1 88 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 376. 



best, so that they are placed in too rich soil, or in some other 

 way they are coddled to death. A bad memory as to details 

 of cost is a good thing in the garden, and with such a memory 

 one is more likely to treat all his plants on rational principles, 

 which means leaving them alone and trusting much to nature. 

 I understand that a moderate amount of well-rotted cow 

 manure worked in the ground makes the best soil for Narcissi, 

 and it is well, (hough not absolutely necessary, to set each bulb 

 in an enveloping layer of sand. Owing to a lack of this or any 

 other nutriment my bulbs do not throw very long stems, but I 

 think the flowers are more purely colored than (hose which 

 are better fed. Purity of color is of more importance to me 

 than size or length of stem. Were space available I should 

 move my Narcissi every second or third year to new ground, 

 or to that on which some other plants had been grown, after 

 manuring. As a matter of fact, if closely planted, (hey require 

 such changes, if only to free them from crowded offsets. They 

 will, however, live for years with little fertilizing and crowded 

 to suffocation, and even among the roofs of trees or plants 

 through which they can scarcely force their leaves, f once 

 found a colony of bull>s under a clump of perennial Phlox, 

 which was at least three or four years old, and whose roots 

 were so matted that it was necessary to cut them apart to ex- 

 tract the bulbs. They did not Hower there, but as they were 

 the double Poeticus they would probably not have flowered 

 any way. This would indicate that plantings in the grass are 

 perfectly safe. They certainly lead to satisfactory results, as 

 the grass furnishes a charming foil at flowering-time. This 

 practice, however, is scarcely to be recommended for small 

 gardens. These, unfortunately, have their limitations, and 

 among their limitations is the very unfortunate one that every- 

 thing is too much in evidence or under one's glance. In a 

 small garden one cannot get nice effects, like a glow of gold 

 from Daffodils in the distance, or plant some of the little 

 treasures deftly, so that one always finds them when in flower 

 with a certain sense of discovery to heighten the pleasure. I 

 wonder how many large pleasure-groimds there are in the 

 Uni(ed States which are planted with such natural art that the 

 weary owner could find interest and instruction in every likely 

 nook, shady corner or sunny slope, everywhere restful pic- 

 tures, and nowhere any intrusion of workand evident expense-. 

 The current landscape practice seems (o be the planting of 

 masses of plants for great display of color, as if a person en- 

 joyed being gorged even with beautiful colors. Masses of 

 color have their uses if they are not too conspicuous or not so 

 numerous that they intrude upon one from every point of 

 view. But the charm of the garden is mostly found in the 

 more modest pictures produced by some happy combination 

 of form and coloring, l^ictures there are often of which one 

 only catches a hurried glance, yet they fill the eye and satisfy 

 us with their beauty. 

 Eiizabetii, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Plants for Bed(ding. 



AS the season for bedding out is now fast approaching there 

 is little time lel( for further propagation, but if the stock 

 of such plants as Coleus, Ageratum, Alternanthera and other 

 quickly rooting species is insufficient a tew may yet be struck, 

 and these will be found useful in places where small plants are 

 required. Hardening off is a matter of the greatest importance 

 for all of (hese plants, although it is often neglected. The work 

 must be done gradually, or it the plants are suddenly exposed 

 to outdoor conditions after being nursed up in a warm green- 

 house they will receive a check from which it will take them 

 weeks to recover. Where a house can be devoted to these 

 plants alone the work will be greatly facilitated, as the tem- 

 perature of the house can be gradually cooled down until full 

 air is left on night and day. If a-separate house is not possi- 

 ble, cold frames will have (o be utilized. The plants will be 

 quite safe in these any time after the first of IVlay with a slight 

 covering over the sashes on cold nights. One drawback to the 

 frames is (hat they are only suitable for the smaller classes of 

 plants. For large specimens, as Agaves, Yuccas, etc., space 

 must be found in a cool house for a few weeks previous to 

 tlieir being set out, for, although seemingly robust, this class 

 of plants is as apt to receive a check as a tender Coleus. The 

 resuhs of a chill, though not apparent at the time, would tell 

 afterward in the discoloring and dropping of the bottom leaves. 

 A sheltered corner should be selectetl, and all the plants 

 placed in (he open air a( least ten days before they are in- 

 tended to be planted, and some means devised whereby they 

 can be slightly protected should the nights prove to be too 

 cold. The time of planting must be regulated according (o 

 the hardihood of the plants used. For the more tender spe- 

 cies, such as Coleus, Alternanthera, etc., the first of June is 



soon enough to trust them in the open ground in this vicinity, 

 but where a large amount of bedding has to be done it is often 

 necessary to commence a little earlier. 



Tarrytown, N. Y. William Scott. 



Notes from Baden-Baden. 



A IVIONG Snowdrops I beg to mention Galanthus Caucasicus 

 •^*- grandis as one of the very best ; the color of the large 

 flowers is the purest white, and heahhy robus( plants grow in 

 any situation and any soil very evenly. Colchicum Szovitsi- 

 anum and C. luleum deserve praise among the earliest har- 

 bingers of spring ; the former has small bright pink flowers 

 growing in bunches up to the number of twelve, and the latter 

 is remarkable for its bright tleep yellow flowers ; 1 have raised 

 a fine variety of it, the tiowcrs of which are twice the size of 

 the typical form. The early flowering Hyacinthus ciliatus 

 (Muscari azureum) comes from the heights of Asia Minor in 

 several distinct forms. Of these the varieties Robustus and 

 Amphibolis are s(ronger growers, and the best of all is the 

 variety Freynianus, the turquoise-blue of (he spikes being 

 very showy. Chionodoxa Lucilia; is now coming on wi(h pink 

 and white flowered varieties, which are very pretty. A few 

 years ago I introduced a variety af Anemone blanda, which I 

 called Scythinica ; i( is a very distinct plant, its flowers being 

 mostly of (he purest white. It is quite a picture to see a clump 

 of this in sunshine. Fritillaria alpina is a small but lovely 

 species ; the chocolate bells have a bright yellow rim which 

 causes a beautiful contrast. All the above are quite hardy. 



Baden-Baden. MlXX Leillltlin. 



Correspondence. 



Fall Planting for Sweet Peas. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Do you consider it safe or desirable to plant Sweet 

 Peas in the fall of the year ? Will plants produced from 

 autumn-sown seed have any superiority in vigor or in the size 

 of the flowers over those planted in (he spring ? If au(umn 

 planflng is desirable, at what time should the planting be 

 made and how deep should the seed be planted ? 



Cambridge, Mass. ~ o^. 



Whether Sweet Peas can be successfully planted in 

 autumn depends largely on the latitude. In the southern 

 states fall planting is a necessity, for this is the only vi'ay 

 to give the plants a cool soil in which to make a strong 

 early root-growth. Coming farther north, fall planting is 

 safe up to, perhaps, the latitude of Washington, where the 

 chances are about equal between planting in late autumn 

 and in February. In southern California Peas must be 

 brought into bloom as early as February, although the 

 nights are so cool there that they may be planted during 

 any month in the year. The rule observed by the large 

 seed-growers is to plant just ahead of the rainy season. 

 Indeed, they have acres of volunteer Sweet Peas — that is, 

 from seed, which were scattered on the ground during the 

 harvest, and forty-five miles south of San Francisco these 

 volunteer plants are in bloom by the first of May, and often 

 early in April. 



Speaking for the northern latitudes of this country, I will 

 say that I have never had or heard of any considerable 

 success with planting Sweet Peas where the winters are 

 severe. Certainly this practice has no advantage. Sweet 

 Peas do not take kindly to forcing under glass, although 

 the florists will get an apology for flowers considerably 

 ahead of the regular reason. My attempts at outdoor 

 forcing have not been encouraging. The month of May 

 has enough chill in the air to hold back the growth and 

 enable them to get strong roots. 



It ought to be said that our Sweet Peas are not as hardy 

 as those our grandmothers had. In improving the flowers 

 the constitution of the plant has been refined a good deal. 

 And then the seed is nearly all grown under milder condi- 

 tions than our northern climate affords. California sends 

 us the great bulk of this seed, and the English and French 

 grown seed is, perhaps, less hardy still. These two facts — 

 the higher development of the flower and the growing of 

 the seed in a milder climate — have, in a measure, detracted 

 from the old native hardiness of the plant, and, perhaps, it 



