352 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



about the middle of September, when they 

 can be removed to the window. 



To secure pansies that will produce flow- 

 ers very early the following spring the seed 

 should be sown about the third week in 

 August. Pansy seed sown at the time 

 mentioned will produce plants that will win- 

 ter over well in a cold frame and produce 

 early flowers. The protection of a few 

 boards may be necessary over the frame 

 during very severe weather in winter, but 

 not if the plants are well covered with snow. 

 The most critical time for autumn sown 

 pansies is when the snow is melting away 

 from them at any time during winter or 

 early spring, hence the use of boards to pre- 

 vent the snow melting on bright days in 

 winter, or to shield them from the sun for 

 a few days when first exposed to the sun in 

 early spring days after the snow has gone. 



Gladiolus should be staked up if they are 

 liable to be broken down by wind storms or 

 rain. This should be attended to early 

 enough, as the stems often break oflf close 

 to the corm or bulb, thus destroying the 

 bulb for the present or successive seasons. 



If any of the hardy lilies in the garden 

 must be removed or transplanted, about the 

 end of August is the best time to do it, but 

 it should always be borne in mind that the 

 less the bulbs of lilies are disturbed the 

 more likely they are to continue flourishing 

 and flowering. None of the garden lilies 

 like to be disturbed very frequently, so that 

 unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best 

 to leave them undisturbed. Lily of the val- 

 ley can also be transplanted late in August 

 or early in September if required. 



A mulchmg of rich soil or of thoroughly 

 rotted stable manure about half an inch in 

 depth placed over clumps or beds of lilies or 

 lily of the valley will often reinvigorate 

 them and produce much better results for a 

 few years than transplanting them. If lily 

 of the valley is transplanted the pips or 

 bulbs should be planted so that the tips of 

 the bulbs are not more than an inch under 

 the surface of the soil. The surface of the 

 soil should be patted down firmly after they 

 are planted. A light mulch of manure 

 placed over them late in autumn will also 

 benefit them. 



A PLEA FOR THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 



CHARLES II. KINcffeLEY-BAILLIE, W^INONA, ONT. 



EVERY year quite a number of new 

 herbaceous and perennial border 

 plants are introduced to the flower-loving 

 public, but there are few which surpass 

 those that we know so well in the old-fash- 

 ioned gardens. There are, however, many 

 of the older herbaceous plants which seem 

 to be neglected. 



When one is making a new home, and a 

 new garden, the borders are planted with 

 shrubs, and the place is given a certain look 

 of permanency, but what a constant succes- 

 sion of color may be obtained from the in- 

 troduction of a few herbaceous plants. 

 They have a grandeur peculiarly their own, 



and their place cannot be easily filled by any 

 other class of plants in the garden. WitTi 

 such a wealth of form and color as may be 

 found in the masses of larger plants, and 

 many of the conspicuous smaller alpine 

 plants, their importance in the garden is 

 very apparent. 



My memory takes me back to a very old 

 border in a very old garden, which though 

 neglected perhaps, was beautiful in its wild- 

 ness, and there was always a succession of 

 beautiful bloom. What can be grander in 

 the border than the blazing bloom of the 

 Oriental poppies, or the long spurs or del- 

 phiniums. These and some of the stronger 



