June, 191 1 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



139 



weeks. Dress with nitrate of soda at 

 the rate of half a pound per square 

 yard. If preferred use the same quan- 



tities of a good mixed fertilizer, such 

 as is known in the trade as a 5-8-8 

 goods will give good results. 



Among the Floivcrs in June 



Wm. Hunt, O.A, 



THl'] month of June is usually the 

 crowded month of the year in the 

 flower garden. Late seed sowing, 

 thinning and planting, hoeing and weed- 

 ing, trimming and edging walks and 

 borders, will all crowd in during the 

 next few weeks and unless attended to 

 promptly, poor results, and a lot of ad- 

 ditional labor later' on will be the out- 

 come. The increasing warm weather 

 will also start the many insect pests 

 and enemies of the flower lover into life. 

 In respect to these last named, the old 

 adage, "An ounce of prevention is better 

 ihan a pound of cure," applies with in- 

 creased force in connection with work 

 generally in the flower garden during 

 June. Spray the plants for insect pests 

 early and often. 



SEED SOWING 



Quite a few of the more tender annuals 

 (;an yet be sown that will give good re- 

 sults during the later months of sum- 

 mer and the early months of autumn, al- 

 though the main bulk of the annuals 

 should have been sown a week or two 

 ago, or earlier. Among the annuals that 

 usually succeed very well when sown late 

 are the Nasturtiums, Annual Poppies, 

 Portulaca, Candytuft, and even Zinnia 

 and Phlox Drummondi will often give 

 good results if the weather is not too 

 hot and dry. If you have a hot dry cor- 

 ner of the border not yet sown, dig, and 

 then rake the surface very fine, and sow 

 broadcast some Portulaca seed. A very 

 light raking after sowing is all that is 

 needed as the seed is small and fine, and 

 it must not be covered deeply. Poppies 

 succeed well similarly dealt with. The 

 other kinds mentioned require a less hot 



|^_^and sunny position. 

 ^B All of these seeds would germinate 

 , more quickly if given an occasional 

 sprinkling with water, if the weather is 



C, Guelph, Ont. 



hot and dry. It is too late to sow asters, 

 stocks, sweet peas, and most other an- 

 nuals, to expect good flowering results 

 from them. 



SOWING SEEDS OF PERENNIALS 



If a new perennial border is contem- 

 templated, or new kinds needed for an 

 old perennial border for planting next 

 season, June is the best month to sow 

 the seed for most of them. Columbines, 

 Campanula persicifolia, Campanula car- 

 patica, Pyrethrum roseum. Perennial fox- 

 glove. Yellow Marguerite, Shasta Daisy, 

 Veronica or Speedwell, Perennial Lark- 

 spur, Gaillardia grandiflora. Sweet Wil- 

 liam, Cerastim tomentosum. Oriental 

 and Iceland Poppies, Garden Primrose 

 and Cowslip, English Daisy, Forget-me- 

 not, hardy sweet scented garden Violet, 

 Lychnis chalcedonica, the Japanese lych- 

 nis (L. Haageana), the Chines;e Bell- 

 flower (Platycodon), and Heuchera san- 

 guinea, are a few of the best hardy per- 

 ennials that can be grown easily from 

 seed. Biennials, such as Canterbury 

 Hells and Hollyhocks, can also be sown 

 now. 



Paeonies, Dicentra (Bleeding Heart), 

 German Iris, Lemon Lily and Lily of the 

 V^alley, are best grown from divisions of 

 the roots, and are best planted late in 

 September or very early in October. Gar- 

 den lilies, such as Lilium elegans, Lilium 

 candidum (Madonna lily) and the Tiger 

 lilies, should be planted in August or 

 early in September. The bulbs of these 

 should be planted in clumps about six 

 inches or more under the surface of thte 

 soil. Do not' disturb lily clumps if they 

 still flower well. Lilies should not be 

 disturbed very often, and should never 

 be dug up and transplanted in spring or 

 early summer. 



The seed of the varieties of perennials 

 before named as growing readily from 



seed, are best sown in shallow boxes or 

 in a small specially prepared seed bed. 

 Boxes are best, as they are easily moved 

 about if needed, unless a large number 

 of plants are wanted. A light box 10 x 

 24 inches, and three inches deep, with 

 holes through the bottom for drainage 



A Grcup (f leeUnd Poppiit in the PereuBitl Border 



A Clomp •! Ptrcnnial Larktpnrs 



will do very well. Haddie fish) boxes 

 are good for this purpose. 



After the seed is sown they can be 

 placed under a tree or some slightly 

 shaded place where they do not get the 

 hot sun in the middle of the day. Good 

 loamy soil not too rich in fertilizers, with 

 about one-sixth part sand, is about the 

 right soil for seed sowing. It is best to 

 sow the finer seeds in drills about one- 

 quarter of an inch in depth, the coarser 

 seed, such as Sweet William and Lark- 

 spur, nearly half an inch in depth. 



If a seed bed is made the soil should 

 be of a light nature and be shaded from 

 the sun in the middle of the day until the 

 seedlings have three or four leaves show- 

 ing. The seedlings should be trans- 

 planted about the end of July or early in 

 August, into deeper boxes, or into nur- 

 sery beds. The plants should be plant- 

 ed about an inch and a half apart. They 

 can be planted out in the perennial bor- 

 ders in groups at this time, if a perennial 

 border is in existence. I prefer trans- 

 planting them into boxes or nursery beds 

 as they can be better looked after and 

 protected in the winter, and put out in 

 the border the following spring. It 

 takes two or more years from the time 

 they are sown before they produce much 

 flower. The perennial varieties will, 

 however, flov.er for years when once es- 

 tablished. 



