16 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



June 1, 1911. 



HABDT PERENNIALS. 



In the Gorgeous June Borders. 



The month of June is perhaps the 

 most interesting of the year in th6 

 hardy herbaceous borders, for in no 

 other month do we get such a wealth 

 of beautiful flowers. The present sea- 

 son has been a rather trying one for 

 these plants, as the marked deficiency 

 in precipitation has dwarfed many of 

 them and few show their true charac- 

 teristics. It is, however, astonishing 

 what a transformation a few genial 

 showers make; the plants seem almost 

 to double in size in a night. Frequent 

 cultivBtion, to keep the surface soil 

 loose and cut oflf weeds, was never more 

 necessary than during the present 

 season. 



Some of the earliest border plants are 

 already gone, but in any well planted 

 borders, properly dove-tailed, other sub- 

 jects growing in close proximity seem 

 to be waiting for a little extra space to 

 show off their beauties, and the early 

 bloomers' places are easily filled. It is 

 later in the season that big gaps appear 



in sun or partial shade. Even the long- 

 spurred sorts will naturalize nicely, and 

 all are excellent in rockeries. 



Phloxes for Six Months. 



The phlox family is perhaps the most 

 valuable one among hardy perennials. 

 From the time the dwarf suVulatas 

 come into flower in May until sharp 

 frost ends the paniculata section, there 

 is no break in them, and any single 

 family which furnishes flowers for six 

 months in the year is one which every- 

 one should grow. P. divaricata is a 

 beautiful variety, with pale blue flow- 

 ers; a charming subject, also, for cul- 

 ture in pans for spring flowering. The 

 variety .Laphami has flowers of a more 

 intense blue. Propagation of P. divari- 

 cata is easy from cuttings, as well as 

 from division of the roots. 



The suffruticosa section flowers ahead 

 of the paniculatas, which are mostly 

 grown. The best of the suffruticosas is 

 Miss Lingard, flowering in New Eng- 

 land about June 20; flowers pure white 

 with a delicate lilac eye. If restricted 

 to one phlox, this would be my selec- 



Old Friends at Vick's Send Best Wishes to E. F. Rowe. 



and then some annuals are a necessity 

 to cover the bare spots. 



Beautiful now are the aquilegias, 

 and how well they last in water! It 

 is surprising that they are not more 

 grown commercially, for what up-to- 

 date florist or critical purchaser can 

 resist a vase of these beautiful colum- 

 bines, with their gracefully spurred 

 flowers f The Rocky Mountain colum- 

 bine, A. cserulea, with its blue and 

 white long-spurred flowers, is perhaps 

 the best of all. A. chrysantha, with 

 golden flowers, has greater vigor and 

 longevity, and is beautiful. Skinneri, 

 yellow, with red spurs; Haylodgensis, 

 in varying shades of blue (these are 

 cserulea hybrids); casrulea alba, white, 

 and Nivea grandiflora, pure white, 

 are all lovely varieties. All these 

 aquilegias seed freely. If you have an 

 excellent long-spurred strain, save 

 some of your own seed and sow when 

 ripe, or buy seeds now and they will 

 make nice plants for flowering next 

 year at this season. Aquilegias are not 

 fussy as to soil and they do well either I 



tion. No variety propagates more 

 readily from cuttings, especially in the 

 fall, and for cutting or massing effects 

 it stands ahead of all other sorts. This 

 is also a beautiful subject for forcing. 

 Cuttings for this purpose can be se- 

 cured in plenty about the end of Sep- 

 tember, and the plants should be placed 

 in an average temperature at night of 

 50 degrees in January. The paniculata 

 section is easily propagated from cut- 

 tings in spring, and these cuttings, if 

 well rooted now, should be planted out 

 in beds or nursery rows six inches 

 apart. They will carry a large head of 

 flowers each, somewhat later than the 

 old clumps, which helps to prolong the 

 phlox season. 



Gas Plants and Foxgloves. 



Dictamnus Fraxinella and its variety 

 alba, commonly known as gas plants, a 

 title given on account of the plants 

 giving off in hot weather a volatile oil 

 which readily ignites, are among the 

 best of perennials. They are at their 

 best in June, and as the dark green 



leaves persist until late fall, there are 

 no unsightly gaps where they are grow- 

 ing. They ?ire rather slowly propa- 

 gated from seed and do not become es- 

 tablished as quickly as most of the 

 other hardy plants. They should be 

 transplanted as little as possible. If 

 left undisturbed for a few years, they 

 will make big, peony-like clumps, which 

 are a telling feature in any garden. 

 When planting the dictamnus, give it 

 a generous soil, and for massing effects 

 the two colors look particularly well 

 together. 



The digitalis or foxgloves are now 

 coming into flower and surely no gar- 

 den, however humble, is complete with- 

 out a clump or two of them. They are 

 old-fashioned, it is true, but how stately 

 they are! In good soil it is no unusual 

 thing to see them five to six feet high, 

 or even more. The gloxinia-flowered 

 type is the best, and those wanting 

 strong plants to flower in June, 1912, 

 should sow them soon. Old plants car- 

 ried over flower beautifully. Indi- 

 vidual specimens with ten to twelve 

 spikes are objects worth looking at. 

 "With many these are not classed as 

 hardy. They need a light winter pro- 

 tection, but a heavy one will rot them, 

 particularly if the winter proves a 

 mild one. W. N. Craig. 



BEST WISHES POLLOW EOWE. 



As reported in The Review a few 

 weeks ago, E. Fred Rowe, for many 

 years connected with James Vick's 

 Sons, of Rochester, has left his connec- 

 tion with that house to take a place 

 with the McFarland Publicity Service 

 as chief of its copy department. When 

 Mr. Rowe arrived in Harrisburg to as- 

 sume his new duties he found a pleas- 

 ant remembrance from his former em- 

 ployers and associates in the form of 

 a vase of beautiful American Beauty 

 roses bearing the inscription, * ' Best 

 wishes of old friends and former asso- 

 ciates of Vick's." 



Mr. Rowe was for some years the 

 Rochester correspondent of The Review. 



SPOTTED FERN FRONDS. 



Enclosed you will find some fern 

 leaves. I should like to know what 

 causes them to be spotted and what I 

 can do for the trouble. I water with a 

 sprinkling can; would that cause the 

 brown spots? E. M. 



The nephrolepis fronds referred to 

 in this query appear to be sun-scalded. 

 The most likely cause of this is water- 

 ing overhead during bright, hot 

 weather. Possibly the house in which 

 the plants are growing was not sufii- 

 ciently ventilated at the time the water- 

 ing was done. Try giving free ventila- 

 tion, and water in the early morning, 

 looking over the plants again in the 

 afternoon, in order to water any that 

 may dry out during the day. 



W. H. T. 



Tionesta, Pa. — C. A. Anderson says 

 the business throughout this section in- 

 creases every year and that the demand 

 has been excellent this season. 



Easpeburg, Md. — John G. Kilian is 

 preparing to enlarge his place. He had 

 splendid success with the house built 

 last season, cutting first a crop of mums 

 and following these with sweet peas on 

 one side of the house and pot plants on 

 the other. 



