Notes a7id Gleanitigs. 369 



purple fruits. Drinking-saloons, political arena, "et hoc," hold forth no induce- 

 ments for the genuine lover of the golden fruits, 



" Which drop as gentle airs come by 

 That fan the blue Seplember sky." 



I fear this article is getting tedious. Please let my acknowledged weakness 

 for fine fruits be an excuse. William H. Mills. 



Hamilton, Ontario. 



Summer Flowers. — For every man's garden, the plants for satisfaction, 

 continuous bloom, and ease of culture, are, after the rose, the perennial phlox, 

 the gladiolus, the tropceolum, the geranium, the aster, the Svveet-William, Japan 

 Lily, petunia, tritoma, hollyhock, zinnia, and stock. 



The tropasolum in variety is my pride. Delicate, fragrant, floriferous, continu- 

 ous, it asks the poorest soil you can afford, and just enough culture to pull out 

 the interloping weeds. It will not do to call it nasturtium (which it is not), nor to 

 allow that its seeds are fit for pickles, if you wish to make it popular. But ex- 

 amine these beds, and tell me if for gayety and sweetness they can be surpassed, 

 — hues varying ft-om brightest scarlet, orange-yellow, and deep crimson, to mauve 

 and lemon and spotted ; always a sheet of bloom ; always a rich green bed of 

 vegetation for ground. Pick all you care for : the beds are never exhausted. I 

 would rather have a handful of these refreshing, cheerful, and sweet flowers 

 than a peck of dahlias. Art has improved the varieties, until not only in color, 

 but in shading, lining, spottings, and tints, the tropseolum rivals the carnation: 

 in delicacy it surpasses that flower. I always reserve two or three beds without 

 manure, and of the poorest soil, for my favorite ; for it positively refuses to 

 bloom under high culture. Vegetable beds pass quite out of the prosaic when 

 bordered with the common tropaeolum ; nor does it quite spoil the romance to 

 gather a pot of pickles from the abundant seeds. 



The gladiolus lias received high praise, but by no means high enough. Al- 

 most hardy, easily kept in a warm, dry place, you can have it in bloom from July 

 till November. Begin to plant the bulbs late in March, or as soon as the ground 

 opens, and continue at intervals till June. I always select those bulbs for first 

 planting that are the most developed, and keep on planting as the sprouts show 

 it to be necessary. If stored in the dark, they can be kept till the last of June 

 without damage. And then how completely is delicacy blended with brilliancy 

 and gorgeousness ! Plant them close together in groups, or separately, or 

 mingled with other plants, and every way they are fine. They are particularly 

 fine planted in masses of tropical foliage, of cannas, ricinus, and caladiums. No 

 matter how thick the groups, there is still room for a dozen of the slim stalks of 

 gladiolus. They will bloom down to the just-formed bud, if placed in vases ; and 

 are certainly, for bouquets, unsurpassed. I intend planting next spring about 

 eight hundred bulbs in my own garden, so I may have all I want. 



Of geraniums for bedding, there is but one really excellent variety. It is the 

 Attraction, sold by Wagner (formerly Howard) of Utica.* The Attraction of 



* We do not know the geranium our correspondent values so highly ; but cannot agree with liim that 

 it is (be it as good as he describes) the one " really excellent variety." If as good as he says, it seems 

 strange it is not more generally known. — Eds. 



