152 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



A Prize Winning Deseronto Garden 



Many members of horticultural societies and readers of The Horticulturist retain a professional gardener 

 to attend to the lawns and plants. This illustration shows the grounds <)f Mrs. T. B. Gaylord, of Deseronto. In 

 the competition of the society in that town this lawn was awarded first place. 



also useful for removing the buds of 

 the dandelion flowers, thus oftentimes 

 preventing the necessity of mowing 

 them, as well as removing them before 

 there was any danger of their having 

 flowered or seeded. It was only a 

 duplicate of the old English daisy rake, 

 an implement seen on every well-kept 

 lawn in England, where good lawns are 

 one of the greatest features of the grand 

 landscape beauty so noticeable there. 



A good spring fertilizer for lawns was 

 that recommended by Mr. Alexander, of 

 Hamilton, made by mixing four or five 

 pounds of bone meal with one pound of 

 muriate of potash and sowing it thinly 

 over the lawn. The quantity mentioned 

 was sufficient for a lawn eight or ten 

 feet square. If an equal quantity of 

 dry fine earth could be added to the 

 above mixture it would add a little 

 substance and aid in the more even 

 distribution. The soil must, however, 

 be dry so as to mix thoroughly before 

 using with the fertilizer. 



The best mulch for autumn applica- 

 tion on a lawn, the speaker considered, 

 was a mixture of equal parts of well- 

 rotted barnyard manure and some fairly 

 good loamy, friable soil. This was the 

 mulch used very commonly in England, 

 and gave not only the fertilizing prop- 

 erty of a mulch, but also added a 

 permanent substance to the lawn. It 

 not only helped to enrich, but also 

 filled hollows in the surface of the lawn 

 and furnished material for any lawn 

 seeds sown in spring to germinate ancj 

 grow in. The mulch of long manure, as 

 sometimes applied in fall, was un- 

 sightly and frequently produced a big 

 crop of weeds. The earth mulch men- 

 tioned could be applied early in spring, 

 also, very effectively. 



Mr. Hunt also gave very many useful 

 hints as to the care of window plants. 



etc., during summer, care of spring 

 flowering bulbs, etc., pruning and care of 

 roses, flowering shrubs, and many other 

 seasonable matters. Numerous ques- 

 tions were asked the speaker, and 

 answered satisfactorily. 



The speaker was tendered a hearty 

 vote of thanks. At the next meeting, 

 June 5, Professor Hutt, of Guelph, will 

 discuss "Improvement of Home Sur- 

 roundings." 



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Gladioli Planting 



When should gladioli be planted? How can ; 

 have a succession of bloom ? How deep should 

 the bulbs be planted i" — H. O. S , Simcoe. 



The time of planting is in May, and 

 the blooming period from August to 

 October. I have experimented planting 

 gladioli as late as the end of June, and 

 in almost every case they have bloomed 

 in October with every success. The 

 greatest difficulty in planting in late 

 June is that the corm does not have 

 such a good opportunity to make suffi- 

 cient development to preserve it thor- 

 oughly for the following spring. The 

 flowering, however, is just as good as if 

 planted early, and perhaps if new bulbs 

 were purchased each season, better re- 

 sults in blooming would be the result, 

 with less chance of deterioration than 

 when the bulbs are preserved for another 

 season. When the leaves of the trees 

 are beginning to come out, is a good in- 

 dication that nature is ready to go 

 ahead and similar growth for the gladi- 

 olus will take place. Planting would be 

 as well to be made two to three weeks 

 apart to have a succession of bloom. 



Hy culling ihe sU-iii when tin- hot 

 torn flower has opened and placing it in 

 water the spike will produce flower^ 

 three to four times as long as if allowc-i' 

 to bkxjin altogether on the plant. Plan 

 the bulbs three inches below the surfac 

 of the ground, or if planted shallower 

 hoe the earth up to give better cIkhk i 

 for plant development. 



ScotcK XKistle on tHe La"wn 



The accompanying illustration repre 

 sents a specimen of Scotch Thistle grown 

 on the lawn of Mr. Philip Love, of 

 I'arrie. When fully matured it stood 

 10 feet high and was 7^ feet in diam- 

 eter. Some of the leaves were 4 or 5 

 feet long and 18 to 20 inches wide. 

 This fine specimen was a centre of at- 

 traction in Barrie. 



In a letter to The Horticulturist 

 Mr. Love says this plant is very slow to 

 grow. Reing a biennial, it requires two 

 years to mature. Seed planted one 

 season comes up the next, and the plant 

 makes 18 or 24 inches growth. In the 

 fall this dies, and when growth comes 



A Huge Scotch Thistle, 

 next spring it again grows and reaches 

 maturitv before winter comes. Thus, 

 to have large specimens continually, 

 young plants must be kept each year. 

 Very rich soil is required, and liberal 

 watering should be given. This ab- 

 normal specimen was grown where an 

 old water-closet had stood. In making 

 the lawn Mr. Love levelled the ground 

 and planted the thistle seed which de- 

 veloped into, what he terms, "the best 

 Scotchman ever grown in Canada." As 

 the root goes almost straight down, 

 plentv of plant food considerably below 

 the surface soil is required. Applica- 

 tions of manure water are practically 

 worthless. It should not be planted in a 

 shady place. 



