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204 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition 



same distance apart, while the smaller 

 bulbs, such as snowdrops, crocuses, and 

 squills, may be planted about two inches 

 apart, and from two to three inches deep. 

 If the soil is clayey, or if there is manure 

 in the soil which is not thoroughly mixed 

 with it, it is advisable to put a little sand 

 under each bulb, which will prevent 

 rotting. 



Single rows should be avoided in plant- 

 ing bulbs, as they are much more effec- 



tive in masses or groups. Tulips and 

 hyacinths are usually planted in beds in 

 large masses, their place being taken by 

 annuals later on. They can be used with 

 good effect, however, in small clumps in 

 the perennial border, and make a fine 

 show in the spring before many of the 

 perennials are in bloom. Planted in this 

 way, there need be no large bare places 

 in the border without bloom after the 

 bulbs have done flowering. 



Propagating Hardy Phlox by Cuttings 



F. Mitchell, Port Hope, Ont. 



FROM the propagator's point of view, 

 there are three distinct types of 

 phlox, classified as follows: — 

 1. — Those which are propagated by divi- 

 sion in the field after their flowering 

 season. 

 2. — Those which are propagated by stem 



cuttings. 

 3. — Those which are propagated by root 

 cuttings. 



Propagated by Person 

 1. — Of the first type, the only one re- 

 ceiving much attention in this country is 

 Phlox subulata (or setacea), the Moss 

 Pink in popular nomenclature, which is 

 a gem for "carpeting" in rockeries and 

 which in early spring is literally a solid 

 mass of bloom. This grows much after 

 the fashion of a selaginella or lycopodium, 

 throwing out its creeping, leafy stems in 

 all directions, the stems rooting freely to 

 the ground as they creep along. After 

 the flowering season is over, the "mat" 

 may be cut or chopped up into small 

 clumps and re-planted and with the aid 

 of a little water for the first few days, 

 will root readily and grow into good-sized 

 clumps for the following year. 



Propagated by Stem Cuttings 

 2. — To this type belong Phlox suffruti- 

 cosa, of which the white variety Miss 

 Lingard is the best known. Phlox amcena 

 and Phlox arendsi, but little appreciated 

 in Canada as yet, and our own native son. 

 Phlox canadensis, or more commonly 

 called in the trade Phlox divaricata, with 

 its much improved form Laphamii. 



Roots of these may be lifted in the fall, 

 brought into the greenhouse and potted, 

 or, better still, planted in boxes of five or 

 six inches deep in a light and rather cool 

 house. In the short space of a week or 

 two, growth will start and new shoots 

 will appear abundantly. As soon as they 

 are about three inches long, they may be 

 taken as cuttings and will root freely in 

 two to four weeks in a cool, well-drained 

 propagating bench, when they may be 

 potted into two-inch pots, where they can 

 remain, until planting-out time, which 

 should be just as soon as the ground is in 

 condition to work. Frequent successive 

 batches of cuttings can be taken through 

 the winter and early spring from the 

 stock planted in the boxes, and the tops of 



early-potted cuttings can be taken again. 



If it is inconvenient to propagate in the 

 winter indoors as described above, cut- 

 tings may be taken from field roots out- 

 door when growth is sufficiently far ad- 

 vanced (say four or five inches high), and 

 rooted either indoors in a propagating 

 bench or outdoors in a well-drained, 

 shaded frame, then grown on in pots as 

 above until well rooted. The great dis- 

 advantage of this is that it means just so 

 much extra work on one's already over- 

 taxed shoulders in the rush season and 

 the chances are ten to one that they will 

 suffer through neglect and you will suffer 

 a loss of valuable time and money spent 

 in the attempt. In addition, outdoor 

 cuttings will not be ready for the field 

 until nearly midsummer, they are almost 

 certain to have a hard struggle with the 

 hot summer sun. It also practically 

 means a year's waste of the land, for they 

 will have to be grown on for an additional 

 year before you can conscientiously offer 

 them to your customers as saleable-sized 

 roots. 



Hardy Phlox 



3 — The third and by far the most im- 

 portant tjTJe is Phlox decussata (or pani- 

 culata), with its almost unUmited variety 

 of colors, and is what the general public 

 know and speak of as "Hardy Phlox." 

 These may be propagated by stem cut- 

 tings, either indoors or outdoors, as de- 

 scribed above for the suffruticosa section, 

 but by far the most satisfactory results 

 are to be obtained from root cuttings. 



Vigorous, healthy, two or three year 

 old roots are the best stock to start off 

 with. Lift these late in the fall, before 

 the ground is frozen up (about November 

 is a good time), bring into the greenhouse 

 and shake or wash the earth well off. 

 Now attack them with a sharp knife, 

 pair of strong scissors, or, best of all, a 

 good pair of sheep shears, cutting all the 

 fibrous roots up into lengths of about one 

 inch. The hard underground portion of 

 the stems may be cut up as well, but if it 

 is a variety you are short of, pot that up 

 and take top cuttings from it as described 

 for suffruticosas. Spread the cuttings 

 thickly Hke a mat in an ordinary, well- 

 drained seed flat, press down well and 

 cover with about one-quarter inch of 

 clean sand, firming it down upon them. 



Place the flats upon on a bench in a light, 

 cool house, or, for the sake of convenience, 

 upon a shelf out of the way and forget 

 them, except to just keep them from dry- 

 ing out. When the little plants are one 

 or two inches high and the old root cut- 

 ting at the base of each has developed 

 some fibrous roots, they should be potted 

 into two-inch pots. This will be some 

 time during January or February, de- 

 pending on time of sowing, light and 

 other growing conditions in the green- 

 house. In an ordinary good potting soil 

 they will soon start to grow and quickly 

 fill the pot with roots. If there is any 

 danger of them crowding you for room 

 before you can get them planted out, 

 knock them out when they have made a 

 firm potful of root and place them tight 

 together in seed flats with a half inch of 

 soil spread over the bottom and put them 

 back on the shelf or out in a cold frame 

 until you can handle them for planting. 

 As mentioned for the suffruticosa sec- 

 tion, to get the best results they should 

 be planted in the field just as soon as the 

 land is in condition for working. If 

 planted in a good clay or clay loam and 

 kept well worked, they will be good 

 heavy roots for sale the following spring, 

 and with all due deference to our indus- 

 trious Dutch friends, will put to shame 

 those imported from the light, sandy soils 

 of Holland. 



The root cutting method is much pre- 

 ferable to stem cutting of this type of 

 Phlox, for several reasons, of which these 

 are the outstanding ones : — 

 1 . — It produces plants of a more shapely 



type of growth and more vigorous. 

 2. — It makes for less labor and handling 



because all are struck at once, this 



also giving a more "even" lot of 



cuttings. 

 3. — It is a more prolific method. 



Either of the latter types can be pro- 

 pagated by division of old roots in the 

 field but this is too cumbersome to be 

 commercially feasible when there are 

 better methods. 



Currants from Cuttings 



Currants are easily propagated in the 

 home fruit garden from cuttings of the 

 new wood if a few simple directions are 

 followed. 



Take cuttings of the currant 5 to 8 

 inches long in the early fall and set in 

 rows or heel in together in a well drained 

 spot until early spring. Less than an 

 inch of the cutting should protrude above 

 ground and this may be covered with a 

 light mulch of manure after the first 

 frost to V ,p the cuttings from being 

 heaved c ind the roots broken by spring 

 freezin' 



To .nt make an opening in the 

 grour mth a spade, place a cutting be- 

 hind £ spade and press the ground with 

 the foot in order to force the earth 

 tightly against the plant. — ^Ohio Experi- 

 ment Station. 



