266 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



November, 1914. 



and pale colors only "were carefully 

 chosen. I know that last year I longed 

 to make a bride's bouquet with some 

 white ones I had ; they seemed to be 

 growing for that. The leaves of the 

 columbine are very beautiful. Did you 

 ever use them with scarlet geraniums 

 and a few dainty white flowers for a 

 table decoration? In the fall they are 

 beautifully tinted. 



The various kinds of phlox occupy an 

 important place about half-way back in 

 the bed. The early and later varieties 

 enable one to have continuous bloom. 

 Joan of Arc, a tall variety, if not caught 

 by the frost, makes beautiful white 

 trusses late in the fall. The pinks, 

 coral red and shaded ones, are such 

 handsome flowers that no herbaceous 

 border can afford to be without them. 



The perennial larkspurs, shorter and 

 not so compact in their growth as the 

 delphiniums, are very beautiful and fill 

 their corner with constant bloom. 



The old-fashioned ribbon grass has its 

 place, and very effective it is. 



The dear old pansy is there also in 

 all its various forms and colors. 



Last year there were a few clumps of 

 that beautiful biennial, the Canterbury 

 bell. These were one mass of flowers, 

 blue, white, and delicate pink. 



The Spiraea Van Houteii is one of our 

 best flowering shrubs. I have small 

 specimens of these in the border, also 

 lilacs and hydrangea paniculata. This 

 does very well here and the immense 

 trusses of bloom remain till spoiled by 

 the frost. 



The hemerocallis and funkia raise 

 their stately heads and bring a touch of 

 yellow where it is needed. 



But the crowning glory of this par- 

 ticular border are the clumps of del- 

 phiniums. There is one, a rich violet, 

 near a golden elder — truly a study of 

 purple and gold too beautiful to des- 

 cribe. Then there are the blues, that 

 seem to try to catch all the color of the 

 noon-day sky, and the blues and mauves 

 melted together, as only Nature can 

 blend colors, and one lovely creamy 

 white. Even the dainty humming birds 

 seemed to think that they were especi- 

 ally blooming for them. They were 

 constantly hovering in twos and threes 

 up and down the blossom spikes. These 

 stately flowers are in big clumps. Their 

 neighbors have been carefully chosen, 

 their immediate background spruce, gol- 

 den elder, and variegated corn. 



Last year there were several clumps 

 of holyhocks, white, red, pink, and yel- 

 low in the background near the spruce 

 trees. These old friends are not so 

 easy to grow here is the delphiniums. 

 After the first winter they are likely 

 to kill out, the same plants may be 

 grown every year if they are lifted and 



stored in a root cellar for the winter. 



Perhaps some people may think this 

 must be a very mixed up kind of flower 

 border — so many varieties (and I have 

 overloked one or two — lychnis, and a 

 clump of common asparagus with its 

 pretty foliage and red berries). It is a 



mixed border. The only things kept in 

 mind when planting were the relatioi. 

 of colors, the various heights of tii 

 plants, and to avoid all stiffness of ar- 

 rangement. The result is what was in- 

 tended — flowers from early spring till 

 freeze up — a feast of beauty. 



Concrete Hotbeds and Cold Frames 



THliRE is nothing which pleases the 

 appetite so much as delicacies out 

 of season. As for vegetables, 

 such delicacies are not costly luxuries, 

 and are within the means of anyone who 

 will take the time to build and run a 

 hotbed or a cold frame. Such a bed will 

 make possible home-grown lettuce and 

 radishes (and even violets) for the Christ- 

 mas dinner. Moreover, by this means, 

 one can depend on having good hardy 

 plants for springs planting in the gar- 

 den. 



The fall months are the best in which 

 to prepare the hotbed. A few boards 

 and sash are all that is required, unless 

 it is desired to avoid annual repairs, in 

 which case it can be built of concrete. 

 Locate the bed on the sunny, wind-pro- 

 tected side of a building. A four-sash 

 bed is usually large enough except for 

 commercial purposes. A standard hot- 

 bed sash is three feet by six feet. Lay 

 out the bed six feet eight inches wide 

 by twelve feet ten inches long. Concrete 

 walls are six inches thick. Dig the 

 foundation trenches two feet six inches 

 deep within the lines given above. Make 

 forms of one inch lumber to carry the 

 south (front) wall six inches and the 

 north (back) wall fourteen inches above 

 ground. Forms are not required below 

 ground level. The tops of the end wails 

 slope to the others. Before filling the 

 forms with concrete, test the dimensions 

 of the bed by means of the sash. See 

 that the sash laps the forms two inches 

 on all sides. 



MIXING AND PLACING THE CONCRETE 



Mix the concrete mushy wet in the 

 proportion of one bag of Portland cement 

 to two and one-half cubic feet of sand 

 "to five cubic feet of crushed rock, or 

 one bag of cement to five cubic feet of 

 bank-run gravel. Fill the forms with- 

 out stopping for anything. Tie the walls 

 together at the corners by laying in 

 them old iron rods bent to right angles. 

 While placing the concrete set half-inch 

 bolts about two feet apart to hold the 

 wooden top-framing of the bed to the 

 concrete; or make grooves in the top 

 of the concrete for counter-sinking the 

 sash to the level of the walls with an 

 allowance of one-quarter inch for clear- 

 ance. This can be done by temporarily 

 embedding in the concrete wooden strips 

 of the necessary dimensions. Durinig 

 this operation, by means of blocks nail- 

 ed to the strips, make provision for the 



centre-bars described below. Remo\ . 

 the strips as soon as the concrei- 

 stiffens. Take down the forms after five j 

 days. The extra two and five-eighths 

 inches in length of the bed is allowano 

 for the three centre-bars between th< 

 sash. These sash-supports are of dress- 

 ed one-inch stuff, shaped like a capital I 

 turned upside down. The length of th( 

 stem of the T is equal to the thickness 

 of the sash and the top is three inches 

 wide. Sufficient materials for the con- 

 crete will be supplied by fourteen bags 

 of Portland cement, one and one-quarter 

 cubic yards of sand, and two and one- 

 half cubic yards of crushed rock; or 

 fourteen bags of cement and two and 

 one-half yards of pit gravel at a cost of 

 ten dollars. 



PBEPARATION AND CAKE OF THE HOTBED 



If the bed is to be used as a cold 

 frame, it is finished when covered with 

 glass. For a hotbed, dig out the dirt 

 to the depth of two feet, tramp in eigh- 

 teen inches of fresh horse manure well 

 mixed with leaves or bedding and cover 

 it with four to eight inches of rich soil. 

 Bank the excavated earth around the 

 outside of the bed. Put the sash in 

 place, hang a thermometer on the inside 

 and allow the bed to heat up. After a 

 couple of days, when the temperature 

 has dropped to eighty-five or ninety de- 

 grees, planting may be safely done. Seed 

 catalogues contain valuable information 

 as to the length of time necessary to 

 produce the different kinds of plants. 



During the midday, in bright weather, 

 the bed will become too hot and must 

 be ventilated for a short period by rais- 

 ing the sash on the side away from the 

 wind. Water the plants in the morn- 

 ing only and ventilate later to remove 

 the moisture from the foliage. On win- 

 ter nights it will often be necessary to 

 cover the bed with old carpets and 

 boards. 



It is a genuine pleasure to grow vvin- 



A Concreta Hotbed 



