192 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



To Secure an Attractive Weeplngr 

 Tree. 



Most trees with pendent branches are quite 

 somber in appearance, suggesting appropriate- 

 ness for grave-yard planting, while among the 

 entire class there is hardly one that is remark- 

 ably showy as a flowering tree. We desire, 

 therefore, to invite attention to a means of 

 securing such a tree that is really gay with 

 bloom and otherwise attractive, by an easy 

 course within the reach of all. Reference is 

 had to converting that familiar native 

 climbing plant, the Trumpet Vine (Teco- 

 ma i-u(lii-(ii>s), into a handsome tree, as 

 herewith shown figured. 



Two things peculiar to the habit of 

 this old favorite are favorable to the 

 course we suggest. One, that with age 

 its vigor tends more to the top, so that 

 the trunk is disposed to become bai'o; 

 the other, that the vine also, if directed 

 uprightly, assumes, with age, strength 

 of trunk so as to become self-sustaining, 

 veritably a tree. 



Now with these characteristics present, 

 the course for making a weeping tree of 

 a Trumpet Vine easily occurs. All that 

 is required is to put a strong stake, say 

 five or six feet high, at the side of the 

 plant when set out, and train the shoot 

 to this, When growth reaches the top 

 of the stake, or a few inches beyond, it 

 should be stopped, and attention be paid 

 in the future to forming a fine head of 

 lateral shoots. All side shoots below 

 the top need to come away, though if 

 some of these be allowed to gi-ow a 

 foot before pruning away it will tend 

 to strengthen the trunk. Should an oak 

 stake he used, by the time it has rotted 

 off the tree habit would be so fixed that 

 no further support would be required. 



That quality of the Trumpet Vine 

 which leads it to produce its clusters 

 of splendid flowers for a long season 

 in midsummer, — a season when tree and 

 shrub flowers of all kinds are very 

 scarce, — all the more commends the 

 plant for the purpose suggested. 

 Another thing in favor of the plant is 

 its hardiness, for it is a native found 

 from Illinois and Pennsylvania southwards, 

 although succeeding in cultivation much farther 

 north. .Young plants of this vine can be 

 bought for 35 or .50 cents each of almost every 

 nurseryman, and of many florists as well. 



stricted, and never let a Marigold or Sunflower 

 or other heavy annual be broken down for 

 want of a stick in time to bear it up. As I 

 grow annuals very largely for cut flowers, I'll 

 just tell you my own practice with them: 



In August I sow Pansies. In September or 

 October plant them some by 3 inches in a 

 cold frame, where they remain over winter; in 

 April plant them out into other frames, or in 

 sunny places for early, or shady places for late 

 blooms out-of-doors. 



Annuals for Cut Flowers. 



WILLIAM FALCONER, GLEN COVE, N. Y. 



It is only reasonable to expect that every 

 garden shall teem with flowers from April till 

 October. We begin with Snowdrops and 

 Crocuses; Hyacinths, Tulips, and TriUiums 

 cheer our hearts in spring ; we enter summer 

 with Bleeding Hearts and Oriental Poppies; 

 gorgeous Ku^mpfer Irises, Hollyhocks, and 

 Phloxes brighten up our yards in summer's 

 hottest weather ; Japanese Anemones, Tricyrtis 

 and autumn Crocuses yield us flowers in fall. 

 Add to these a host of tender auxiliaries in the 

 way of Dahlias, Gladioluses and the like, and 

 our garden should be gay enough. But the 

 greatest auxiliary of all is the crop of annuals. 

 This we can have in <iuantity from May till 

 November, beginning with Pansies and Col- 

 liusias of last fall's sowing, and ending with 

 Pot Marigolds and Sweet Alyssum when 

 snow obliterates them from our sight. 



But no matter how bright and jiretty flowers 

 may be as they grow, they have a greater 

 value if also fitted for bouquet, vase, or other 

 work for which cut flowers are used. Let us 

 deal, just now, with these alone. 



Annuals love a deep, finely pulverized rich 

 soil, and most of them an open exposure. And 

 to glow them well, from the moment they are 

 sown till they have done blooming, they should 

 be grown along unchecked, unstinted, unre- 



TRUMPET CREEPER AS A WEEPING TREE. 



In fall I preserve undisturbed self-sown seed- 

 lings of Meteor Marigolds, Sweet Alyssum, 

 Cornflower and Larkspur; these bloom in May, 

 June and July. Candytuft, Collinsia verna 

 and Forget-me-nots sown in August, pricked 

 out or planted in cold frames over winter, 

 bloom in the frames in April and May ; or if 

 kept a litte cooler in winter and planted out in 

 April, they bloom in May and June. In July 

 I sow Intermediate Stocks, prick and pot off as 

 needed and winter in a weU wrapped cold 

 frame; they bloom well iu April and May, and 

 if I bring them into a warm greenhouse in 

 January they will bloom in March. 



In February I sow a good many annuals in 

 boxes in a warm greenhouse, prick oft' the seed- 

 lings nearly as soon as they germinate, into 

 other boxes ; about the first or middle of April 

 transfer them to a warmly clad cold frame, and 

 plant out about the end of April or in May, 

 according as the sorts are hardy or tender. 

 This batch includes Gaillardia picta, G. p. var 

 Lorenziana, G. Amblyodon, French, African, 

 and Meteor Marigolds, Ten-week Stocks, China 

 Asters, single Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Mim- 

 uluses. Snapdragons, Pansies, Salvias, Petunias, 

 Scabiosas, and the like. By planting-out time 

 they are large stocks, some in bloom and 

 much in bud. At the same time, I sow Vinea, 

 Celosia, Cockscomb, Begonia, and some other 

 more delicate plants, but instead of growing 

 these along in boxes I grow them in pots and 

 in warm quai'ters till May. 



A small succession crop is put in in March 

 and a large one in April. The April sowings 

 are mostly made in slightly heated hot-beds, 

 and consist largely of stocks. Asters, Marigolds 

 of sorts. Zinnias, Balsams, Drummond Phlox 



Nasturtiums, Sunflowers, (Helianth-us ciicum- 

 erifolinx only. It is a small single-flowered 

 sort, very pretty, and much liked and well 

 suited for cut flowers), and the like. This is 

 the main crop, and yields us flowers in June 

 and July ; many of them last much longer, and 

 the Asters don't come in till August. 



Both in May and June, but this time out-of- 

 doors or in a cold frame, I put in succassion 

 crops of stocks. Asters, Marigolds, Zinnias, 

 Coreopsis, Helichrysum, Phlox, and some 

 others, to fill up vacancies that may 

 occur in other crops, and maintain an 

 uninterrupted supply of cut flowers. 



I sow Mignonette and Sweet Peas 

 out-of-doors just as soon as the frost is 

 out of the ground and the soil fit to 

 work. This is early in April, some- 

 times in March. The Mignonette be- 

 gins to bloom about the end of May, the 

 Sweet Peas about the end of Juue. I 

 put in two other sowings of Sweet Peas 

 at intervals of some four weeks. This 

 gives me flowers up till August, some- 

 times longer if the summer is favorable. 

 Mignonette is sown once a fort-night 

 till August. This gives flowers till 

 November. But between June and the 

 end of August it often is a difficult 

 matter to get , Mignonette to come up at 

 all, because of the dry weather. Candy- 

 tuft sown out-of-doors where it is to 

 bloom does better than transplanted 

 stock. Indeed, I make it a point to sow 

 out-of-doors, where at all practicable 

 and convenient, all ready-germinating 

 seeds, as Candytuft, and Drummond 

 Phlox, and large saeds, as Zinnias and 

 Nasturtiums. Double Poppies come in 

 capitally about the end of June from 

 broadcast sowings out-of-doors in April. 

 Mignonette and Sweet Peas are in 

 constant demand, Drummond Phlox is 

 a favorite, China Asters are never 

 omitted when they can be had, brilliant 

 Nasturtiums are wanted with a bunch 

 of their own leaves; the large double 

 Eldorado Marigolds are the preferred 

 ones of their race ; bunches of Gaillar- 

 dia are liked and the flowers last well ; 

 double Poppies, the bigger the better,are 

 sought for large vases, cutting before fully 

 expanded; bimches of white, rose or scai'let 

 Verbenas are used for small vase and bouquet 

 work, but the shades of purple are rejected; 

 bunches of Yellow Coreopsis are used alone 

 for small vases and dishes, but no one wants 

 the varieties of C liiicloria; Single Dahlias, 

 particularly clean and bright colored ones, as 

 scarlet, maroon, yellow, and white, are called 

 for, for large and small vases, just as length of 

 stem and quantity of green leaves can be had 

 with them; and Vincas with short stems are 

 used in shallow table dishes. 



Now and again by way of variety odd things 

 are called for, as bunches of Mimuluses, 

 Schizanthus, Salpiglossis, Scabiosas, and In- 

 dian Pinks. But there is very little demand for 

 mixed flowers. It is a big bunch of Candytuft 

 or a bunch of Phlox, and never a few sprigs of 

 many sorts. While mixed colors in Sweet 

 Peas, Poppies, Phlox, and Dahlias may pass, 

 there is a great aversion to mixed Candytuft, 

 Coreopsis, Marigolds or Nasturtiums. 



There is a decided preference for bright 

 colored flowers, as scarlet, blue and yellow, and 

 pure white, also soft colors, as rose ; and a great 

 aversion to "wdshy" colors, magenta and 

 shades of purple. Large flowers are preferred. 

 There must be something very charming about 

 a small flower before it is cared for at all. And 

 hosts of our common annuals, as Godetia, 

 Clarkia, Gilia, Silene and Phacelia are omitted 

 altogether. Then again there are marked 

 prejudices towards some flowers; while some 

 people are very fond of Verbenas, others dislike 

 them, and the same is the case with Slocks and 

 Meteor Marigolds; and I find that Zinnias have 

 more enemies than friends. 



