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GARDEN GUIDE 

 THE COLUMBINE • Aquilegia 



The Columbine 



Seed sown one year blooms the 



next 



Columbines are so frail, 

 yet so strong; the forms are 

 so numerous and the flowers 

 so varied in color, that they 

 are deserving of a prominent 

 place in every garden. 



Seed sown one year 

 blooms the next. The crowns 

 gradually increase in size until 

 huge clumps are formed. Sow 

 the seed in a prepared bed or 

 in the coldframe in early 

 Summer and wait until the 

 next year for results. 



Some of the most charm- 

 ing forms to grow are the 

 Rocky Mountain Columbine 

 hybrids (Aquilegia cserulea), 

 deep blues and pinks, long- 

 spurred ; A . chrysantha hybrids, 

 superb clear lemon yellow long- 

 spurred sorts; A. canadensis, 

 the yellow and red wild Colum- 

 bine of the East; and A. vul- 

 garis, a short-spurred form. 



THE DAHLIA 



There is little question why the Dahlia has gained in popularity. 

 The newer varieties win our admiration as soon as we see them. Should 

 you insist that the Dahha is very formal and stiff we should answer 

 that the ones to which you refer are perhaps stiff because they were 

 carefully bred for regularity and synmietry, and you would look upon 

 them as triumphs of the breeder's art if you knew that the modern 

 varieties have been evolved from several wild Mexican species. Near 

 Mexico City, at an altitude of one thousand to two thousand feet 

 above that of the city, we find the wild forms on the sides of the deep 

 ravines in partial shade. It is hot in the daytime, but really gets oold 



