BEAUTIFUL GARDENS IN AMERICA 



the last of April; late Tulips May 10; Lilies-of- the- Valley 

 May 15; German Iris May 22 (florentina alba a trifle 

 earlier); and by May 25 Lupins, Columbine, Pyrethrum 

 hybrid, and Oriental Poppies, etc., arrive; Roses, Peonies, 

 etc., about June 1; Sweet William, Anchusa, and their 

 companions June 5; Campanula medium June 15; Del- 

 phinium June 20; Hollyhocks July 1 or a few days earlier. 

 At the eastern end of Long Island Tulips, Lily-of-the- 

 Valley, Roses, shrubs and tree foliage appear about a 

 week later than the same near the city of New York. In 

 our extremely variable climate it is impossible to have 

 fixed dates for the opening of bloom. It must depend upon 

 whether spring is early or late, which sometimes causes a 

 difference of a week or ten days in the appearance of the 

 flowers. Lily-of-the-Valley and German Iris seem less 

 affected by variable springs than other plants. It is per- 

 fectly safe near Manhattan Island to plant out tender 

 annuals May 25, and many venture it by May 15. Kill- 

 ing frost may be expected between October 1 and Novem- 

 ber 1 rarely earlier than October 1. 



Forty-five miles north of the city of New York, in 

 such higher altitudes as Mount Kisco or Tuxedo Park, the 

 spring opens about a week later. Within this radius of 

 the city the summer thermometer occasionally rises above 

 seventy-eight degrees, and in winter it may average pos- 

 sibly thirty to forty degrees above zero; only a few days 

 know zero weather, and rarely does it drop below. At least 

 once a winter there will come a period of weather as mild 



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