POPULAR GARDENING 



FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY. 



"ACCOSE NOT NATURE, fiHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE.-^iliuros. 



Vol. 1. 



J'-A.2SrjJJ^:Ei,-Z', 188S. 



No. 4. 



A Fine Autumn-blooming Crocus. 



Altogether the Crocus nciuis is a verj- ex- 

 tensive one, and is known to embraoc no less 

 tlian seventy species. So far from all lieiug 

 spring-tlowering sorts, like the common ones 

 {('roi-iix tvrnii/< anil varieties) of our gardens, 

 it may be said, that the various species to- 

 gether afford a continuous succession of 

 tiowers from the beginning of August, until 

 April. But of all these, with their varied 

 season of bloom, it is only the earlier 

 autumnal or the distinctlj- vernal, .spe- 

 cies that can be relied upon in the north 

 for garden decoration. Far enough 

 towards the equator, as in the parts of 

 Asia, where many of the species are at 

 liome, and where frosts, even in winter, 

 are not severe, the winter sorts flower 

 abundantlj'. One single species of the 

 fall-flowering class is well known in 

 cultivation, as the Saffron plant, Ci-uciik 

 niitirim^of our gardens. This one blooms 

 handsomely in September and is espec- 

 ially valued for the medicinal virtues 

 of its large stigma.s. 



Borj''s Silver Crocus, C. Bari/i. of 

 which we give an engraving, is another 

 autumnal bloomer, and one of marked 

 beauty. No Crocus can very well be 

 fairer than this little species, which 

 blooms in October. Its flowers are of 

 the size shown in the engraving. They 

 are beautiful in all stages; the purple- 

 streaked buds and the half-opened, cup- 

 shaped blossoms being in their way as 

 lovely as the pure white orange- throated 

 starry flowers themselves. The leafage 

 — as if to suit the delicate flowers — is 

 most slender and elegant. 



This species while quite hardy, does 

 not bloom well without the protection 

 of glass, the rains and frosts of October 

 lieing sufficient to prevent the develop- 

 ment of the dainty little flowers. In a 

 frame protected with sash it ought to succeed 

 well eveiTwhere. 



This Crocus like others of its same season 

 of bloom should be planted in midsummer. 

 The plants delight in a rich, well-drained 

 soil; the conns should be liuried about three 

 inches 'deep, in planting. At the approach 

 of winter, all those sorts which lack some- 

 what in robustness, as does the one figured, 

 should have a coat of straw or leaves over 

 their tops, and between them and the glass 

 of the frame in which they are growing. 



dale. But these kinds show so many variations 

 in appearance, that to one unacquainted with 

 trees, there might seem to be many more kinds. 

 * * * 

 The fine winter effect produced by the Ever- 

 greens here, is owing chiefly to three things: 

 first, the sorts planted are such as are adapted 

 to the climate and the place; second, the ar- 

 rangement, is on a plan that tends to enhance 

 the beauty of individual sorts, and lastly, Init in 



Noteafrom Lyndale. 



BY A. H. E. 



■Ifiiiuary 3. Visitors to Ljndale in the win- 

 ter are much attracted by the beauty of the 

 Evergreens on the place. It is not so much 

 that the number of kinds growing here is very 

 extensive, as that what there are are thrifty 

 and attractive. Indeed, when it comes to the 

 matter of kinds, it may be said that the Pines, 

 Spruces (including Hemlocks anfl Fii-sl,Juni- 

 jiers. Arbor vitfes and Retinsporas, constitute 

 fully nine-tenths of all there are grown at Lyu- 



A Fine Autumn-blooming Crocus.- Bora's Silver Crocus. 



its way perhaps more important than anything 

 else, is the fact that every tree planted is well 

 planted at the outset. 



* * * 



Let me speak of the planting first. 1 lielieve 

 in giving every Conifer (Cone-beai-er) that I 

 set, plenty of good soil to grow in : no tree is 

 expected to do well if not thoroughly well 

 planted at first, few fail to do well under this 

 provision. In planting, the process is suited to 

 the nature of the soil where the tree is to go, as 

 nearly as possible. 



A fir-st step in this operation is to make a hole 

 three feet deep. The subsoil is kept separate, 

 and if pai'ticularly unfavorable to the growth 

 of roots, none of it is returned. Such mater- 

 ial as old sods from the roadside, or old put- 

 ting mould, the rougher the better, is the main 

 reliance, either used alone or mixed with the 

 soil just thrown out. 



I take special pains in placing the roots when 

 the work is being done. The tap-root is allowed 

 to descend perpenrliculajdy into the bed of new 

 soil; the others are spreafl out in the directions 

 they lay where they grew before. Then each 

 tree is laised somewhat above the orthnarv sur- 

 face, in a way that leaves it on a slight elevation 



as the planting is finished. This has the effect 

 of throwing the water off from the base of the 

 tnnik, when there are but few roots to the 

 parts on whii-h the feechng roots exist. 



* 

 * * 



./tiniiurii 10. Reference was made to the 

 arrangTuent of Evergreens here. Let me en- 

 large on this. Fir.st of all be it understood that 

 I detest the indiscriminate mixing up of kinds 

 in planting. As a rule, I plant either as isolat- 

 ed specimens or else in uatiu-e-gi-oups, but 

 chiefly the latter. The groups consist 

 either of one species or a mixture of the 

 different varieties and species of the same 

 kind. To illustrate, I will say, that one 

 conspicuous grou]) of about 7") feet in 

 length, and from one-third to one-fourth 

 of this width, consists of Spruces. At 

 one end there are seven of the free-growing 

 Norway Spruce in a loose clump. At the 

 other end is a mass of the dwarf and 

 compact Finedon Hall Spruce; there are 

 also a few clumps of the same here and 

 there along the front edge of the lai'ge 

 group throughout its length. 



Between the tall Norway's at one end 

 and the dwarfs at the other end of this 

 elongated group are planted several dozen 

 of the small Pyramidal Spruce, backed by 

 half as mauj' Glaucous White Spruce. 

 Throughout this group, as in all my ai'- 

 rangements of this kind, I do not clearly 

 define the minor groui« but allow the 

 members of different ones to mingle with 

 each other at their edges. The general 

 outlines of the compound groups is de- 

 cidedl}- free, that is to say it is not regular. 

 The description of this one group, will 

 give an idea of the principle I adopt in all 

 my plantings of this kind. 



■/iiiiudrii ICi. In holding up the claims 

 of the Privets for ornamental iilauting, 

 not enough is generally made I think of 

 the fact that they are half-evergreen in 

 character. During November and pai-t 

 of December, when most deciduous trees 

 and shrubs ai'e leafless, these are as green 

 and lively in appearance as at any pi-evious 

 time. A mass of two kinds, the Common 

 and the Oval-leaved, near a side path, is 

 quite certain to catch the eyes of all going that 

 way, during the fall months, by their liright 

 green foliage in the midst of autmnn desolation. 

 But it is not the leaves alone of the Privets 

 that prove attractive to the eye. for all during 

 fall and winter the shrubs carry a quantity of 

 handsome black berries about the size of peas, 

 and ai-ranged in clusters. Then flowering late 

 in the spring as these shrubs do, and when the 

 majority of June bloomere ai-e done, they also 

 prove decidedly ornamental because of then- 

 free crop of white, svveet-scentetl flowers. 

 * 

 « « 



JiniKdrii 'J-'. I am much i)leased with the 

 Zebra Eulalia as an ornamental plant. In the 

 garden b«Ls during summer it is not excelleil 

 by any other hardy grass of equal size, for 

 effectiveness ; its zebra-like cross variegations of 

 .yellow on the green ground of the leaves, giv- 

 ing to the plant a very striking api>earance. 

 But aside from its value in the garden, it is a 

 fine i)ot [jlant for the conservatoi-y the year 

 around. When the plant was first introducerl 

 from Japan, here under glass, was suiniosed to 



