THE CANADtAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 191 3 



This Illuitration shows how Mr. Ellis is Succeeding in Solving the Ugly Fence Problem 



Tho grafted varieties of lila« and other shrubs here used do not rob the flowers in the borders of 

 the moisture and plaait food as many shrubs or treos would, do. 



later. He found that the first part of his 

 problem was solved by making a twelve 

 foot border around three sides of his lot. 

 This he planted with perennials. This 

 system left a nice piece of greensward 

 in the centre which looked well from 

 both the house and the street. It has 

 been suggested already how by a skilful 

 system of double planting and by re- 

 stricting his efforts to certain flower 

 groups he secures abundance of bloom. 

 Now it should be stated that the flowers 

 of his choice are generally those vigor- 

 ous kinds which will reward a little labor 

 with fragrance and color in almost any 

 kind of a season. 



A SIMPLE SOLUTION 



The solution of the next part of the 

 problem sounds simple enough. If you 

 look at the illustration above, you will 

 notice that shrubs are used at the back 

 • of the border on the west side of the lot. 

 These were planted to form the screen 

 to hide the board wall. .Already they are 

 nearly tall enough to do this. Suggest- 

 ing that shrubs be used for this pur- 

 pose was easy. To find varieties that 

 would grow high enough for this pur- 

 pose without encroaching on the room 

 of the flowers, and robbing them of food, 

 moisture and light, was more difficult. 

 And to work in kinds that would give 

 bloom at different seasons, so as to add 

 to tlie charm of the border was less easy 

 still. However, Mr. Ellis found what 



he wanted, and the effect has been 

 pleasing ever since. 



A similar problem to that just men- 

 tioned, presented itself in connection 

 with the rear of the house. The illustra- 

 tion on page five shows how a rather un- 

 sightly outhouse was screened and the 

 whole of the rear of the house made to 

 offer both convenience and charm dur- 

 ing many months of the year by the ad- 

 dition of a rustic pergola. The pergola 

 Mr. Ellis made himself from cedar poles 

 and when the several plants of Clematis 

 Jackmanii, which are now growing on it, 

 are in full bloom the picture is as pleas- 

 ing as one could well imagine. Roses 

 and other vines are also grown on this 

 pergola. 



It will be seen then that the solutions 

 of these problems were definite, simple 

 and effective, and it should be added that 

 they were inexpensive also. The cost of 

 the materials which Mr. Ellis has used 

 has been low because he has adopted a 

 system of replenishing his borders which 

 is worth recording. It was mentioned 

 that only perennials were found in this 

 garden. In the case of such perennials 

 as the Delphiniums or Poppies, he will 

 collect the seed from a plant as soon as 

 it ripens, or he may take the seed of 

 something new, for he believes in hav- 

 ing the best of everything, and this 

 seed he will drop near some old plant 

 that he intends pulling out next year or 



in some little vacant spot in the shade 

 of other plants. By giving the seed- 

 lings, as they come up, a little watching 

 and judicious thinning out he will have 

 a nice clump of new plants in bloom 

 there the next year. And the work has 

 been practically nil. He replenishes his 

 Ixjrders by using in part Nature's own 

 method. Of course not all seeds can be 

 treated in this way but nearly all that he 

 sows can. And it will be interesting to 

 know what plants Mr. Ellis finds most 

 useful in a garden of this character. 



THE VARIETIES GROWN 



The German Iris he has found to be 

 very effective for spring effects. He 

 groups them in masses at the ends and in 

 the corners of his borders^ Of these he 

 has about fifty varieties, and his object 

 for some years has t^een to eliminate 

 from his collection the dull shades of 

 purplish-blue. This makes the spring 

 effect much more sparkling and effec- 

 tive. 



Following the irises the peonies hold 

 sway in the garden for nearly a month, 

 and at that season the garden is a splen- 

 did sight from the street. 



Mr. Ellis believes in letting the public 

 share in the joys of his flowers to an ex- 

 tent, that is, "a vista to the public should 

 be allowed by each possessor of a good 

 lot," such a lot has an educational val- 

 ue, and it is but neighborly to share it 

 with all so long as enough privacy is re- 

 tained to make it "home." 



Such flowers as the platycodons, Chi- 

 nese Bell-flowers), pyrethrums (Spring 

 Marguerites), gaillardias (Blanket flow- 

 ers), delphhiniums (Tall Larkspurs), 

 hemerocallis (Day Lilies), dwarf or Chi- 

 nese Larkspurs, and sweet williams, give 

 color to the borders until the time of the 

 perennial phloxes, which form fine 

 strong groups of color in this garden. 



Other flowers, like the herbaceous 

 spiraeas, coreopsis, Helianthus multi- 

 florus, and golden glow, do well at the 

 back of the border, while that charm- 

 ing little free flowering plant, the Ice- 

 land Poppy (Papavera nudicaule), to- 

 gether with Achillea Funkias, and oth- 

 ers, add charm to sf>ecialized parts of 

 the border. 



Cannas, which of course must be 

 treated as annuals, are grown to good 

 effect by the wall of the house where they 

 get some protection from the first frosts 

 of the fall and thereby continue their 

 bloom much later. Darwin and cottage 

 tulips are grown in the same bed for 

 spring effects, and as a background Hy- 

 drangea paniculata are used. 



Of new varieties of his chosen plants, 

 Mr. Ellis imports and buys quite a few. 

 Three of his best peonies are Asa Gray, 

 Festiva Maxima and Mons. Jules Elie. 



Color harmonies have been worked 

 for in some measure by Mr. Ellis, and 

 he states that he likes to get his strong 

 colors as a rule at the back of the border. 



