i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



41 



l)e offei-ed for the best flower garden in any one 

 county that, might lie named, there would no 

 doubt lie many entries for the prize. The cul- 

 ture of flowers admits of a large amount of 

 good uatUT-i'd ri\alry. 



The celebrated Rosebush at Hildasheim. iu 

 Hanover, l)elieved to be l,tKlli years old (tradi- 

 tion says it was planted by Charlemagne), 

 never bore so many roses as in the past season. 

 The shoots grafted on its ti-unk in recent years 

 are growing admirably. The bush stands at 

 the outer wall of the catheih-al crypt. Its 

 branches extend about ;is feet high, and 34 feet 

 in width. It is an object of much curiosity. 



The Japanese have some unique notions of 

 garden adornment. One of these is the mak- 

 ing of borders to walks, some two feet wide, 

 and filled in with variously colored clays, which 

 are so abundant in Japan. The nearest thing to 

 this which we have met, was the use of snow 

 whitt' gravel and small shells of difl'erent colors, 

 used along with plants in the formation of 

 some elaborate carpet beds, in past years in 

 Linct)ln Park, Chicago. 



There is a great need in some parts of the 

 great West for sound inf ( irmation on gardening. 

 For example, ahnost anything would be better 

 than ridiculous trash like this, which lately ap- 

 peared in a floral .iournal of that region: 

 "With Heliotrope, Fuchsias, etc. , of a tender 

 woolly nature, split the ends of your slips and 

 insert an oat ; tie with a .string : the oat swells 

 in a day or so, and will nourish the plant and 

 assist the cutting to root. " Fudge ! 



"As juicy, and rich in good meat as an apple," 

 is what Mr. Or. L. Heinhoklof Wayne Co., Fa.. 

 says of Popular Uardenin<;. If wewerechs- 

 posed to follow the example of some publish- 

 ei-s we would give column after column of kind 

 words, which our subscribers have to sa3' for 

 this paper. The above extract is .so full and 

 pointed, that it is given as a i'e]jresentation of 

 all these. Our rule is to let the papei' speak its 

 own praises, by the valuable matter we insert. 



A good paper. Our table is every month 

 visited by a neat 6md excellent journal from 

 Highland Park, Chicago, called the Floriil 

 W'oilil. It treats chiefly of the beautiful and 

 cm'ious things found in the floral world ; surely 

 there ai'e enough of these to well occupy one 

 paper. It also contains floricultnral directions 

 suited to amateui's. Harleigh Gillette is its 

 publisher, and M cents a year its price. We can, 

 by special arrraugement, furnish this paper and 

 Fopri.AR (iARDENixii for one year at '.10 cents. 



Fainting Iron Pipes. Few things add more 

 to the good appearance of a plant house, than 

 to have the pipes and other iron work kept 

 painted a jet black. .1 bad paint for this pur- 

 pose and one often tried with disappointment, 

 is lampblack mixed with linseed oil — it doesn't 

 dry well. Instead, use 1 lb. of ordinary black 

 jjaint, 1-1 lb. patent dryer, and thin for use 

 with one-third vai'nish and two-thirds boiled 

 oil. This will dry anywhere or on any surface 

 that is clean. Two thin coats well worketl- 

 iu are bettei- than one thick one. 



A great Pansy Bed. It is located at the 

 Assembly grounds, Chautauqua Lake. It is 

 called the '" Pansy Plat." and has a fountain in 

 its midst, and neatly trimmed grass around. 

 Seed for the bed was received from interested 

 persons in various states, and this was sow'n, 

 thelxfl properly prepared andplante<l. and now 

 is protected for the winter. Next year " Pansy 

 Plat " will be one of the tirst objects sought 

 out by nmltitudes of visitors to Chautauqua, 

 and the little flowers will look up with sweet 

 glad faces to welcome all comei'S. 



Get up a Club. Many persons have up to 

 this date succeeded, with a little eflfort when 

 out on calls and visits, in getting up clulis for 

 this paper, thus securing in clubs of five, a 

 copy free, in etfect. They pronounce the work 

 remarkably easy to do, toi' the handsome paper, 

 its instructive engravings, its miuss of informa- 

 tion, and then its low jn'ice make foi' it friends 



at once. But we net>d many more clubs liefore 

 our quota of ."i(l,(KIII sidwcribers is full. Will 

 not you, reader, help along the goo<l work ; 

 Single subscrii)tions (Id cents. In clubs of five 

 and upwards, .')(> cents each. 



COWSLIPS IN JANUARY. 



The Fan Palm, Lnlania Honrlnmivii. illus- 

 ti'ated opposite, is one of the best known of 

 all the Palms. It is suitable as a window plant, 

 or for summer decoration in the open ground, 

 and no collection of greenhouse plants is con- 

 sidered complete without one or morejjlants of 

 it. Under gla.ss it sometimes reaches the height 

 of twelve or more feet ; but it cannot be said 

 that its beauty increases with size. In fact as 

 it acquires age, it loses the compactness of 

 form, which is one of its greatest charms when 

 young. The Palm-leaf fans so familiar every- 

 where ai-e made from its leaves. 



It is indeed gratifying to the publishers and 

 editors who are working hard to make this 

 paper what it is, to see the interest taken by 

 its many friends in swelling the subscription 

 list of Popular Gardenlng. We oui-selves 

 have never set our expectations higher than 

 .iO.Olin subscribers at the end of one yeai". But 

 many of om- subscribers are so elated over the 

 worth and popularity of the paper, that they 

 are anxious we shall have twice as many sub- 

 scribers in that time. And a most hopful sign 

 is. that they ai'e seconding their good wishes 

 by their good work, iu securing for the paper 

 many subscribers. 



Chrysanthemums can easily be grown from 

 seed by anyone whti cares for this sort of thing. 

 The seeds are procurable of the seedsman, and 

 may be sowni during January or February. 

 They will soon sprout, and by spring will make 

 plants of about equal strength with good ones 

 struck from cuttings in March. Then treat 

 as you would those from cuttings, up until 

 fl(jwering. But the flowers of plants raised 

 from seed will prove to be very inferior as a 

 rule, to the named sorts from cuttings. There 

 is, however, to many people, a charm iu rais- 

 ing seedlings which no one knows for the life 

 of them how they will come out, that more than 

 ott'sets the lack in the quality of the bloom. 



The Isle of Natal,near the southern extremity 

 of Africa, is almost the perfect home of flowers. 

 No frosts ever blast vegetation here. Roses 

 of such fine sorts as Souvenir de la Malmai- 

 sou grow to the height of ten feet in the 

 open air, and are loaded with magnificent 

 flowers. Tulips, Narcissus, and hosts of 

 garden flowers we here prize, grow wild along 

 the roadside. Oleanders and Myrtles are 

 so common that their wood is usetl for fuel, 

 Dracsena and Yucca reach the stature of trees. 

 The Passiflora, Bougainvillea and Tacsonia. 

 which are grown in the north under glass, 

 climb the stat<?ly Olive trees and crown the 

 highest roofs of the buildings. 



Japanese Maples in Pots. In some parts of 

 England these are thus grow n with satisfactory 

 results. It now seems certain that they are 

 not to l)e lelied upon as hardy trees for com- 

 mon culture with us. But being small of size, 

 and hence adajited to growth in jiots, there is 

 no reason that we can see, why they should not 

 l.M' much emjjloyed in this shape. They could 



be wintered in the cellar or ou1>house, some- 

 thing like Oleanilei's. So far as their orna- 

 mental value is concerned, nothing can exceed 

 the showiness and divei-sitv of their foliage in 

 its range from bronzy black to the most fiery 

 crimson. With some size, these Maples afforil 

 the most striking forms of leaf-coloring our 

 gardens possess. 



Morning Glories. This subject may appear 

 unseasonable nou, but we may at least recall 

 the l>eauty of these flo\\"crs in jiast sea.sons,and 

 plan for their use in the<'omingone. Mrs. Ella 

 (i. Campbell, owner and manager of large 

 greenhouses in Cleveland, Olno, and surrounded 

 by a large collection of <;hoice flowers, fiiuls en- 

 joyment in turning to t he simple lieauty of these 

 vines. She wrote to us of their use in this 

 strain lately. " One of the most beautiful fea- 

 tures our place is its vines. Mother has built 

 screens and aivhes and covered fences, bams, 

 chicken-houses, as well as the house with vines. 

 And at the present writing the Morning (ilories 

 are indeed in their glory. An old greenhouse 

 chinmey in ruins, is a living monument to their 

 beauty combined with several screens and the 

 fences near by, all covered with the same." 



Cover the Lilies. A number of our fine Lil- 

 ies, the little L. tennuifolium for example, are 

 natives of northern latitudes like Siljeria, yet 

 they as a rule ijrove tender with us. Why is 

 this; Simply be<'ause in their home, although 

 the winters are nmch colder than with us, they 

 ai'e well protected by that best of winter cov- 

 ers — snow from fall until spring. Once there 

 is a coat of snow on the ground in the fall, iu 

 those northern regions, it never leaves until 

 the general break-up of the next season. Let 

 us ib'aw our lesson, and apply a cover over the 

 choice Lilies to imitate a heavj' coat of snow. 

 Let it be earth, coal ashes or straw ; if of the 

 two former, bank it up somewhat heaping to 

 shed excessive wetness. It is not so much from 

 hard frost, as from alternate freezing and 

 thawing, that Lilies and things of similar 

 nature suffer. 



Improved Floriculture. What is the use of 

 it; The naturalists claim that nature produces 

 no bad work, the roughest weeds are really the 

 equals in pure beaut.y to the finest florists flow- 

 ers, hence, to improve is to waste time and 

 labor. To this the favorite flowers, the im- 

 proved garden fruits, vegetables, and many 

 things besides join in giving answer. Thej' 

 say: the use of art is the improvement of 

 nature. That to accept nature « ithout the im- 

 provements that art has made, would be to live 

 on wild berries and crouch in nakedness iu any 

 cave that would ort'er shelter from the weather. 

 It is through the improvement of nature by 

 the hand of man, that we have obtained not 

 alone improved flowei-s, and other jiroducts of 

 the garden, but even our bi-ead and clothing, 

 and the very artificial thing called a house. 

 Will our ultia-natnralists be consistent and 

 in all things accept what nature offei-s, nn- 

 marred by the arts of man's busy hands; 



In cleaning Ivies, (Jleanders and like plants 

 that ai-e subject to scale insects, peojjle often 

 wonrler why a new lot of these pests show up 

 so soon after the ta.sk, taking the place of those 

 cleaned away. Plain enough: the means em- 

 ployed for destroying these were not effective 

 ao'ainst the young broods, so small as to escape 

 detection, when the plants were gone over. 

 Now to prevent just such vexatious hap]K'n- 

 ings, we use water in wa.shing plants, that is 

 shari^ened to about 120 of heat, and by the 

 addition of tobacco juice to give it a color like 

 weak tea. or else whale oil or common soap, to 

 create suds freely. Such a liquid starts up 

 young and old alike, and the former if they 

 should not hapiMui to lie brushed away, l>ecause 

 overlooked, are not likel.\- to settle back and 

 thrive. Some advocate the use of hot water 

 alone, we prefer the aildition of eithei- toliacco 

 or soap. The washing thoroughly done, then 

 wait a little, after whii'h <lrcni'h oH' tl»> strong 

 licpiid with clean water. 



