234 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



October, 191 1 



better plants often than ran be produced 

 from cuttings taken in fail. 

 PAEONIES 



Early in the month is the time to 

 divide and transplant old roots of 

 paeonies that require dividing and trans- 

 planting. Dig up the whole root, and 

 divide it with a sharp spade or a large 

 strong knife into divisions, so that each 

 division has at least two or three crowns 

 or buds. These should be planted about 

 three to four feet apart in rich loamy or 

 clay loam soil. In planting, pack the 

 soil well around the roots. The crowns 

 or buds should be nearly an inch under 

 the surface of the soil when the plant- 

 ing is finishied. A good mulching of 

 rather short barnyard manure put over 

 the plants before severe frosts set in will 

 help them. This should be forked in 

 around the plants in spring. New plan- 

 tations of paeonies should also be made 

 now. 



Six good paeonies, not high priced, 

 they being worth thirty to fifty cents 

 each, include the following: 



Festiva maxima — White with slight 

 crimson blotch on a few petals. 



Queen Victoria — White. 



Edulis superba — Violet pink. 



Jeanne d'Arc — Soft pink, changing to 

 white. 



Alice de Julvecourt — Rose shaded 

 cream. 



Felix Crousee — Dark red. 



Six newer paeonies, higher priced, 

 50c to $1.00 each, are: 



Agnes Mary Kelway — Rose, with yel- 

 low petaloids. 



Madame Geissler — Sivery pink-shaded 

 rose. 



Modeste Guerin — Deep rose. 



Duchesse de Nemours - — Sulpfiur 

 white. 



Virgo Maria — Pure white. 



Mons. Jules Elie — Glossy flesh-pink 

 shaded deep rose. 



DIELTTEA OE BLEEDING HEART 



Dielytra (or Dicentra) spectabilis, the 

 old-fashioned Bleeding Heart, is also 

 best transplanted and divided in the fall. 

 Much the same method should be adopt- 

 ed as in that given for paeonies. It is 

 best to divide old plants of this favorite 

 border plant every seven or eight years. 

 Young plants in two or three years give 

 finer growth and flower more profusely 

 than do old plants that are left too long 

 without being divided. 



Where only one or two plants ot 

 either paeonies or Bleeding Hearts are 

 grown, it may be best not to dig the old 

 plants up entirely, but to cut off a small 

 section or two from them and trans- 

 plant in a fresh place, leaving the balance 

 of the plant for another year or two be- 

 fore digging and replanting it. By 

 adopting these methods, a continuous 

 supply of the pretty red coral-like 

 flowers of these plants can be had almost 

 the whole summer. 



Outdoor Culture of Daffodils 



John Gall, Weston, Ont 



EW flowers have taken such a hold 

 on the public during recent years 



as the modest daffodil. Many 

 flowers can show a much greater range 

 of color and diversity of habit, but this 

 bulbous plant has a .something about it 

 that appeals and its cultivation is now 

 almost universal. While the daffodil is 

 by no means fastidious as to soil and 

 situation, like most other plants, it well 

 repays any little trouble incurred in giv- 

 ing it suitable quarters. 



LIFTING THE BULBS 



It is a mistake to imagine that daffo- 

 dil bulbs must be lifted every season, for 

 the truth is that if planted properly and 

 at reasonable distances apart, they may 

 remain for a dozen or more years, and 

 be all the better for being undisturbed. 

 The daffodil takes only a short period 

 of rest, as almost immediately the foliage 

 has died down the bulbs begin to form 

 fresh roots. If any lifting has to be 

 done, therefore, the sooner now it is 

 seen to the better; many of the tender 

 young roots would be destroyed if dis- 

 turbed later. Of course it is possible to 

 lift the roots, even after top growth has 

 begun, if extra care is taken not to 

 break the roots and replanting is done at 

 once. 



DETING THEM 

 If lifted at once the bulbs will be im- 

 proved by a few weeks' rest before be- 

 ing replanted. After being dug up with 

 a fork they should be spread in shallow 

 boxes and set in a cool, airy shed (never 

 in the sun). After drying thus for ten 

 days or a fortnight the bulbs ought to 

 be gone over and the smaller off-sets 

 removed. Grade the bulbs, reserving 

 the largest and plumpest for pot cul- 

 ture, while those of a medium size will 

 be well suited for out-door culture. The 

 smallest roots may be planted in some 

 out-of-the-way corner, so as to gain 

 strength for flowering in some future 

 year. 



PEEPARINQ THE GEOUND 



A change of soil is very beneficial to 

 the majority of plants, and the daffodil 

 is no exception ; so if a fresh site can be 

 given there is more chance of fine flow- 

 ers. A border from which potatoes have 

 been dug is probably the best of all po- 

 sitions for the daffodil. On no account 

 add any fresh manure to the soil, as this 

 acts like poison on all the finer sorts. 

 Should the ground be very poor a small 

 quantity of well rotted manure may be 

 dug in, but must be quite eight inches 

 below the surface. 



HOW AND TTHEEE TO PLANT 



Daffodil bulbs vary considerably in 

 size, and in planting allowance has to 

 be made for this. The rroper depth to 

 plant, therefore, depends on the size of 

 the bulb of the variety. The small 

 kinds should not be deeper than four 



inches, while the largest may lie six to 

 nine inches. Perhaps it would be better 

 to say that the tops of the bulbs should 

 be from two to four inches below the 

 surface. Plant with a trowel, .setting 

 the bulbs upright, and pressing the soil 

 gently all round it with the fingers. The 

 proper distance apart to plant depends 

 on circumstances. If good clumps be 

 made in the garden to give a capital dis- 

 play the first year, set the bulbs not 

 more than two inches apart, but for 

 large plantations on grass three to six 

 inches asunder will be found a suitable 

 distance. Of course, there is no reason 

 why wider planting should not be prac- 

 ticed, but a thin sprinkling will take 

 several years to provide a good show. 

 • November is decidedly the best time to 

 plant. 



Preserving Dahlia Roots 



Will you kindly tell me how to preserve 

 the roots of dahlias over winter and the 

 best time to take them up from the garden !' 

 I have three crim.son dahlias with a lot of 

 small buds and only one large flower. It 

 appears to me that it is through lack of 

 nourishment. The soil is a rough sandy 

 soil. Would you advise cutting ofiE thi 

 suckers as they start to shoot, or let them 

 have their natural full bloom? — I. H. L.. 

 Belleville. Ont. 



Dahlia roots should be dug out of the 

 ground before the roots or tubers arc 

 frozen. As a rule, the early part of 

 October is late enough to trust them 

 outside. I would dig them up at once, 

 cut the tops off about six inches from 

 the ground, dig the roots carefully with 

 some soil attached. Place them in a 

 shed or under the verandah away from 

 frost for a week or ten days so that they 

 may dry out a little. Then place them 

 in a cool rather damp cellar for the win- 

 ter, temperature abut forty to forty-five 

 degrees. If the cellar is not available, 

 put them in a box. Put dry earth around 

 them and put them in as cool a room in 

 the house as possible. 



The rough sandy soil spoken of where 

 the dahlias are growing is not the right 

 kind of soil. A rich sandy loam suits 

 dahlias better. Some loam should be 

 obtained and dug into the soil with well- 

 rotted manure if the soil is sandy. 



Not over three, or at the most four, 

 main shoots should be allowed to grow 

 on each dahlia root. One or two shoots 

 are better if large flowers are desired. 

 The suckers or small shoots should be \ 

 cut off except those that are wanted for 

 flowering purposes. — Wm. Hunt, 0..\. 

 C. , Guelph. 



Seeds and bulbs are just like any other '■ 

 work of nature, as it greatly depends 

 upon their breeding whether they are of 

 any use or not. — D. W. Marden, Pilot 

 Mound. Man. 



