POPULAR GARDENING 



FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE. SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOC BUT THINE."— Uiuioi 



Vol. 1. 



IFEBK-TTJ^ia-S-, 188S. 



The Chinese Primrose, 



The Garden Primroses have been favorite 

 flowers, no one can tell Jiow far liaek into 

 the ages — prol)a1)ly from the \ery liei'inuina' 

 of floriculture. Most of. the hardy species, 

 enibrat'in.i;- tlie comnwrn sort, the Cowslip and 

 the Auricula, are natives of Europe. Being 

 these, as a class, find a climate better .suited 

 to their ■nants abroad — and especially in 

 England, than with us, the^' have always 

 received more attention from the .gardeners 

 of the Old World than from our own. Still, 

 .some of the kinds are ami>ng our most val- 

 uable garden flowers. 



But with the introduction of the beautif\il 

 lender Chinese Primroses, some flft_y years 

 ago, there came into our hands 

 a class quite as desirable for 

 cultivation in America as in 

 Europe. This valuable section 

 needs the protection of glass 

 almost the year around, hence 

 the conditions of growth are 

 about as well met in one place 

 a.s in another. What the hardy 

 Primrose has for ages been as 

 an out-door flower, this tender 

 Asiaticau has proven to be for 

 in-door use, namely: Every- 

 body's flower. As a plant for 

 window culture, no less than 

 for the c o n s e r V a t o r j^, we 

 know no other one that is so 

 sure to bloom as this. From 

 the holiday season until hot 

 weather of eacli year, it is one 

 of the sorts capable of adding 

 much to the beauty and life 

 of every plant collection. 



These tender Primrose.s, so 

 far as the handsome single- 

 flowering sorts, and some of 

 the double ones, are con- 

 cerned, are easily raised from 

 the seed. This is sown in the 

 summer, and by the following winter the 

 plants raised should be of a blooming size. 



Where the raising of plants has been 

 neglected they can be bought of almost ever}- 

 florist for a small price per pot, at this season 

 of the year. In purchasing, select such as 

 have not been forced, but only exposed to the 

 heat of a cool greenhouse. If the forms of 

 the plants are dwarf, .something as .shown in 

 our engra\'ing, this may be taken as a sign 

 tliat they were well grown: choose such. 



In culture. Primroses need a light place, 

 l)ut do best in a room that is not very warm. 

 The flowers should be picked off as soon as 

 they are past their prime, as seed-bearing 

 will needlessly exhaust the plants. 



young growths will stand closely from the 

 start, to create good effects very soon. Then I 

 count upon this thinning-out process year by 

 year, to prevent the subjects from gettint,' 

 bfjdly crowded. 



By planting- closely, in well-prepared soil at 

 the first, 'one needs never to be heard saying: 

 " It takes a lifetime before such things make 

 any show." The fact is, that by such a course 

 an excellent showing may be made in shrub- 

 bery and hardy plants the verj' year of plant- 

 ing, to be gi-eatly improved by the second year 

 and later. Trees take about twice the time for 

 producing good effects that shrubs dn. 



My method of close planting is to arrange 

 the shmbs or trees that are to be- the i^erma- 



Ft'h 



Notes from Lyndale. 

 BY A. n. E. 

 'iiiirij 3. The winter and spring seasons 



never have come ai'ound since the trees and 

 shrubs at Lyndale have gotten fairly started, 

 that some thinning-out of these has not been 

 done. I believe in so planting these that the 



A FINE TYPE OF THE PRIMROSE PLANT. 



nent subjects of any group, first. These go in 

 at what seems like a good distance apart for 

 the youug specimens, say from fom- to six feet 

 apart, on an average, for shnibs, and nearly 

 thi-ee times as far for most kinds of trees. 

 Then between these I place, for shrubs, either 

 of the same kinds or else some free-growing 

 sorts, such as Sprisea, Houe3-suckles, etf., that 

 quickly become attractive. In trees, free- 

 growers, like the Poplars, Birches and Silver 

 Maples,are used as the filling-in material. Such 

 robu.st and strong growers serve also to "nurse" 

 the more delicate ones by breaking the winds. 



* * * 

 Fvbniiiry 7. Let me supplement a previous 

 note by this cautionary one ; I would never ad- 

 vise close planting excepting to those persons 

 who give enough thought and care to their 

 grounds, to see that the plantations are thor- 

 oughlj--well thinned out as needed later. A lack 

 of trees and shrubs in a gm-den is bad enough, 

 as e\eryone not devoid of taste knows, but to 

 have these standing so thick from the close- 

 planting but never-thinning system as to cause 

 excessive shade and closeness is even woi-se. I 

 say, therefore, to the careful gardener who 



gives a good deal of time and labor to keeping 

 up his place, plant close at the start and rely on 

 thinning afterwards; to those who are disposed 

 or compelled to follow a hap-hazard style of 

 gardening, do not plant too thickly. The 

 former will have the most beauty from the 

 start, but it will come, as it naturally should 

 come, from some increase of cost and care. 



*** 

 Febridirji Vo. If there is one thing more 

 than another, to which may be attributed the 

 success met at Lyndale in gardening, it is to 

 the matter of thoroughly fitting up the soil for 

 every operation. I have often heard people 

 among my visitois attribute the ill-looking 

 condition of their own flower beds to the par- 

 ticular kind of soil of the beds, as being unfa- 

 vorable. I smile at such apolo- 

 gies, for I don't much believe in 

 the bad-soil theories. 



My experience in the grow- 

 ing of flowers, vegetables and 

 fruit here, has been in all kinds 

 of soil, from clay to light sand 

 and "chawed rock." I have 

 met, if not equal success in all, 

 at any rate very good success 

 in all. My pi-eference is for a 

 loam, neither heavy nor very 

 li.ght, failing in that as I do in 

 some parts of the grounds, I 

 take what I find, knowing that 

 to render it fit for supporting 

 plant life is chiefly a matter of 

 what 1 bring to it as plant food 

 or else take from it. 



* 

 * * 



In the first place, in fitting up 



my grounds I have taken from 



every part of them except the 



bog, the excessive moisture of 



the soil, by under-draining. 



Then I have in each ease of a 



bed or border fitted up, brought 



on an ami)le stock of plant food 



in the shaiie of well-decayed 



raanm-e. To the teds in heavy 



soil I have, besides the manure, 



added sand, or coal ashes, for 



reducing the tenacious quality of the eai-th. 



To some of the beds in light soil, vegetable 



matter from depressions in a half-clearecl forest 



not far away. 



Then, I practice deep tillage, incoiiiorating 



these substances referred to, with the soil to 



the depth of at least eighteen inches. This is 



done by trenching. The roots of the plants are 



thus encouraged to extend downwai-ds and 



outwards to a gieat length. They find an 



abundance of sustenance wherever they go, 



this being the one thii.g needed for jironioting 



vigor and teauty. 1 jilant to lm\c things 



gi'ow, not to lia\e them starve. 



* 

 * * 



Fi'linidi-ij IS. To-day I made out my ne«- 



order for fruit trees and ornamental shrubs and 



plants, to sevei'al nurseries. It may be six or 



eight weeks yet In't'ore the orders can be fiUeil, 



but there is the satisfaction of knowing that to 



get them in early the orders will be fille<l early. 



1 want all luy hardy-planting stock around just 



as early after spring ujiens as possible, and 



planting to be done at the earliest day aftei- 



the soil is fit. Setting out these things several 



weeks earlier oi- later makes a gi-eat difference 



