JULY 



July T^ XPERIENCE of a bitter sort is teach- 

 4- 1^ ing me ever the necessity of staking 

 plants. In principle it is, of course, an atrocious 

 thing that should never be permitted in borders, 

 but it is essentially necessary in spite of principle. 

 Some things, such as oriental poppies, cry aloud 

 even in infancy for stakes ; but pyrethrums, erige- 

 rons, delphiniums, dahlias, and other robust plants 

 stand up so bravely before their blossoms form that 

 it is hard to believe that they will require support 

 later. The mischief is done when storms come 

 just as the stems are heavy with blooms, as they 

 did this year. They can be staked in their early 

 days in such a way as to show but little sign of 

 their props at the blooming period. The best time 

 to do it is when they have practically attained their 

 full height, but show no flower buds, and the best 

 kind of stake is the roughly tooled one of deal 

 or any harder wood, painted by the gardener the 

 colour known as Aspinall's fig-green. 



This is about the time to thin the buds of carna- 

 tions. A general florist's rule is to leave the first, 

 third, and fourth, but the amateur will do well to 

 act in the matter by the light of nature, only pro- 



