I02 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1909 



A Few Wild Elowcrs Suitable for Cultivation 



E. Byfidd, Toronto 



OUR woods, fields and waysides fur- 

 nish an abundance of humble, 

 though none the less true, friends 

 — flowers in their natural state, to whose 

 simple, delicate beauty the flower lover 

 may turn with pleasure from the wonder- 

 ful creations of the plant wizard. In a 

 short article like this, I must, of necessi- 

 ty, omit mention of all but a very few, 

 and of these I shall speak only of those 

 that will with a little care readily adapt 

 themselves, if we choose to adopt them in 

 our gardens. 



I shall begin with that bright, little, 

 early spring firstling, the hepatica. Run- 

 ning from white through every shade of 

 pink into blue and purple, these dainty 

 little star-shaped flowers completely carpet 

 the ground where they are permitted to 

 grow and propagate themselves. Flow- 

 ering at the same time comes the mer- 

 tensia, though not nearly so well known. 

 It grows about a foot high, sending up a 

 loose spike of pinkish buds that open out 

 into bells of the most exquisite purplish 

 blue, changing later to light blue. The 

 owner of any garden might well be proud 

 of these spring beauties that will run a 

 race with his snowdrops and crocuses to 

 see which will be out first. 



Before these have entirely disappeared, 

 the trillium, the bloodroot and the clay- 

 tonin are well in bloom. The first is so 

 well known as to need no description. The 

 .second is so beautiful that it is a great 

 pity it is not better known. A pure 

 white, poppy-like flower, an inch to an 

 inch and a half across, with a rich golden 

 centre, it is one of our loveliest flowers. 

 The claytonia sends up a spike of about 

 six inches crowned with several white or 

 pinkish little bells. When I was a boy 

 the woods in May were so covered with 

 these dainty little clusters that you could 

 not place your foot on the ground with- 

 out crushing several. Now, only here 

 and there in the settled part of the pro- 

 vince, can these be found. 



With the exit of these, come the 

 late May and June flowers, taller and de- 

 cidedly showy. Among these I would 

 place first our own wild phlox ; where al- 

 lowed to colonize, it literally overshadows 

 everything else in color. The eye seems 

 to take in nothing but the lilac-blue that 

 is everywhere present, while the air is 

 filled with its fragrance. At the same 

 time we have our wild columbine, for- 

 tunately so well known as to need no de- 

 scription, as no description could do it 

 justice. If you want to see it send up a 

 strong stalk three feet high and covered 

 with great bunches of drooping ruby 

 flowers, just plant a root in a moderately 

 rich corner of your garden. 



Two of our three Canadian lilies bloom 

 in June — the red, or flame lily, and the 

 meadow or field lily, which is yellow. 



The third, the turk's cap, blooms in July, 

 and is of various hues of red and orange. 

 In the wild state it grows four to five 

 feet high, but under cultivation it will 

 grow much taller. I have had one in my 

 garden to send up, year after year, two 

 stalks from the same bulb over eight feet 

 high and crowned with forty lilies, all 

 looking down apparently in silent wonder 

 at the strange beings beneath who were 

 looking up in wonder, not so silent, into 

 their faces. 



In July, also, we have those two gor- 

 geous scarlet or vermillion flowers, the 

 cardinal flower and bergamot, the bright, 

 flame-like colors of which nothing can 

 surpass. We have also the solomon 

 seals, true and false, with dainty white 

 flowers, the former at the tips of the 

 stem, the latter in the axils of the leaves. 

 Although the flowers are unpretentious, 

 the deep bright green of the graceful 

 foliage amply compensates. About this 

 time also comes the butterfly weed or 

 orange milkweed, the most beautiful of 

 all the family. 



August ushers in the sunflowers and 

 rudbeckias, filling the fields and woods 

 with golden yellow, while September 

 brings us the bright golden rod and the 

 more sombre aster. Of the latter, the 

 varieties would seem to be almost end- 

 less from the dainty little star-like clus- 

 ters of white and pink to the gorgeous 

 purples and reds of the New England 

 varieties. I have sent to four distant 

 places for much advertised rare novelties 

 of hardy asters only to find when they 

 bloomed, that we had the identical plants 

 growing wild in our neighborhood. 



Have you a shady corner in your gar- 

 den where on account of insufficient sun- 

 light you have not been able to get any- 

 thing to grow satisfactorily? Well, try 

 a few of these wild denizens of the wood 

 and include with them a liberal supply 

 of ferns also from the wood, and your 

 shady corner will soon be considered 

 the cosy corner of the garden. 



The Best Twenty-four Annuals* 



A. W. Anoandale, Toronto 



My selection of the best twenty-four 

 annuals for this district, is as follows : 

 Asters, stocks, verbena, balsams, phlox, 

 convolvulus, sweet peas, candytuft, dian- 

 thus, salpiglossis, mignonette, nastur- 

 tium, sweet alyssum, marigold, antirrhin- 

 um, scabiosa, eschscholtzia, nicotiana, 

 petunia, poppy, zinnia, centaurea, calH- 

 opsis (or coreopsis), sun flower chrys- 

 anthemum. 



There are a large number of hardy 

 annuals that are not included in this 

 list, which are well worthy of mention 

 and are perfectly hardy. They are not 



'Extract from a paper read at a meetinK of 

 the Toronto Horticnltural Society. 



grown to any extent here, as they are so 

 little known. The following are a few of 

 them : Adonis, clarkia, godetia, nigella, 

 lavatera, hibiscus, Amaranthus splen- 

 dens and gypsophila, which is a grand 

 thing for cutting and mixes splendidly in 

 bouquets. 



All hardy annuals are easily cultivated. 

 For early flowering, sow about March 

 20th in boxes two inches deep. If sown 

 too early the plants usually grow spindly, 

 and one can never get as good results. 

 Sow in a greenhouse or a hotbed in a 

 temperature of fifty to sixty degrees, and 

 cover the seeds about three times their 

 own depth with fine soil. Large seeds, 

 such as balsam, sunflower and zinnia 

 should be covered half an inch deep, 

 while small seeds such as salpiglossis, 

 petunia and nicotiana' need not be cov- 

 ered at all, just pressed into the soil with 

 • a piece of glass. A common mistake in 

 sowing flower, as well as other seeds, is 

 covering too deeply. Press the surface 

 firmly with a piece of board or glass, 

 water with a fine spray and do not allow 

 the soil to dry out. 



The most suitable soil in which to sow 

 seeds of the smaller kinds is a fine, rich, 

 sandy loam, made up of well-rotted sods 

 from an old pasture, thoroughly decom- 

 posed barnyard manure and sand. After 

 the seeds are up, care must be taken to 

 give them plenty of air and moisture, 

 and yet not too much water, as they will 

 be liable to damp off. 



Centaurea, candytuft and poppy suc- 

 ceed best if sown where they are to re- 

 main and the same applies to convolvu- 

 lus. These varieties, being of the tap- 

 rooted nature, are somewhat hard to 

 transplant. 



Mignonette succeeds best in a semi- 

 shaded position. Once it comes into 

 flower, be sure and keep picking, or it 

 will run to seed and lose its usefulness. 



As soon as the seedlings are large 

 enough, transplant into larger pots or 

 boxes, one inch apart each way, and 

 when the weather permits (usually about 

 May 24th) plant outside in the open 

 ground. 



Seed can also be sown out-of-doors 

 when danger from frost is over. The 

 soil should be well pulverized and the 

 seed covered lightly. Thin out to one 

 foot apart as soon as the plants are large 

 enough to be handled, and cultivate 

 often. Cultivation is half the battle. 

 Water occasionally if the season be dry, 

 but by more cultivation and less use of 

 the hose, one will have better success. 

 Most people use the hose too liberally. 



The lawn should be mowed often to get 

 a body in the turf. 



For use in a small garden, it is not 

 necessary to have a great stock of tools. 

 Have a good spading fork and a spade. 

 Three other important tools are a ■ rake, 

 a hoe and a trowel. 



