1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



log 



Then, too, the same unfamiliarity with kinds 

 gives the florist, the seedsman, and the nursery- 

 man, — not omitting the agents, who should 

 perhaps have been named first — an undue ad- 

 vantage in advising what shall be planted. 

 Scarlet Geraniums and PiBony-flowered Asters, 

 and Jaokman's Clematises are all so showy, and 

 may so readily be made to appear all that is 

 desirable to the average planter of to-day, that 

 the dealer and grower cannot perhaps be so 

 much blamed for simplifying their business by 

 growing the most of these things which they 

 can the most easily sell. And yet I do not 

 think that this is, all things considered, the 

 wisest course to be taken b3- them. Even the 

 dealer should prefer to see prevailing such a 

 degree of popular education concerning all 

 valuable plants and their appropriate use, as 

 woiild enable planters to intelligently, hence 

 independantly, chose their ovm orders, the right 

 kind for the right place, and that outside of 

 beaten ruts. 



Without doubt a time will come when such a 

 state of things shall prevail, and when it does 

 no one will have greater occasion to rejoice 

 than the seedsman, the florist, and the nursery- 

 man, for in that day a hundred plants and trees 

 will annually bs planted throughout our land, 

 where one now is; and he who provides the 

 stock will be the one to reap great money gams. 



Within the limits of this paper it would not 

 be possible to go into a very wide consideration 

 of kinds of flowers and their culture, pointing 

 to an improvement, for this is a broad subject. 

 But at least some suggestions can be thrown 

 out, which may be of service. First of all I 

 want to be understood as saying that each one 

 of the vai'ious plants and trees referred to as 

 being sometimes used in excess ai'e among the 

 most valuable kinds that can be employed, 

 when it is done vrith due moderation. The 

 mere fact that there is a tendencj' to over-use 

 them, is one of the most forcible tributes to 

 their worth. So, I would say, let no one hesi- 

 tate to use of these — not any one of them to 

 the exclusion of the others, but aU in their 

 place and along with yet other desirable kinds. 



I desire here to enlarge by inviting attention 

 to the worth and use of several of the most 

 valuable classes of flowering growths that can 

 be grown in the farm yard ; in the village and 

 town garden; and in cemeteries and public 

 grounds. I refer to the 



HARDY FLOWERING SHRUBS AND PERENNIAL 

 PLANTS, 



neither of which classes ai'e used with any- 

 thing like the frequency of which they are de- 

 serving. The more I have to do with cultivate 

 ing these plants the more am I impressed by 

 their beauty, their cheapness, the great sim- 

 plicity of ther culture, their durability, the 

 sweetness, attractiveness and profusion of their 

 blooms over a long season, and all in all by the 

 idea of their being among the very best of 

 flowers for the million. 



It would not do to say that these classes are 

 not now known or used. Among flowering 

 shrubs a few bu%hes of such free-growers and 

 increasers as the Lilac and the Snowball may 

 here and there be seen, especially in some of 

 the older gardens. More rarely a plant of the 

 Weigelia, Flowering Plum or some other shrub 

 may as if by accident or through some sales- 

 man's recommendation be found in cultivation. 

 Of hardy perennials, a limited list embracing 

 P:e3nies, Delphinums, Lily of the Valley, Daf- 

 fodils and some others may in a degi-ee be found 

 in the gardens of the people, but of scores of 

 others so much as a single good specimen is 

 rarely to be met. 



The thing most to be objected to in the 

 present scant use of the classes named is the 



LACK OF SYSTEM ON THE CULTIVATORS' PART 



to make the most of these for ornamental 

 effect over a long season. I would emphasize 

 the last clause of this statement, concerning a 

 long season. So varied is the time of bloom in 

 the different hardy shrubs and plants that a 



selection from among them is possible which is 

 easily capable of aff'ordingan unbroken season 

 of flowers from April until October. And then 

 a great point of superiority is this : once a good 

 selection is planted, and with very little care 

 and almost no expense, the long season of 

 their bloom will year after year, for many 

 years, go on repeating itself in a way not at all 

 within the province of either annual or green- 

 house plants to do, requiring as such do, re- 

 newal every soring. 



In the use of these classes of hardy growths, 

 one should, for best results, depend neither on 

 too few kinds nor on too few plants of any one 

 class. My explanation of this statement is that 

 the best 



WAY TO EMPLOY THEM IS IN GROUPS, 



on the lawn chiefly, instead of scattering them 

 about singly. To bed them out, both the shrubs 

 and plants, as one would tender plants, but 

 providing more space and giving them culture, 

 for some years at least, should be one of the 

 features of their management. 



The shrubs in such cases may, if one sees fit, 

 be kept by themselves and the plants by them- 

 selves, or the two classes may be brought to- 

 gether. Where no particularly great degree of 

 attention is given to floriculture, as about the 

 average home, I would recommend bringing 

 them together in one large bed, the shrubs cen- 

 trally, the others outside, and then among the 

 latter I would intermix some plants and small 

 clumps of such other classes as the annuals and 

 tender greenhouse plants. In this way a wide 

 scope may be secured for floriculture in even 

 one single large bed, and by a course to leave 

 the gi-ower wholly without excuse against pre- 

 cipitating the pleasant ai't into ruts. 



Allow me in conclusion to explain somewhat 

 in detail 



THE MAKING OP SUCH A BED 



as I have alluded to for the finest possible re- 

 sults over the longest possible season at the 

 least possible cost. 



Let us imagine an oval bed on the lawn, size 

 '34 feet its longest way by 18 feet across at the 

 narrowest diameter, to be planted. The prepar- 

 ation of the soil In matters of fertility and 

 deep tillage should be good, and as the bed is 

 ready for planting I should like to see it raised 

 a foot and a half or two feet in the center, 

 neatly rounding it over. In the central part 

 of the bed and occupying some 1'3 feet in width 

 by 18 feet long, I would set about twenty shrubs 

 consisting of a selection something Uke this: 



1 Mezeron Pink, 2 Golden Bell or Forsythia, 1 

 Japan Quince, 1 Flowering: Plum, 1 Holly-leaved 

 Malionia. 1 Plum-leaved Spirgea, 1 Persian Lilac. 

 1 l^arge flowered Mock Orange, 1 Japanese Snow- 

 ball, 1 Double Deutzia, I Weigelia Rose, 1 Alder- 

 leaved Cletlira, 1 Japanese Spiraea, 2 Hibiscus or 

 Altheas. 2 Large-panicled Hydrangea. 1 Silver- 

 leaved Corchorus, 1 Prunus Pissardi, 1 Large-flow- 

 ering Honeysuckle. 



The list embraces enough kinds to never leave 

 the bed without some shrub flowers from early 

 spring until fall. 



In the planting I would arrange for having 

 the margin of these shrubs quite irregular as to 

 outline. Then in the recesses formed and in 

 the intervening space extending to the grass I 

 would plant, say 3.5 different 



KINDS OF HARDY PLANTS AND SHRUBS, 



also selected with a view to covering a contin- 

 uous season of bloom from March to Novem- 

 ber. In a list of this extent I would be well 

 satisfied to have the following : 



Winter Aconite or Eranthis, Snowdrops. Tulips. 

 Hyacinth*!. Narcissus. Crown Imperial. Bleeding 

 Hearts, Hardy Candytuft. Blue Bells Low Phloxes, 

 Lungworts. Lychnises. Saxifragas. WoodrulT, Col- 

 umbines, Irises. Pjeonies, Pinks. Oriental Poppies. 

 Star of Bethlehem. Aconitums. Day Lilies. Del- 

 phiniums. Monardadidyma. Lilacs. Sweet Williams, 

 Yuccas. Hollyhocks. Upright Phloxes. Echinacea. 

 Double Hardy Suntlower. Plantain Lily, Autumnal 

 Acouitum. .lapan Anemones. Colcbicum autumnalis. 



Now the border of this bed between the 

 shrubs and the grass would average over three 

 feet in width, and it would be nearly IJO feet 

 long. In this space besides holding the hardy 

 plants named there would be ample room for 

 some dozens of tender plants, such as Gerani- 



ums, Heliotropes, Salvias, Ageratums, AbutU- 

 lons, Coleuses, Cannas. Lantanas and some of 

 these should be given place. 



In addition to these there would be no trouble 

 to find accommodations in the bed for a score 

 of different annuals and biennials like Asters, 

 Balsams, Candytuft, Larkspurs, Marigolds, 

 Mignonette, Petunias, Pansies, Phloxes, Portu- 

 lacas. Snapdragons, Poppies, Verbenas, Zinnias, 

 etc. Here and there too some Dahlias, Tigridias 

 and Tuberoses might be brought in and between 

 the shrubs some Gladiolus and Hollyhocks. 



I might go on suggesting other things, such 

 as some climbers on slender poles along the 

 margin of the bed, small rocky mounds in 

 some part, especially if the bed was somewhat 

 larger, and so on, but I must close. Enough to 

 say that here I have outlined the planting of 

 but a single bed on a plan which admits, 

 within a limited space, of a kind of floriculture 

 entirely outside of ruts, and which is at once 

 sensible, varied, productive, economical and 

 easily carried out, and that too, in whatever 

 form or size of bed it might fljid application. 



REPLIES TO INQUIRIES. 



213. Berries did not Develop. Various causes 

 might have produced such a result. There may 

 have been a wet spring, inducing rampant growth, 

 followed by a drought in berry time, during which 

 the plants in the matted rows were deprived of 

 sufficient moisture to afford complete development. 

 Extreme wet weather about blossoming time may 

 have prevented proper fertlization. Then a trouble 

 similar to this is liable in the case of pistillate 

 sorts that are not properly fertilized by the near 

 presence of staminate ones. 



244. The Crimson Beauty. See March issue, 

 page 90. 



243. Chickasaw Plums Failing. Curculio is no 

 doubt the cause of your failure. See course of 

 treatment prescribed on the following page. 



246 Dividing Primroses. March or April Is 

 the time we prefer for the operation. Directions on 

 how to proceed appear under "Work of the Season" 

 this month. It is better that the flowers of all 

 plants be removed before they fade. 



247. Callas Turning Brown. We lack the defi- 

 nite knowledge of the case to enable us to account 

 for the leaves turning brown The matter of cult- 

 ure asked about is pretty well treated by one of 

 our correspondents on page 115, 



249. Varieties of Plums and Cherries. A Plum 

 by the name of Niagara or Moony is not known 

 by us, neither do we find it in any catalogue. 

 Leave such and the agent who offers it alone. The 

 Luelling Cherry is a new variety from Portland. 

 Oregon, which possesses some promise, but we 

 have no faith that the agent referred to had any 

 stock for sale. It is as yet hardly found in the lists 

 of our most enterprising nurserymen. 



264. Engine Scrapings as a Fertilizer. This 

 must be largely in the nature of soot, and without 

 doubt would have considerable value for fertilizing 

 purposes. We would not apply it in direct contact 

 with the roots. A. H. E. 



248. Raising Winter Onions. The yellow Dan- 

 vers and Red Wethersfleld are the favorite sorts.be- 

 ing large yielders and splendid keepers. A rather 

 sandy loam is preferable for the crop, one reason 

 being that this naturally pulverizes with ease, 

 an important point in Onion culture. The soil should 

 be thoroughly enriched with stable or other ma- 

 nure. Hen manure in mixture with twice Its weight 

 of lime and coal ashes seems to suit the Onion 

 well. Sow the seed as early as the ground will 

 work up dry and fine, in drills 15 inches apart, drop- 

 ping two or three seeds to an inch of row, or from 

 five to six pounds per acre. Hoe repeatedly and 

 keep out the weeds. The tops will, if the sowing is 

 early, die down in August and then they should be 

 pulled without unecessary delay. They are dried 

 some on the ground, the tops are cut off. and the 

 drying of the bulbs is finished under cover. Storing 

 is done on slatted shelves, arranged one above the 

 other in some dry and airy place. They may lay 

 six inches deep on the shelves. The most suitable 

 temperature for them is 40 decrees, although they 

 may be carried over to spring, where it freezes, 

 provided they are thickly covereci with bay or straw 

 to prevent hard freezing or repeated thawing. 



258. Altemanthera Culture. The plant is a 

 heat lover and can easily be grown in any mod- 

 erately light place where the temperature indicates 

 65 degrees and upwards at night. To secure winter- 

 ing-over stock, either strike cuttings or else lift and 

 pot some old plants in September. In March make 

 cuttings of thf available material for spring rlants. 

 or else bill up the plants somewhat with light soil, 

 causing the branches to take root in this, after 

 which they may be devided, potting each particle 

 that has a root separately. A. H. E. 



