86 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



it does not send up shoots from the roots, ] their natural condition, and to nature, the 

 to interfere with all attempts at neat gar- more freely may they be emploj-ed for orna- 



dcning. It is in every way a tine looking 

 tree for large sized groimds and streets. 



mentation, if generally appropriate, without 



CARPET BEDDING.— PLANS OF TWO CIRCULAR BEDS. 



Although the Aspen is a native tree, it is 

 well known and much employed in orna- 

 mental planting throughout Europe. Per- 

 haps tlie fact that it was taken 3.000 miles 

 across the water tends to make it more popu- 

 lar there than at home, a state of things 

 quite common as regards many such matters. 

 But let us hear how one English lover of the 

 tree picturesquely referred to it some time 

 ago, in Woodn and Forests, of London. 



Every country place should have that very 

 coquette among trees, the Aspen. It seems 

 never to sleep. Its twinkling fingers are 

 playing in the air at some arch fantasy, al- 

 most without pause. If you sit at a win- 

 dow with a book, it will wink and blink 

 and beckon and coax, till you cannot help 

 speaking to it. That must be a still daj' 

 that does not see the Aspen quiver. A sin- 

 gle leaf sometimes will begin to wag, and 

 not another in the whole tree will move. 

 Sometimes a hidden breath will catch at a 

 lower branch, then, shifting, will leave that 

 still, while it shakes a topmost twig. Though 

 the air may move so .gently that your cheek 

 does not feel it, this sensitive tree 

 will seem all a shiver, and turn its 

 leaves upward with a shuddering 

 chill. It is the daintest fair}' of all 

 the trees. One should have an Aspeu 

 on every side of the house, that no 

 window should be without a diance 

 to look upon its nods and becks, and 

 to rejoice in its innocent witcheries. 



To illustrate: Grass is embellishing mater- 

 ial that is very near its natural condition. With 

 plants and flowers and arrangement of the 

 average carpet bed • it is different, they are 

 largely in the line of artificial productions. 

 It certainly is true that most of our richest 

 plants and flowers, thus used, are in their 

 improved states, the result of high artificial 

 cultivation. Now, one might devote a small 

 town lot, or any other area, up to a plat of 

 manj' acres, to grass alone, and there would 

 be nothing distasteful in the effect. But 

 plant every foot of similar areas solidly, with 

 improved plants, arranged in geometrical 

 lines, and the effect would be positivel}' 

 shocking. It is eas}- to overdo in the use 

 of the one class of materials or styles of ar- 

 rangements; not so with the other. 



This leads us to conclude that the formal 

 carpet style of bedding has its place in 

 adornment, but it must be as a minor fea- 

 ture, in the general embellishment. Bril- 

 liant and rich in its character, it is to the 

 garden what rich jewels or briglit riblions 

 are in dress, and like these must be used in 



gardener will not hesitate to emploj' substi- 

 tutes cither in kinds or in other colors, where 

 this would be desirable in adapting his 

 available planting stock to the plans given. 



Pot Hyacinths, After 

 Flowering. 



One of the commonest 

 questions asked by flower- 

 growers at this season is, 

 What shall be done with Hy- 

 acinths that have bloomed in 

 the winter indoors "? We 

 have received from !Mrs. L. 

 D. Hamlin, of Bennington, 

 Vermont, a contribution to 

 Popular G.\RDENiK(i, in 

 which she tells of her way of 

 managing such bulbs after 

 flowering. She says: 



"I cut the b!os.som stalk 

 away and keep the plant grow- 

 ing until the leaves begin to 

 decay. Then I graduall}' dry 

 off the bulbs, and later store 

 in paper bags till fall. In September I take 

 these same bulbs that had flowered in- 

 doors once, and plant in a bed of light rich 

 soil outdoors. Before winter I give a slight 

 protection of litter or leaves to the bed. The 

 bulbs thus treated will bloom the following 

 spring, thus doing double duty, and they 

 will continue to do well with little care for 

 a number of years. 



"Let me tell 3'our readers that I have 

 grown a bed in that way that is 80 feet long 

 by 4 feet in width. It now has in bud and 

 bloom 360 spikes of lovel}' Hyacinths. Some 

 of these are of immense size, and they show 

 every variety of color. 



"Growing with my Hyacinths are Daffo- 

 dils, Trimipet Narcissus, Crocus, Grape Hy- 

 acinths, Jonquils, Star Pink, Snow Drop, 

 etc. As I write all of these are in l)loom, 

 and looking very ga}' and beautiful. The 

 lied is close to the walk on Main street, and 

 is the admiration of every passer-b}'." 



Experiments made in sowing a row of 

 Peas very early in the spring, when the soil 



Carpet Bedding of Plants. 



We do not agree with those advo- 

 cates of an ultra-natural style of 

 garden-making who hold that the 

 carpet bed is wrong, both in princi- 

 ple and in taste. Neither do we 

 agree with those persons who run into the 

 other extreme, and hold that no st3'le besides 

 the formal, geometrical style of embellish- 

 ing grounds is worthy the attention of intel- 

 ligent gardeners. We take middle grounds 

 and say that all styles of gardening are right 

 in their place. 



In the use of flowers and plants of every 

 kind for embellishing purposes, tlie extent 

 to which, and the style in which any kinds 

 may be used, is to be determined by their 

 individual characters. We should observe 

 that the nearer materials and styles are to 



CARPET BEDDING.— PLAN OF AN ELONGATED BED. 



a limited degree and subordinate to some- 

 thing else that possesses less capacity for 

 ornamentation. Such beds seated here and 

 there on ample areas of lawn, and these 

 perhajjs skirted by trees and shrubs, serve 

 to embellish the parts where tliey are intro- 

 duced ver3' richl}', and here nothing could 

 be more appropriate than their presence. 



The accompanying engravings show some 

 pleasing designs for carpet beds. The names 

 of some plants that are suitable for the va- 

 rious parts are given on the plans to aid in 

 the planting. Of course the intelligent 



was in a pasty condition from wetness, re- 

 sulted in failure; a few plants only showing 

 above ground and these never became robust. 

 Seed of the same lot was later sown in dry 

 ground, at a seasonable time, and a strong 

 growth, seeminglj' a jilant from every seed, 

 and a heavy crop was the result. In germi- 

 nation, seeds need air, as well as moisture, 

 without the former rot must ensue. In the 

 desire to have the garden started early, no 

 doubt seed is sometimes sjioiled bj- injudi 

 cious planting in wet. Then the seedmau is 

 perhaps accused of selling bad seed. 



