190 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 1907 



is a greater enemy of the cultivated 

 garden than frost. After the squill 

 has come well into bloom it is quite 

 usual to find that the dwarf dark blue iris, 

 Iris reticulata, beats the early tulips by 

 toming into flower the first or second 

 week in May. 



DWARF HARDY IRISES 



The elevation of Pilot Mound is 1,550 

 feet above sea level, and, therefore, such 

 places as Winnipeg and Morden, and all 

 bush-sheltered spots, produce flowers a 

 little earlier in the season, often two 

 weeks earUer. This dwarf blue iris is a 

 miniature "flag." Its little sword-like 

 leaves push upwards, but, before they 

 have pushed more than an inch or two, 

 up come the flower buds three or four 

 inches high, which stand frost quite 

 hardily — not so the fully-opened flowers, 

 which may turn black with any sharp, 

 untimely frost. I suggest that there are 

 other dwarf hardy irises which would 

 be an addition to our early blooming 

 perennials, such for instance as the pale 

 blue Iris stylosa. The best collection of 

 these dwarf kinds is grown by Messrs. 

 Barr, of King St., Covent Garden, Lon- 

 don, Eng. Now that so many Mani- 

 tobans run over to the Old Country and 

 back, how would it be if some of them 

 could remember to bring over a few 

 dormant roots of these or any other per- 

 ennials ? I refer to such kinds as are not 

 listed in our local catalogs, which 

 should always be patronized in prefer- 

 ence to those of outside growers. We 

 Manitoban gardeners ought to support 

 the efforts of our home horticulturists; 

 but in order to avoid being merely 

 provincial ourselves, let us keep our eyes 

 wide-awake. It will do our home pro- 

 fessionals no harm if they know that 

 the amateurs send for the catalogs of the 

 leading horticulturists of the Old Coun- 

 try and the United States, and as a rule 

 the home horticulturists have the pull 

 over all others in the matter of hardy 

 roots and shrubs. 



THE TULIP IN THE WEST 



But to get back to our bulbs, we come 

 to the important tulip epoch in our 

 gardener's year, which commences about 

 May 15 at this elevation. How 

 beautifully the early Due van Thol scar- 

 lets blaze, how golden the yellow of the 

 Chrysolora tulip, and how dazzling are 

 the late tulips named after old Gemer, 

 who waxed enthusiastic about them 450 

 years ago ! The tulip is a perennial of 

 great value. It also belongs to the 

 "aged class" when one considers that 

 the average bulb is seven years old as 

 sold commercially. This information 

 startles those ingenious folk who are so 

 anxious for you to "save them some 

 seed." Tulip bulbs will last more than 

 a year, especially if they are of the "Old 

 English" type, but you must not dis- 

 turb their roots much; it is better to 

 leave them where you first plant them, 



and protect them well each fall with 

 straw, leaves, or brush, so arranged that 

 the wind cannot blow the protective 

 material away. Even supposing you 

 want to plant annuals in the same bed, 

 you can easily manage that. 



When you put them in some time in 

 October — the earUer the better — plant 

 your tulips six inches deep and six 

 inches apart ; that is easy to remember. 

 A tulip should be put in not less than 

 four inches deep, preferably six inches, 

 because that depth suits this climate 

 better and because, when you come to 

 plant your annual seedHngs into a tulip 

 bed, you can do so without interfering 

 with the bulbs beneath. The result is 

 very satisfactory, provided the bed has 

 been thoroughly prepared in the fall. 

 The power of bulbs to stand frost and 

 drought is a verj' curious faculty. 

 Think of the prairie lily bulb, which is 

 usually found three or four inches below 

 the surface. One-half of the year it is 

 frozen soUd, and the other half it is al- 

 ternately wet and then dry as a bone 

 externally. Tulips seem to approach 

 the prairie lily in hardiness, but do not 

 bloom as well the second season as the 

 first. 



THE BLEEDING HEART 



So much for tulips. In June you may 

 look for the blooming of that splendid, 

 fleshy-rooted, almost bulbous-rooted 

 plant, the bleeding heart — we used to 

 call it "duck's bill" when I was a boj'. 

 It is a noble plant, rising two or three 

 feet above the ground in graceful sprays 

 of leaves spreading from its fleshy red 

 stalks. Grow your bleeding heart where 

 the wind cannot tear it ; allow it lots of 

 room in a partially shaded spot with a 

 fair allowance of moisture; but beware 

 of letting greedy growers like the achil- 

 lea compete with it or you will find that 

 in the struggle for existence they will 

 bleed your bleeding heart. 



I am not wishing to use the scientific 

 names of plants more than I can help, 

 but it is here necessary to mention that 

 this beautiful plant is known botanically 

 as Dicentra spectabilis. There is a - 

 miniature relative of the bleeding heart 

 which has no popular name, but is 

 known as Dicentra eximia. It has this 

 advantage that, though it is smaller and 

 less handsome than its larger relation, 

 it blooms quite two or three weeks 

 earlier and is perfectly hardy. 



In some catalogs you will be at- 

 tracted by the boasted earliness of three 

 bulbs, the snowdrop, the crocus, and the 

 glory-of-the-snow, Chionodoxa. It is 

 stated that their flowers follow close on 

 the disappearance of the snow. Well, 

 snow in Manitoba goes any time from 

 the end of March to the third week in 

 April, and whenever I have planted these 

 bulbs they never flower earlier than the 

 last week of May, and usually come out 

 a little later. In this climate and at 



aH 



this elevation these three irregular, 

 uncertain bloomers, quite unlike tulips, 

 which are certain starters undeterred by 

 frost. They are quite desirable when 

 they do come to maturity, but they 

 bloom during the tulip period which 

 lasts six weeks if you plant earlier, mid- 

 dle blooming and late tulip bulbs. 



All bulbous and bulbous-rooted plants, 

 and, in fact, nearly all perennials, an 

 the better for a good covering of snow in 

 the winter and a light covering of straw 

 or strawy manure in the fall to prevent 

 their springing too early in the danger- 

 ous time all through April. At that 

 time, after a hot, mid-day sun, keen 

 frosts blacken the growing crown or 

 spike of any precious plant. 



IRISES IN VARIETY 



Coming now to the tall iris tribe, it 

 satisfactory to be able to recommend al 

 the varieties of this handsome class, 

 whether English, German, Spanish, or 

 Japanese. Our French friends some- 

 times style them "les fleurs-de-lis," and 

 quite often they are known as "flags." 

 Bravely do they brandish their sword- 

 like leaves against whatever winds may 

 blow; but the graceful jointed flower 

 stems are too tall to stand very strong 

 blasts. More delicate still are the lovely 

 veined and bearded flowers which are 

 blackened and curled if knocked about 

 by heavy winds. Therefore, they do 

 better when protected by shrubs and 

 hedges, especially if planted in moist 

 places. In warmer climates one often 

 sees irises doing well with roots half 

 showing, but here it is well to have 

 them, an inch or two below the surface. 



THE VALUE OF THE PEONY 



Another fleshy-rooted perennial of 

 the first importance is the peony, which 

 comes into bloom just as tulips are going 

 out of fashion at the end of June. There 

 is nothing course about the modem 

 peony: its flowers are large, numerous, 

 glowing with color, and often sweetly 

 scented, while its glossy green leaves are 

 ornamental long after the flowers have 

 blown. It is a plant as simple to grow 

 as it is hardy. Treat it just as a careful 

 gardener treats good rhubarb, exactly 

 the same except as to position. The, 

 peony should have a place of honor, but 

 do not let it be grown on a wind-swept 

 spot or its large, heavy blooms will be 

 spoiled. When your peonies bloom, you 

 want to have calm, sunny days with 

 showers interspersed, so that the tightly 

 packed knobby buds may unwrap until 

 they become white balls of petals cen- || 

 tred red, or globes of brilliant crimson ' 

 or oddly-striped rosettes swinging out 

 of the abundant leafage. 



A driveway well sheltered with trees 

 and ornamental bushes is an ideal spot ^ 

 for planting peonies, but they will do > 

 well in beds where they have lots of f' 

 room. After moving peonies, you must |^ 

 not expect them to flower until^at least '■■ 



