THE GARDEN 31 



MARIGOLDS 



The marigold is not a favorite with present-day gardeners. 'Why, we 

 do not know. But the fact truly remains. 



"Whether on account of the peculiar rank odor so common to many 

 of the varieties, or whether by reason of the fact that the marigold will 

 grow like a weed almost anywhere, and, consequently, so some reason, 

 easily grown, makes it too common. 



There are deep yellows and deep velvet browns; there are striped ones 

 and fringed ones; there are single blossoms and double blossoms, and all 

 of them carry in their hearts some undying touch of gold. A bed of mari- 

 golds forms a gleaming patch in your garden that no other flower can 

 possibly equal. 



Sturdy, long-flowering, almost everlasting in their power of resist- 

 ing decay; requiring little care, little moisture, little cultivation; and self- 

 seeding — if you will let them — really the marigolds have many good points. 



No flower, however, will combine readily with any one of the varie- 

 ties of marigold. These insist on a spot apart from the "common herd." 

 Could there be any more determined aristocratic tendency? I think not. 



I think the marigold deserves to return to its old-time popularity. 



NICOTINIA 



Flower of the dusk, as it has so often been called, it has become very 

 popular during the last few years. I do not know any plant that has gained 

 in popularity as nicotinia. And this plant is really so useful, in such a 

 variety of ways, that what we would do without it is hard to tell. 



For placing in shady spots, under trees, in front of shrubberies, behind 

 low-growing varieties, it has no peer. 



A profuse bloomer, the immense gray-green, rough leaves form a 

 rather pleasing contrast among the various greens of the other leaves. 



The fragrance towards evening is delicate, and yet very penetrating. 

 The tall flower stalks can be picked off when only two or three flowers 

 are showing; yet, place the branch in a vase and the buds will not only open 

 up in time, but will also send out their grateful fragrance for many days 

 after they have been taken from the mother plant. 



Pour plenty of water on the roots. One does not need to be told that 

 the plant is necessarily a gross feeder. Look at the leaves! Look at tho 

 great root stalk! Water it must have, and in abundance. 



The nicotinia is a plant that will continue to bloom long after the 

 rest of the garden folk have gone to rest. All that is needed to help it out 

 Is a slight protection from the first sharp frosts. But do not forget to pick 

 off the flowering branches freely. Pull off whole lengths of them. 



I plant many specimens among the rose bushes. When the roses have 

 departed, and long before that, too, the long, snow-white bells are peeking 

 shyly out among the prickly branches. The firm branches of the rose 

 bushes form a support for the great, straggling branches of the nicotinia. 



POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM 



This is a plant that has made many poor gardeners bitterly rue the 

 unlucky day on which it became an inmate of their garden, for no weed 

 was ever more prolific, more wickedly persistent, more eternally everlast- 

 ing, more ubiquitious, more — oh, well, enough said. 



The deceiving catalogue calls it the Japanese polygonum, a bold (too 

 true), handsome (?) plant, four to six feet tall, with stout, clustered 

 stems. From the axils of the leaves (which are smooth, oblong, dark, clean 

 green) are borne (late in September, although this is not told) myriads of 



