64 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December. 



young Redwoods growing more thriftily 

 than among their giant ancestors, nearly or 

 quite as old as the Christian era? 



When a Pine forest is burned over, both trees 

 and seeds are destroyed, and as the burned trees 

 cannot sprout from the stump like (1aks and 

 many other trees, the land is left in a condition 

 well suited for the germination of tree seeds, 

 but there are no seeds to germinate. It is an 

 open field for pioneers to enter, and the seeds 

 which arrive there first have the right of posses- 

 sion. The Aspen Poplar (Populus tremuloides) 

 has the advantage over all other trees. It is a 

 native of all our northern forests, from the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific; even fires cannot eradicate 

 it, as it grows in moist as well as in dry places, 

 and sprouts from any part of the root. It is a 

 short-lived tree, consequently it seeds when 

 quite young and seeds abundantly, the seeds are 

 light, almost infinitesimal, and are carried on 

 wings of down. Its seeds ripen in spring, and 

 are carried to great distances at the very time 

 when the ground is in the best condition for 

 them. Kven on the dry mountain sides in Colo- 

 rado, the snows are just melting and the ground 

 is moist where they fall. To grow this tree from 

 seed would require the greatest skill of the nur- 

 seryman, but the burnt land is its paradise. 

 Next comes the Canoe Birch, and further north 

 the Yellow Birch, and such other trees as have 

 provision for scattering their seeds. 



Careful examination around margins of the for- 

 ests shows the trees of surrounding kinds work- 

 ing in again. Thus by the time the short-lived 

 Aspen have made a covering on the burned land, 

 the surrounding kinds will be found re-establish- 

 ed in the new forest, the seeds of the Conifers, 

 carried in by the winds, the berries by the birds, 

 the nuts and acorns by the squirrels, the mix- 

 ture varying more or less from the kinds which 

 grew there before the fire. It is wonderful how 

 far the seeds of berries are carried by birds. 

 The waxwings and cedar birds carry seeds of our 

 Tartarean Honeysuckles, Purple Barberries and 

 many other kinds, four miles distant, where we 

 see them spring up, from the lake shore, where 

 these birds fly in flocks to feed on the Juniper 

 berries. It seems to be the same everywhere. 



In the Michigan peninsula, northern Wiscon- 

 sin and Minnesota, Piuus Banksiana, a compara- 

 tively worthless tree, is replacing the valuable 

 Red Pine (P. resinosa), and in the Sierras, P. 

 Murrayana and P. tuberculata are replacing the 

 more valuable species by the same process. In 

 this case, also, the worthless trees are the short- 

 est lived, so we see that nature is doing all that 

 she can to remedy the evil. Man only is 

 reckless, and esiiecially the American man. The 

 Mexican will cut large limbs off his trees for fuel, 

 but will spare the tree. Even the poor Indian, 

 when at the starvation point, stripping the bark 

 from the Yellow Pine (P. ponderosai, tor the 

 mucilaginous matter being formed into sap- 

 wood, will never take a strip wider than one- 

 third the circumference of the tree, so that its 

 growth may not be injured. 



We often read that Oaks are springing up in 

 destroyed forests where Oaks had never grown 

 Ijefore. The writers ai-e no doubt sincere, but 

 they are careless. The only Pine forests where 

 Oaks are not intermixed are either in land so 

 sandy that Oak cannot be made to grow on them 

 at all, or so far north that they are beyond their 

 northern limit. Wherever the Oak is established 

 there it will remain and keep on advancing. 

 The Oak produces comparatively few seeds. 

 Where it produces a hundred, the Ash and Maple 

 will yield a thousand, the Elm ten thousand, and 

 many other trees a hundred thousand. The 

 acorn has no provisson for protection and trans- 

 portation like many tree-seeds. It is the only 

 seed I can think of which is left by nature to 

 take care of itself. It matures without protec- 

 tion, falls heavily and helplessy to the ground, to 

 be eaten and trodden on by animals, yet the few 

 which escape and those which are trodden under 

 are well able to compete in the race for life. 

 While the Elm and Maple seeds are drying up on 

 the surface, the Hickory and Walnuts waiting to 

 be cracked, the acorn is at work with its coatotf. 

 It drives its tap-root into the earth, in spite of 

 grass, and bush, and litter, and will manage to 

 make a short stem and a few leaves the first sea- 

 son. When age or accident removes the tree 

 which has overshadowed it, then it will assert it- 

 self. Fires may run over the land, destroying 

 almost everything else, the Oak will be killed to 

 the ground, but it will throw up a new shoot 

 next spring, and when the opportunity arrives, 

 it will make a vigorous growth. There is no 



mystery about succession of forest growths, 

 nothing in nature is so plain and simple. Reeds 

 with a hard shell, or with a pulpy or resinous 

 covering, which retarts their germination, are 

 often saved from becoming extinct by these 

 means. The Red Cedar reaches from Florida to 

 and beyond Cape Cod, has crept across the conti- 

 nent, and is found here and there in a north- 

 westerly direction between the Platte and the 

 Pacific coast. It is owing to the resinous coat- 

 ing which protects the seeds that this tree is 

 found to-day scattered over that vast region. 



Summer Blooming Flowers for 



Florists. 



lExtrcKt of paiyer by A. E. Whittle, read before the 

 American Society of Floinsts.^ 



As a rule there is a dearth of useful flow- 

 ers in early summer. It is too soon to look 

 for flowers outside from spring-sown seeds, 

 and spring-planted plants, and too late to 

 gather very much from the greenhouses. 

 Roses at this period often command as high 



DAHLIA GUABRATA. See Page 63. 



prices as during some of the winter months, 

 as florists now commence to prepare for the 

 replanting of their Rose-beds and the cro])of 

 these flowers is diminished thereby and the 

 supply decreases through the summer 

 months. Carnations also at this season are 

 not so plentiful as earlier in the year. It is 

 therefore necessary to fill ui> the gap in the 

 best way possible by preparing ahead for a 

 supply of useful flowers. 



Summer flowers, equally with those of winter, 

 to be used in florists' work, must have long stems 

 and good keeping qualities. The following is a 

 carefully prepared list of the flowers which can 

 be recommended for florists' purposes: 



May Bloomers. Oreenhmise: Gloxinias, Lapa- 

 gerias, Stephanotis, Roses, Carnations, Helio- 

 trope. Gloxinias to be had in flower for this 

 month should be potted early, not later than 

 March, and kept warm. Stephanotis may be had 

 jn flower in April if placed in a temperature of 

 not less than tiO degrees through the winter. 

 Lapagerias will continue blooming until fall, the 

 white one being very desirable. Stephanotis will 

 last through June and July. 



Frames: Pansies, Myosotis, A nemones. Mignon- 

 ette, Candytuft, Calendulas, Stocks, Pansies 

 may be had in bloom in April by sowing the seed 

 early in the preceding fall, not later than the end 

 of August. There can be no flower more useful 

 to the florist at this time of the year than Mig- 

 nonette and Candytuft. These may be had either 

 by sowing seed in the fall, prtividing the protec- 

 tion of a cold frame through the winter, or by 

 sowing in moderate hot-bed in early spring. 

 Seed of the Intermediate Stock should be sown 

 in early fall. Ten-week Stock in hot-bed or green- 

 house in March. 



itlinihs: Magnolias— stellata, conspicua, Soul- 

 angeana; Lilacs, Viburnum opulus, Peutzia gra- 

 cilis, Spirea Van Houttei— cantoniensis ; Tree 

 Pa'onies. 



Herhac^oits Plants: Trillium grandiflorum, ear- 

 ly Pu-'onles, Lily-of-the-Valley, Hesperis matron- 

 aUs, Iberis semper\nrens, Diclytra spectabilis. 



Attention is directed to the perennial Candytuft. 

 It is excellent for all purposes as cut flowers. 



June Bloomera. Oreeiihouse: Allamanda Schot- 

 tii, Lapageria, Stephanotis. Shrubs: Chionanthus 

 Virginica, Philadelphus grandiflorus, Deutzia 

 crenata fl. pi., Roses. Hardy and herbaccmis per- 

 ennials: Pseonies, German Irises, Coreopsis lan- 

 ceolata. Double Pyrethrums, Lilium tenuifolium 

 — Hansoni, candidum and longiflorum; ,Spirea 

 palmata, Cypripedium spectabile, Hemerocallis 

 flava. Delphiniums. Coreopsis lanceolata is very 

 showy and ijuite desirable. Seed should be sown 

 in July and plants wfll bloom in the following 

 spring. Lilium candidum and longiflorum may 

 be had in flower both through May and June by 

 retarding bulbs potted in late fall. 



A n nuals: Coreopsis coronota. Mignonette, Can- 

 dytuft, Alyssum, Sweet Peas, Helianthuscucum- 

 erifoUus, Asters, Stocks, Dianthus in variety. 

 Double Feverfew, Gaillardia picta, Lorenziana 

 and hybrids, Scabiosa. Among the most satisfac- 

 tory annuals for summer work must be named 

 the Gaillardiaa. They are extremely showy and 

 generally sell readily. To have them in flower in 

 .Tune, seed should be sown in February. Mr.- 

 Denys Zirngiebel, of Needham, Mass., in answer 

 to a question, kindly gives some information con- 

 cerning the early blooming of Asters. The seed 

 is sown in December, plants when up are potted 

 into two-inch and then three-inch pots, and then 

 l>lanted outside in .\pril, where if they are prop- 

 ei'ly hardened, they will endure some degrees of 

 frost. By this method Mr. Zirngiebel places As- 

 ters in the market by the middle of June. Of the 

 various forms of Asters, not one is superior for 

 florist's purposes to the Victoria strain. The 

 flowers are very handsome, of fine form, and 

 produced in great abundance. A variety called 

 Burpee's Dwarf Queen, seen growing at Glen 

 Cove, L. I. can also be highly recommended. 



There is no reason why Asters may not be had in 

 flower from June until October. All that is need- 

 ed is successive sowings of seed from December 

 until the first or second week in June. Of course, 

 the two later sowings may be drilled outside. A 

 very fine bed of Asters is now cotning into bloom 

 (August 10) from seed drilled outside the first 

 week in May. Another sowing in June will ena- 

 ble flowers to be cut until frost. It is perhaps 

 superfluous to mention to practical men that 

 strict attention must be given to the proper thin- 

 ning out of seedlings that grow from outside 

 drilled seed. The writer has no experience in ex- 

 perimenting with Asters as an inside crop. 



Asters as cut flowei-s are essential to every 

 florist, and the longer the blooming season can 

 be prolonged the better for florists in general. 



Candj-tuft is another annual that can be had at 

 any time in spring, summer and fall. All that is 

 necessary is successive sowings. The dates of 

 these sowings should be decided by each individ- 

 ual for himself. Localities differ, and what may 

 be the right time for one may very likely be the 

 wrong time for another. The aim is to direct at- 

 tention to the possibilities of a continuous supply 

 of the flowers of desirable annuals. Mr. Zirngie- 

 bel states that when Candytuft is transplanted, 

 the plants flower sooner than when the seed is 

 drilled and the seedlings, after thinning out, al- 

 lowed to remain. 



July Bloomers. Hollyhocks, Gladioluses, Hya- 

 cinthus candicans, Montbretia crocosmspflora, 

 Milla bitioi-a. Gladiolus, as is well known, may 

 be had in flower much earlier in the season. The 

 Montbretia and the Milla are both desirable. Old 

 clumps of Hollyhocks flower earlier than plants 

 from fall sown seed. A succession of these flo.w- 

 ers may be had by having some old clumps, and 

 planting every year plants raised from seed sown 

 in October. 



Perennials: Lilium candidum, longiflorum, au- 

 ratum. supcrbum; Iris K;emi)feri, Phlox decus- 

 sata— varieties, Spirea Ulmaria, fl. pi., Asclepias 

 tuberosa, Helianthus multiflorus, fl. pi.. Euphor- 

 bia corollata. Yucca fllamentosa, Lathyrus lati- 

 folius. 



August Bloomers. Slinih$: Hydrangea panicu- 

 lata grandiflora, Tamari.x Chinensis. 



MisctUanefnts : Cannas, Dahlias, Gladioluses, 

 Montbretias, Feverfew double white, Solanum 

 jasminioides— the latter in greenhouse. Some 

 florists have made quite a success in growing the 

 white dwarf Dahlia— Camellia>flora— as a fall crop 

 in the greenhouses. It is prolific, and most use- 

 ful for our work. If managed so as to have the 

 plants in full flower during the month of Octo- 

 ber, they become quite valuable, for frosts dur- 

 ing this month kill all tender outside flowers. 

 Pfic?ima!«; Liliuras in variety. Phlox panicu- 

 lata varieties, Euphorbia corollata. Anemone 



