house is very attractive. Both of these 

 have white flowers. Another very grace- 

 ful shrub is Caragana frutescens, bear- 

 ing yellow pea-shaped flowers during the 

 latter part of May. Other comparatively 

 small useful shrubs which will furnish 

 bloom later in the season are the Japan- 

 ese Rose, Rosa Rugosa, some of Le- 

 moines smaller growing philadelphus, 

 such as Bouquet Blanc and Nuee Blanche 

 and Weigelia Eva Rathke, a red flowered 

 variety which appears hardier than most 

 others . 



By the middle of summer there will be 

 so much bloom in the flower border that 

 the flowering shrubs are not so much 

 needed, but mftsses of Hydrangea arbor- 

 escens grandiflora and Hydrangea pani- 

 culata grandiflora should find a place as 

 these are very effective when in flower. 



283 



by its perfume. Fruit trees, also, are 

 desirable in a flower garden if there is 

 room for them. 



THE BOEDEE. 



The herbaceous border seems the most 

 suitable means of furnishing continuous 

 bloom in desirable quantity in a small 

 garden. It economizes ground, saves 

 cutting up what little grass there is and 

 makes a nice background to the lawn no 

 matter how tiny it may be. I find in 

 my experience, which now covers a good 

 many years, that it is very difficult to 

 obtain mass effects in small gardens. If 

 continuity of bloom is desired some other 

 efl'ect must be obtained, unless annuals, 

 which have a long blooming season, are 

 used. Masses of color may be obtained 

 from annuals, but to me most annuals 

 are brilliant but not attractive, hence I 

 would relegate most of them to a less 

 conspicuous part of the garden, if it 

 is large enough to have such. 



For small gardens, I prefer to have 

 many small clumps of plants blooming 

 at the same time scattered through the 

 border and so placed that they will make 

 a good contrast, or blend with the foli- 

 age of other plants not yet in bloom, and 



