152 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1915. 



A bed of Perennials as grown by Mr. Baldwin. (See accompanying article.) 



is done to the shrub as the bark expands 

 with growth. 



Many beautiful American shrubs are 

 notoriously fond of peat, and if condi- 

 tions are not naturally favorable for their 

 cultivation, liberal additions of this ma- 

 terial should be incorporated when pre- 

 paring the ground, if it can be obtained. 

 Peat, however, is not always available, 

 neither is it absolutely necessary, for 

 many peat-loving subjects will succeed 

 admirably in a mixture of fibrous loam, 

 decayed leaf mould and sand. 



An Attractive Perennial Border 



Geo. Baldwin, Toronto, Ont. 



The flower bed shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration consisted princi- 

 pally of perennials of tall, medium and 

 dwarf growth. It was in bloom prac- 

 tically the whole season and needed 

 very little attention. The places for 

 tall perennials are many, and tall 

 perennials are many, yet tall ones that 

 just fit their places are all too seldom 

 seen. 



Some idea of the height of the 

 hardy, graceful flowers shown in the 

 illustration, with their long backs and 

 lovely faces, may 'be gained from the 

 fact that the porch door is the regula- 

 tion seven feet. The boy stands five 

 feet eight inches. The high cluster on 

 his left consisted of Chrysanthea Uli- 

 gdnosum, Helianthns Rigidus, and Heli- 

 anthus Miss Mellisih, in front of which 

 is the Lilium Portunei. The tall group 

 in the centre of the bed is the beautiful 

 though little known Coreopsis Testa- 

 cium. In front of this is the well- 

 known Ooreopsis Lancelota, with here 

 and there a clump of Rudbeckia New- 



manii, or "Black-eyed Susan." This 

 is a very showy plant for a large bor- 

 der. It blends nicely with the several 

 shades of pink, rose and white colors 

 of the perennial phlox. 



This bed started off in the spring 

 with tulips, narcissus, and siimilar 

 plants, which were followed by several 

 varieties of German iris. In succes- 

 sion came early blooming phlox and d 

 few roses. Two or three oannas were 

 inserted in the bed to give it a better 

 foliage effect, and a few bright colored 

 annuals were dotted in here and there 

 where roCm could be found. This bed 

 was the admiration of every one who 

 came to the garden. It consisted of a 

 very cheap variety of flowers, for 

 which reason it could be copied by any 

 flower lover, be he rich or poor. 



Success With Sweet Peas ^ 



Arthur Waller, Cobourg, Ont. 



I grow sweet peas as follows : As scon 

 as the ground is fit in the spring, I use a 

 Planet Junior hand cultivator and plow 

 out a furrow about nine inches deep. 1 

 then put in some well-rotted manure, 

 sprinkle it with some fine mould, and 

 sow the peas, covering them with about 

 two inches of fine earth. This is pressed 

 down firmly. 



As soon as they begin to grow, I keep 

 the gr*ound well cultivated. I hill 

 them up till the ground is level again. 



The main point about growing sweet 

 peas is the watering. All through the 

 growing period I give them plenty of 

 water. I always try to have my sweet 

 peas as near to the hydrant as possible. 

 I place a lawn sprinkler amongst the 

 rows 'and let it run for two or three 

 hours till the ground is thoroughly 



soaked. Watering like this once or 

 twice is sufficient. 



1'he space between the rows is used 

 for lettuce, spinach and radish. They 

 are done by the time the peas begin to 

 climb. I then spread lawn clippings 

 between the rows. This helps to keep 

 the ground moist. 



Possibilities of a City Garden 



Mrs. H. D. Gibson, Ottawa, Ont. 

 We were surprised last year to find 

 how much can be raised on a small area 

 of land and the delights which the grow- 

 ing of one's own vegetables bring to the 

 gardener. Our plot is about thirty feet 

 square, and until last year had been an 

 ash heap and grown up with weeds so 

 that it did not give a very good start for 

 amateurs. We had one corner about 

 twelve feet square in corn, half of which 

 was early, and the rest in a later var- 

 iety. From this we had corn from the 

 last week in July until the end of August. 

 We picked eighty ears — all a very good 

 size. We had all the green onions, let- 

 tuce, and radishes a family of four could 

 use. We planted a couple of rows of 

 each of these about two or three weeks 

 later, so when the first were finished we 

 had the second planting coming in fresh 

 and young. 



In another corner we tacked chicken 

 wire over the fence and trained our 

 cucumbers over it, as they take up too 

 much room on the ground. We had all 

 we could eat and use for pickling. I 

 have no idea how many we had alto- 

 gether. One morning I remember pick- 

 ling a dozen just a nice size for eating. 

 We had peas and beans and all the car- 

 rots and beets we could use and two gal- 

 lons of carrots to bring in when the frost 

 came. We had one and one-half dozen 

 topiato plants from which we got lots 

 of tomatoes to use and picked two and 

 one-half bushels just before the frost 

 came. W'e planted seed onions, but 

 these were not a huge success on ac- 

 count of the maggots. A dozen cabbage 

 plants which were planted too close were 

 rather a failure. We grew all this in 

 less than half of our thirty-foot plot, as 

 our first intention was to have a flower 

 garden, with a few vegetables as an 

 experiment. We enjoyed having them 

 picked fresh; and picked just when they 

 were ready made such a difference in 

 the flavor. 



In the flower garden we had nearly 

 four hundred gladioli bulbs, which were 

 beautiful from the end of July until the 

 frost came. We had also six dahlias, 

 pansies, Shasta daisies, phlox, mignon- 

 ette, larkspur, asters, nasturtiums, sweet 

 peas, and a perennial border along one 

 fence. We took a great deal of enjoy- 

 ment out of this little garden, and this 

 year hope to remedy some of our mis- 

 takes. 



See that garden tools are in good re- 

 pair and sharpened. 



