1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



171 



causes, namely: the weakening of the bulbs 

 by keeping them too long out of the ground, 

 and the starting of the (lower stalk before 

 the roots have developed sutticiently to sup- 

 port it. The bulb when received from the 

 dealer is a mass of scales in which the fu- 

 ture stalk and flower are stored. But its 

 vital sources of life and growth have been 

 diminished by exposure very likely so that 

 in its new home, however favorable, its 

 wasted strength is put to a double tax. 

 While the stalk, which is the Hrst to feel (he 

 quickening influence of heat and moisture, 

 may push forth, feeding on the partly de- 

 pleted food laid up the year before, root de- 

 velopment may be largely lacking and a 

 sickly plant is the result. 



In such a light, spring planting is to be 

 avoided unless the roots can be had intact; 

 while fall planting, a.s .soon after the bulbs 

 have ripened off as possible, so that the 

 roots can commence growth during the 

 resting period, Ls desirable. Lily roots it 

 should l)e remembered are always at work 

 when undisturbed storing material for fu- 

 ture use. 



When once sound Lily bulbs are estab- 

 lished they require but little care beyond 

 keeping them free from weeds and a heavy 

 mulching of old manure and other coarse 

 material before the ground freezes. Over- 

 feeding must be guarded against, especially 

 with the class the top of which is annual, 

 and which includes most if not all our na- 

 tives. Excessive growth of stalk and flow- 

 ers i» to be avoided, for this so exhausts the 

 bulb that no new bulb for the next year is 

 formed, and hence growth must cease. 



Successful Pansy Crowing. 



EPHRAIM PKESTON, BERKS CO., I'A. 



The following plan of growing Pansies 

 without the aid of glass may be practiced 

 where the air and soil are very dry, and 

 where usually the plants are killed by the 

 red spider in .July. 



Procure good seed from some one who 

 makes a specialty of Pansies. The latter 

 part of May sow the seed in a box of leaf or 

 other light mold that has been sifted 

 through a sieve having }{ inch mesh. For 

 a package of 100 seeds the box should be 4 

 inches deep, and 8x12 inches inside. The 

 soil should at sowing time be moist but not 

 sticky. Fill the box within '.^ inch of the 

 top, make the soil moderately firm by shak- 

 ing, level it with a smooth block, sow the 

 seed evenly broadcast, cover with 's inch of 

 fine soil, water well with a Hue sprinkler; 

 if any of the seeds wash out, push them 

 into the soil deep enough to cover them. 



Keep the box in a temperature of about 

 •K) degrees, covered from sun and wind. 

 Watch it closely, if the soil .seems to be 

 getting dry water carefully. In from H to 

 1.5 days the 

 young plants 

 will begin to 

 come up, when 

 they should be 

 uncovered and 

 set in a bright 

 light, but pro- 

 tected from the 

 wind and mid- 

 day sun. An 

 east porch is a 

 suitable place. 



In about a 

 month from ger- l^yi'iu ""' " S'fi' Fnmt Yard 

 mination, when *'' "'■""""^ "" /'"<"■ i"' 

 the plants have two to four rough leaves, 

 transplant to boxes that are 4 or .5 inches 

 deep, setting the plants 'A inches apart, give 

 them a good watering and set them in the 

 shade for a few days, then i)ut them in a 

 position where they will not be exposed to 

 the wind and noon sun. Watch for and 

 keep down any insects. 



Early in August prepare a bed for the 

 plants with an eastern exposure, if possible, 

 or where they will not have the sun all day. 

 The bed .should not he .shaded overhead, nor 

 exposed to the prevailing winds a bed where 

 spring bulbs, or early annuals, or perennials 

 have done blooming, or the old Pansy bed, 

 will do for them. Dig in 'i inches of old cow- 

 manure, and .some bone dust with the soil. 



About the middle of August set the plants 

 in the bed inches apart, choose a cool or 

 moist time to move them, water the 

 plants in the bo.xes before lifting, 

 move with a trowel, taking the ball 

 of roots that belong to each. Make 

 the soil moderately firm around the 

 plants. If the ground is dry, make 

 a hole 3 or 4 inches from each plant 

 after setting and give each a pint of 

 water, afterwards leveling up with 

 dry soil. 



When mo\ing plants trim off all 

 sickly and dead leaves and destroy 

 all insects. Xever let Pansies seed 

 if you want an abundance of flowers. 



^\^len the ground freezes cover 

 with leaves enough to hide the 

 ground, then put on Red Cedar or 

 .luniper boughs to entirely hide the 

 bed and keep out the sun. 



When the frost is out in spring 

 take off the leaves and boughs, and 

 if there is danger of freezing again, 

 put some of the boughs back till the 

 weather is settled. Water the bed 

 when dry .using a gallon per sq. foot. 



veria secunda glauca. 2. Ground work of 

 Othonna sedifolia. H. PMge of Mesembry- 

 anthemum cordifolium variegatum, and 

 Hlled in with blue Ageratum. 4. Dracaena 

 Australis liniata. .">. (iolden-feather Pyre- 

 thrum. (1. Scarlet and Rose-colored Gera- 

 niums, mixed. 7. Alternantheraparychoides 

 ma.jor. K. Pink Geraniums. 



The circular bed represented by the right- 

 hand lower figure was planted as follows: 

 1. Edging of Variegated Thyme. 2. Band 



flCAU! PF FSCT 



DESIGNS 



Summer Bedding; with Designs. 



An excessive use of the tender bedding 

 plants to the exclusion of other classes of 

 embellishing material for the flower garden 

 is certainly not to be encouraged. At the 

 same time let us not fall into the error of 

 some who would utterly banish the carpet 

 style of bedding from our la^^^ls and gardens. 

 The fact is we are very kindly disposed to- 

 wards this method of adornment when 

 practiced in moderation, for to our mind it 

 has done more to foster a love of flowers and 

 gardening amongst all classes than any 

 other style ever in vogue. It has lead to an 

 increase of greenhouses, amounting perhaps 

 to fifty fold in a score of years, and corre- 

 spondingly has attracted thousan<ls of people 

 in town and country to engage in open-air 

 gardening, who, but for this, more likely 

 than not, would never have taken to the 

 health-giving art. 



But while advocating summer bedding in 

 a fair measure, let us also urge that it be 

 not overdone. The enthusiasm which it 

 has inspired among flower growers no doubt 

 has often lead to extremes, which have in 

 their time tended to create a distaste for the 

 style with some. Where a single flower bed 

 of good design, and well planted and main- 

 tained, may prove to be a pleasing object in 

 many a place, still if there were a number of 

 such the effect would not be likely to be 

 satisfactory in like degree. Let but the 

 principle of keeping fine productions in this 

 line decidedly subordinate in size and im- 

 portance as conii)ared with the svirronnd- 

 ings of lawn, groupsof hardy plants, shrubs, 

 etc. be observed, and there will be very little 

 danger of overdoing in the use of .such. 

 Another argximent in favor of moderation 

 in this line is the cost of the tender one-sea- 

 son material that is used in planting. 



To aid those who desire to employ some 

 simple, yet pleasing designs for plant bed- 

 ding, the accompanying patterns of beds we 

 have met are given. A .scale of feet is ap- 

 pended to each of the two styles to aid in 

 laying out and planting the beds. 



The left-hand circular plan represents a 

 bed, planted as follows, the figures referring 

 to the engraving : 1. Sloping edge of Eche- 



FOR CIRCULAR AND ELONGATED SUMMER BEDS. 



of Alternanthera amabilis. .3. Ground 

 work of Mesembryanthemum cordif<ilium 

 variegatum. 4. Edging of Coleus Verschaf 

 felti. .'). Line of C'entaurea gymnocarpa. 

 H and T. Dark and light Coleus. K. Scarlet 

 Geranium, dark Canna in center. 



The upper horizontal figure represents a 

 section of an elongated border, and jjlanted 

 as follows: 1. Echeveria secunda glauca. 

 2. Ground work of Othonna sedifolia. A. 

 Echeveria secunda glauca. 4. Alternanthera 

 aurea nana. 5. Variegated Thyme, (i. 

 P^cheveria metallica. allernaling in other 

 beds with Echeveria glauca metallica, 7. 

 Variegated Alyssum. s. Alternanthera 

 parychoides major. H. Draca-na terminalis. 

 10. Alternanthera amabilis. II. Drac;ena 

 indivisa. 12. Golden-feather Pyrethrnm. 

 13. Dwarf blue Ageratum. 14. Achyran- 

 thes crimson. 15. Centaurea Candida. 10. 

 Coleus Verschaffelti. 17. .Scarlet Geraniums. 



ffiT. Ailing Begonia. Some trouble with the 

 roots. Probably most of them ha\'e rottetl. Tliis 

 may be due to overwaterin^. .Secure and strike 

 some cutting's, and in this way get up a fresb lot 

 of plants. Diseased Begonias of any sort are 

 nii^nty poor stock to have.— W. F. 



ti*is. Sowing Strawberry Seed. One of our 

 leading oriirinatoi's of new Strawberries tfives 

 this as his mettiod: I sometimes sow the same 

 season that I j?ather the seed, puttinfir it in about 

 July 1, but prefer to keep it until tlie ne.xt spring. 

 The seed will germinate without frosting. I use 

 eight-inch pots filled with clean, sharp sand, sow 

 the seed from one berry, press it in with the bot- 

 tom of another pot, water with fine hose, sink the 

 pot in soil in a frame, cover with sush, then shade 

 with lath. By keeping the sand damp, in twelve 

 days the plants will appear. When the leaves are 

 the size of the thumb-nail, they are read.v for tlie 

 open ground. The land Is prepared the' same as 

 I would f<)r the regular field crop. I turn the 

 plants out of the pots, and am careful that the 

 roots do not get dried. I have every fibre of 

 root, so lose no plants. I hfie about every ten 

 days. I allow but one runner to each plant to 

 root, and this in the row. At the end of the sea- 

 scm every plant will be strong and bear a full 

 crop the next season. I cover with straw for 

 winter protection. When fruiting i go through 

 the rows every day and write my conclusions on 

 stakes put in the ground close to the fruit. I i-e- 

 peat this daily until the .'^easou Is over, usually 

 finding about eight \^^^r cent extra promising. 

 From the.se I raise trom ten t<i twenty plants 

 of each. I then prepare ti piece <jf ground lonjf 

 and narrow, set seven plants in a row of each 

 variety, giving each a name. 



