1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



1 1 



I should like to nuike my liual note to con- 

 cern the Gladiolus. This is the most won- 

 derful of recent additions t<> our gardens — 

 wonderful from its adaptation to variations 

 throujj;!! crosses. I have several hundred 

 seedlings and among them are two doubles 

 and one that holds its flowers upright like a 

 Tulip. This set includes besides some oth- 

 ers of the finest I have ever seen. It takes 

 three and four years to bring the seed to 

 flowering; the poorer and coarser sorts in- 

 variably blooming first. The Gladiolus has 

 the great advantage of 

 blooming through three 

 months, and those three " 

 that most lack in flores- 

 cence. Plant the bulbs 

 in succession in May 

 and June, the smaller 

 bulbs first and you will 

 have flowers from July 

 SOth to heavy frosts. To 

 keep them through win- 

 ters, dig and thoroughly 

 dry: then put away out 

 of reach of both damp 

 and frost. If not well 

 dried they will sprout 

 and spoil. 



imaginable shades of colors during the 

 summer. No garden can be considered 

 complete without them, in view of the vari- 

 ous positions for whicli they are adapted. 

 They are most useful either tor the adorn- 

 ment of house and garden walls, brighten- 

 ing old stumps, covering and beautifying 

 old buildings, rockeries and ruins. They 

 will also climb over trellises or up snaggy 

 poles, and therefore may be employed in 

 any position where a summer screen is 

 wanted ; and last, but not least, they are 



Flowers for Table 

 and Exhibit. 



Nature is a great 

 teacher; the trottble is 

 that we do not always 

 heed her lessons. How 

 pleasing, for in.stauee, is 

 her own disjjlay of flow- 

 ers, as we see it in a 

 well-grown plant in the , - - 

 border or in the green- 

 house. Compared with _ ^j- 

 this, how strained, im- 

 natural and artificial 

 appears the usua 1 

 crowded arrangement of flowers in bou- 

 quets, vases, etc., on the dinner or exhibi- 

 tion table. Nature never crowds flowers, 

 and our best florists have taken the hint, 

 and will make tasty bouquets with one-third 

 of the flowers that most amateurs would 

 use for the same sized bouquets. 



A block cut out of wood and bored full 

 of holes, as shown in our Illustration, may 

 be very useful in helping the amateur to 

 cultivate this principle of natiu-al flower 

 arrangement. Indeed we consider it a most 

 excellent device, simple, cheap and efficient. 

 The appearance of the flowers thus arranged 

 (see illustration) can not help to impress 

 the beholder favorably, as everything will 

 that is natural and free from artificial stiff- 

 ness. 



The Clematises : History and Uses. 



FRANCLS FELL, LONDON, ENG€.AN1>. 



Considering the abundance of varied and 

 beautiful material which we now possess 



FORM FOR TABLE PIECE. 



for covering walls, the wonder is that we 

 ever find any that is bare, especially as they 

 are so unsightly in a landscape scene. 

 Climbers of any sort, whether on the 

 humblest cottage or on the castle wall, are 

 always very pleasing, and all the more so 

 where there is a happy combination of flow- 

 ers and foliage. What could be more beau- 

 tiful than a wall covered with various 

 climbers, such as Clematises, the popular 

 Ampelopsis Veitchi, and others ? 



Clematises are the prettiest of all climb- 

 ers, and produce a wealth of flowers in aU 



TABLE FLORAL PIECE IN THE NATURAL STYLE. 



adapted for bedding purposes, and an en- 

 hancing efiiect can be produced when 

 ! judiciously associated. 



Some of the more tender kinds, with 

 ornamental evergreen foliage, can be suc- 

 cessfully used for the decoration of green- 

 houses, conservatories and glazed corridors- 

 Indeed, large quantities of Clematis 

 indivisa and C. indivisa lobata are now 

 largely gro^vn in England for cutting pur- 

 poses. The beautiful pure-white, star- 

 shaped, sweet-scented flowers are produced 

 in endless succession, and hundreds of 

 flowers can be cut from a single plant. For 

 floral decorations either single flowers or 

 large branches can be used, and are never 

 out of place, as white, sweetly-fragrant 

 flowers are always highly appreciated. 



There are, however, many other charming 

 varieties fit for indoor cultivation. As not 

 everyone who is fond of flowers is in posses- 

 sion of a greenhouse, we will keep in view 

 the hardy section mainly. 



The Clematis, or Virgin Bower, botanic- 

 ally considered, belongs to the order Ranun- 

 culaeea?, which is typified by such well- 

 known flowers as the Buttercup of our 

 meadows, and the gorgeous Anemones of 

 our flower gardens. According to history 

 they have been cultivated in our gardens 

 ever since the end of the sixteenth century. 



The species of Clematis are very numer- 

 ous, as the scientific records give a total of 

 about 230 different species. Of these South 

 America produces 3.S, Central America and 

 the West Indies, between them, 9, and North 

 America about 35, many of the latter having 

 found their way into our gardens. In 

 Europe some 17 species are found, chiefly 

 occurring in the southern and eastern 

 regions. Some 4^ are of Indian origin, 9 are 

 Japanese, and one reaches westward to 

 Persia ; about 30 comprising some of the 

 finest of the species come from China and 



.Japan, U from Siberian regions, and 3 from 

 the Fiji Islands. From Africa we have 

 some 14 species, natives of the tropical 

 mainland; 4 others come from South Africa, 

 while one or two are of the European 

 species. Clematis Flammula, for example, 

 extends into North Africa ; (i species are 

 found in Madagascar. New Holland and New 

 Zealand yield their quota, the flora of the 

 former with l.'j, that of the latter .5 species. 



The improvements of late year on the old 

 and better known sorts are really astonish- 

 ing, and no one can 

 form an idea of their 

 striking beauty unless 

 he has seen them grow- 

 ing to perfection. Many 

 of the new varieties 

 have immense flowers, 

 meastiring six to nine 

 inches across, in almost 

 every shade of color- 

 white, blue, red, rose, 

 crimson, purple, violet, 

 lavender, etc., etc. 

 Some of them are 

 striped and veined in 

 the most exquisite 

 manner. 



Uses in G.\rdens.— 

 As standards for lawns, 

 nothing can be more 

 enhancing as a floral 

 picture when grown on 

 [)arasol-shaped trainers 

 about five feet high and 

 ai ranged in lines with 

 standard plants of Acer 

 uegunda variegata of 

 the same height. It is 

 almost impossible to 

 _,__ overestimate the gorge- 



ous effect which they 

 are capable of produc- 

 ing when thus ar- 

 ranged. The never-ending thousands of 

 various sorts of Clematis blooms, and the 

 bright, leafy splendor of the variegated 

 Acer, form a rich combination of flowers 

 and foliage, the beauty of which no words 

 can express. 



Groups entirely devoted to Clematises in 

 prominent positions in the garden form 

 admirable objects. These groups should be 

 of an irregular character, and the plants 

 should be planted on raised mounts about 

 two feet high and six to eight feet apart. At 

 some convenient time after planting, and 

 before the necessity of training has arisen, 

 the poles should be placed about the plants. 

 The manner of doing this may be according 

 to taste. A single pole, well provided with 

 short, lateral branches, may be inserted, 

 and the plant trained about this ; or, three 

 poles or ornamental irons may be set so as 

 to form a pyramid, should it be preferred. 

 (To be Conrhidetl.) 



I,;3(i0. Lily of the Valley. For open-air cul- 

 ture it should be given a deep moderately en- 

 riched soil and a partially shaded situation. 

 Plant as early in th(^ autum as possible, and pro- 

 tect the first winter with a co\erin{f of coarse 

 manure or Evergreen branches. In planting 

 keep the pips about four inches apart each way. 

 — Chas. E. Parnell. 



1.376. Oladiolns. I would take the bulbs, 

 upon a dry day about the end of October, clean 

 them off, place in bo.ves, and store in a dry frost- 

 proof cellar for the winter. Don't pack them in 

 sand or anything else.— C. E. P. 



1,37.5. New Nasturtinm. There is a variety of 

 the Tom Thumb section named "Chameleen," 

 the flowers of which are i«culiarily marked with 

 crimson, bronze and golden yellow.— C. E. P. 



1.377. White Tulip, La Candeur is the best 

 double-white Tulip with which I am acquainted. 

 — C. E. Parnell. 



1,382. Booseberry Cnlttu-e. There is no treatise 

 or publication on this sub,iect. Downing's 

 Fruits of America contains a chapter giving 

 full particidars as to their culture, etc.— C. E. P. 



