January, 1922. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Beautifying the Verandah 



W. E. Groves, Hamilton, Ont. 



VERANDAHS should be given 

 more planning than they 

 often receive, and may be 

 treated to some extent according 

 to size. Hanging pots are pleasing 

 if used in moderation, and carefully at- 

 tended to during the growing season. 

 Have the boundary wall or rail, so that 

 it is not continuously of the same 

 height. This can be done without bad- 

 ly marring the architecture, and if 

 more built-in receptacles for planting 

 were used, there would be less of the 

 artificial appearance sometimes seen. 

 It is, of course, easy to fix boxes on a 

 brick wall and plant with advantage, 

 but it is not so easy to do the same 

 thing on a 1921 verandah rail. A few 

 plants placed on stands, or even on the 

 verandah floor, is a good addition, but 

 it is well to avoid crowding. 



Steps could be much improved gen- 

 erally. In a majority of houses, they 

 are not built massive enough. It is pos- 

 sibly easier to say this than to provide 

 the remedy, but from the garden view- 

 point, there is much to gain by provid- 

 ing a bold approach to any home. 

 Planting should, always be done on 

 either side of stone or brick steps, 

 either shrubs or a small rockery being 

 suitable. "Where there are pillars they 

 are obviously meant to take a box or 

 tub of plants. Something green gener- 

 ally gives the best effect. Plants for 

 window and verandah boxes in the 

 more sunny aspects should include dra- 



caenas, Asparagus sprengeri, coleus, 

 and some of the commoner trailing 

 plants for green, with geraniums, petu-, 

 nias and verbenas for brightening up. 

 Vivid scarlet and salmon pink gerani- 

 ums are each good. For a touch of 

 blue, trailing lobelia and ageratum are 

 useful, and for white, alyssum, white 

 geraniums, and some of the silver foli- 

 aged plants are chiefly used. There is 

 always a temptation to plant thickly 

 for immediate effect. It might be an 

 ultimate gain, if there were less crowd- 

 ing, and room left for development. 

 For shady positions, begonias, fuchsias, 

 heliotrope, with a similar mixture of 

 green usually provide the best assort- 

 ment. Ferns might be more often used, 

 especially if there is some protection 

 from prevailing winds. 



If boxes are portable, a fine spring 

 bulb effect can be secured by planting 

 bulbs in late fall, keeping in cool cel- 

 lar and retarding as much as possible. 

 When real danger of frost is over, the 

 boxes can go out, and a fine effect can 

 often be had for some time before the 

 usual summer planting. The best 

 plants for real winter effect are Nor- 

 way spruce, arborvitaes, cedars and 

 junipers. These retain their coloc 

 better than many other kinds, and are 

 always fairly effective. For plant 

 boxes and tubs, spruce is the best win- 

 ter plant, and, of course, boxwoods for 

 summer. By way of a change, small 

 evergreens may be used amongst the 



flowering plants in summer. There is 

 also a golden privet quite attractive for 

 this purpose, though it will not stand 

 the winter in this climate. Baby ram- 

 bler roses in boxes sound out of place, 

 but given a good position, a fairly large 

 box, and plenty of attention, are really 

 uncommon. Amongst useful verandaV. 

 plants are Hydrangea hortensis, sever- 

 al good varieties being admirable for 

 this purpose. "Window boxes may be 

 used freely where there is little or no 

 real garden. This decoration may easi- 

 ly be overdone and should be restrain- 

 ed, excepting under the conditions 

 named. Plants suggested for veran- 

 dah boxes will be suitable, care being 

 taken not to crowd unduly. 



To sum up, real home beautifying 

 should commence at the street, and be 

 continued through to the back alley- 

 way. There is hardly a spot in the 

 whole garden, where something will 

 not ffrow. Trees, shrubs and flowers 

 should find themselves in happy com- 

 bination, not always according to strict 

 rule, but along the lines laid down by 

 the great teacher. Nature. In this par- 

 ticular time of stress and strain when 

 men everywhere seem to be groping 

 after something they know not what, 

 there is an emphasized demand for the 

 content and quietness associated with 

 gardens. For the sake of an individual 

 and national uplift, for the sake of na- 

 tional purity, the home beantiful is es- 

 sential. Bolshevism and beauty are 

 thoughts absolutely opposed to each 

 other. They are positively insoluble, 

 and it is no far-fetched assertion, to 

 say that in a land of good homes, ex- 

 treme social theories have no place. It 

 is, perhaps, safe to say that this glori- 

 ous country will only find its proper 

 place, and become fixed as a real star 

 in the srreat firmament of the divine, 

 when throusrh the town garden lots, 

 and c{o^yn the country sides there comes 

 the fragrance, the beautv and the fflory 

 of homes, not only made beautiful by 

 the hands of those who dwell in them, 

 but are loved and cared for right to the 

 point of beautification. 



"Watch the house plants for pests. 

 The most troublesome are green and 

 black aphis, red spider, scale and 

 mealy bug. A dry temperature is con- 

 ducive to increasing these. For aphis 

 use a strong solution of tobacco 

 water. The best preventive for red 

 spider is moist temperature and 

 sprinkling the foliage, especially on 

 the lower side. For scale, wash the 

 leaves with strong soap suds, rinsing 

 with cold water. Brush mealy bugs 

 off the plants with a small brush or 

 stick. Destroy them while young. 



An Attractive Window Box 

 A window box of petunias, grown and photographod by O. H. Foster, Ken-wood, Ont. 

 !if cd v/iiB »own In the box In moderately lie)! Bandy loam. Bloom 

 continued from the middle of July unlil late in October. 



The 



Mnlrh the strawberries and fruit frees 

 and shrubs if this has not been done. 



