196 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 1916. 



Climbing roses and larkspur In the garden of 

 Mr. J. H. Bennett, BarrJe, Ont. 



verbenas, petunias, stocks and English 

 honeysuckle, while the other side of a 

 narrow grass path was edged with blue 

 lobelia. 



The sight of the garden would warm 

 the heart of any vegetarian, with its 

 generous quantities of beets, peas, 

 beans, carrots, turnips, radish, parsley, 

 spinach, onions, Swiss chard, koli, 

 tomatoes (cultivated up a single vine), 

 asparagus, celery, cahbage, Brussels 

 sprouts, red and green peppers, horse 

 radish, parsnips, citron, black, red, and 

 white currants, gooseberries and rhu- 

 barb. Besides these there was a large 

 plot devoted to potatoes and corn. 



The border of perennials, however, 

 was the feature of this beautiful gar- 

 den in which Mr. and Mrs. Oxley took 



great pride. The rich blue tones of 

 the anchusa Italica, with its large 

 pyramidal, graceful spikes of flowers, 

 of the loihelia, and salvia (meadow 

 .sage), of the hybrid delphiniums 

 (larkspur), and of the platycodon 

 (Chinese bell flower) ; the pure, glis- 

 tening Avhite of the cimicifuga sim- 

 plex (snake root), of the digitalis (fox- 

 glove), of the achillea (milfoil), of tlie 

 Shasta daisy, Alaska variety, of the 

 chrysanthemum, and of the gypsophila 

 paniculata (baby's breath), with 

 minute, gauze-like flowers, and the ex- 

 quisite combinations of blue and white 

 in the clematis and campanula (Can- 

 terbury bells) ; blended in perfect har- 

 mony with those other varieties of 

 myriad coloured flowers interspersed 

 among them, such as the poppy, stocks, 

 dianthus, barbatus (Sweet William), 

 hollyhocks and phlox; while the pro- 

 nounced yellow of the .coreopsis lanceo- 

 lata grandiflora, helenium (sneeze 

 wort), heliopsis (orange sunflower) and 

 English marigold; the gorgeous brown 

 and crimson of the gaillardia grandi- 

 flora (hlanket flower) ; the soft laven- 

 der of the scabiosa caucasica (blue 

 bonnet), the delicate pink of the pyre- 

 thrum (giant daisy), and green of the 

 mignonette, all skilfully arranged, pre- 

 sented a delightful study in colour 

 effects. 



Mr. and Mrs. Oxley delight in shar- 

 ing the glories of their garden with 

 their friends. Most generously they 

 have supplied flowers to the Red Cross 

 Association of Stoney Lake, who real- 

 ized from their sale over fifty dollars. 

 How suitable that the products of this 

 lovely garden should be put to such 

 a worthy purpose. 



Summer Preparations for Winter Flowers 



B. C. Tillett, Hamilton, Ont. 



AUGUST marks the close of the 

 construction work of the sea- 

 son, and in that respect may be 

 regarded as a turning point in garden 

 work. All the same, those who are 

 really interested in gardening, have 

 never finished, and if they have reached 

 the end of one season, there is the next 

 one to begin thinking about. Truly, it 

 may be said, a garden is a never ending 

 source of enjoyment. Shakespeare 

 says, "The man that hath not music in 

 his soul is fit for treason, stratagen, and 

 spoils." It occurs to me that he mip;ht 

 aptly have substituted the word ' ' gard- 

 ening" for "music," and been equally 

 correct. 



The true gardener, when August 

 comes around, is admiring all that has 

 been accomplished, is thinking also of 

 the seasons before him — ^winter and 



spring, his green-house, his cold-frames, 

 and his house. Be one's garden small 

 or large, we get the same pleasure out 

 of it, it, in fact, depends upon the dis- 

 position of the gardener himself, more 

 than upon his garden. The gardener 

 who wishes to attain the best results, 

 and an unbroken succession of plants 

 and flowers, is aware that during this 

 month there are many things that must 

 be got ready for winter and spring. 



For instance, if we would save some 

 of the fine plants we are now admiring 

 in our gardens, so as to have them still 

 with us when the snow is on the 

 ground, we must be getting to work. 

 One of the mistakes so often made in 

 trying to save plants for the winter, is 

 to leave them too long out of doors. 

 Do not wait until the arrival of early 

 frost or the first snow flurries. If you 



do, you will be disappointed agam. 

 The best plan is to have the plants up 

 and potted several weeks before they 

 really need to be moved indoors. 



There is always a risk in potting a 

 plant which is in full growth, in sum- 

 mer weather, and the moving is likel\ 

 to prcve fatal, unless we are careful 

 Everyone who knows anything abou; 

 plants, does not need to be reminded < 

 the enormous quantity of moistuii 

 sucked up by the numerous tiny roots. 

 lie probably knows, too, that this water 

 pa.sses up the stem and leaves, and 

 feeds the plant. To suddenly deprive 

 the plant of this, its principal source o 

 sustenance, is to give it a great shock. 

 The little roots are so tender and fra- 

 gile, and so very easily broken, it is im- 

 possible to secure all of them when tak- 

 ing up the plants. 



The first thing to do is to prune the 

 plant back severely, even if it means 

 cutting off blooms and buds. The 

 stronger the growth, the more can be 

 cut away. At least a half should be 

 removed. By doing this, the amount 

 of moisture required by the top of the 

 plant from the roots, is reduced. The 

 next thing is to cut around the root* 

 with a long, sharp knife, leaving just 

 so much of a ball of earth around the 

 plant as will drop easily into the pots 

 to be used. When using the knife, cut 

 well under the plant, then it can be 

 lifted out without pulling and tearing 

 up the roots, which spoils the roots left 

 with the plant. 



If this work is commenced in good 

 time, a better plan still is to do it 

 gradually^ — that is to say — cut around 

 half the plant at a time, leaving the 



Double 



