March 21 



1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



45 



Annuals for Cut Flowers. 



ANNUALS suitable for cut tiovvers are also the most suitable 

 for garden decoration. They should be ready growers 

 and free bloomers, and have bright, showy or fragrant flow- 

 ers, with stiff stems, and they should last well when cut. And 

 we should grow enough to enable us to have large clusters of 

 a kind ratlier than a few blooms only of each. While Gaillar- 

 dias and French Marigolds bloom all summer long, Asters and 

 j\'Iignonette last but a few weeks, and Poppies not many days. 

 To have annuals, therefore, in good condition all sumnaer long, 

 we must make two or more sowings of many kinds. I make 

 repeated sowings of Asters, Mignonette, Phlox, Candytuft and 

 the like, not only to succeed themselves, but also to succeed 

 Hollyhocks, Canterbury Bells, Veronicas and other plants that 

 bloom before midsummer, and are then cut over. And as 

 many of the spring-sown annuals, ZiVmias and African Mari- 

 golds, for instance, become disheveled before they have cjuite 

 finished blooming, I never hesitate to clear them away and re- 

 place with fresh plants. This necessitates keeping up a re- 

 serve stock, which I always do, and in this way have as fine 

 Zinnias, Eldorado Marigolds, Scabious, Salvias and some 

 other annuals, until frost overtakes them, in October, as in July. 

 In order to have good flowers we must grow them in good 

 ground. 



We have a great variety of uses for cut flowers. Cannas, 

 African Marigolds, miniature Sunflowers, large Poppies and 

 Zinnias appear to good advantage in large bunches in roomy 

 halls, and if cut with long leafy stems so much the better. For 

 parlor and dining-room tables and brackets we should use the 

 most beautiful flowers, and such as are pleasantly, but not 

 strongly, fragrant. A mixture of many kinds of flowers to- 

 gether in one vase should be avoided. 



hi addition to the annuals that are most desirable for cut 

 flowers we have a large assortment well fitted for garden 

 decoration, and from which, too, we may cull many a bouc[uet; 

 for instance. Sweet Alyssum, Schizantlius, Clarkia, Browallia, 

 Mimulus, Godetia, Cornflowers and the like. 



The following are all' worth sowing for cut flowers : 



China Asters. — Truffaut's Improved Pcconia Perfection, Vic- 

 toria, Crown and Reid's Quilled are capital. By sowing in 

 March, the end of April and the first of June we can have 

 Asters from July till October. Crimson, rose and white are the 

 most desirable. 



Candytuft. — Rose and white are the most desirable colors. 

 Sweet-scented, Spiral and Dwarf Hybrid White are the best 

 summer varieties ; and Gibraltarica is preferred for wintering 

 over in frames. 



Cannas. — If sown in March in the green-house, and planted 

 out in May, these should bloom in September. 



Single Dahlias. — These grow readily from seed and seed- 

 lings four to five months old bloom freely. 



Druminond Phlo.-c. — The grandiflora section is best. Sow 

 now or in April and again early in June. 



Gaillardias. — The annuals, as G.picta, and its double variety, 

 Loretisia and G. amblyodon, bloonr abundantly from June till 

 October, but with age the plants get sprawly, hence the ne- 

 cessity of a successional sowing in May. The perennial G. 

 aristata and its grandiflora and ina.xima forms also bloom 

 well as annuals. 



Larkspur. — Although showy, the annuals are not good 

 enough for cut flowers, but some of the perennial species, 

 notably Delphinium gratidiflorunt, bright and beautiful, are 

 very free flowering when treated as annuals. 



Marigolds. — Of the English, Meteor is good in early sum- 

 mer and fall ; and of African, the Eldorado strain is unsur- 

 passed. Among French Marigolds the double striped are 

 best, still many prefer the brown or mahogany color. 



Mignonette. — Miles' Spiral is one of the best. Sow early and 

 in good ground. 



Nasturtiums. — These are desirable on account of their 

 brightness and lasting qualities. Lobb's varieties are better 

 than either the common tall or dwarf annuals. 



Pansies. — The Trimardeau gives us the largest flowers. Sow 

 in June for fall flowers, and in August for spring use. 



Petunias. — Bunches of double Petunias are quite pretty, and 

 last well. They grow freely from seed, and bloom when 

 about three nionths old, but we cannot reasonably expect 

 more than twenty-five per cent, to come double. 



Poppies, especially the double sorts, last in good condition 

 for two or three days when cut before they are fully open. 

 Sow broadcast about the end of March or first of April. 



Scarlet Salvia. — This can be treated as an annual sown in 

 February in-doors and in May out-doors. The flowers last 

 only for a day or two. 



Scabious. — The large-flowered section and the very dark 

 plum-purple and white varieties are liest, and they bloom all 

 summer long. 



Stocks. — The large-flowered ten-week Stocks, scarlet and 

 white, are the best, and it is better to make repeated sowings 

 than to depend upon the Intermediate Stocks for a supply in 

 fall. 



Sweet Peas. — Sow in rich soil just as soon as the frost is out 

 of the ground. The first sowings are always good ; sometimes 

 the successional sowings will not bloom at all. 



Sunflowers. — The "New Miniature" (which is Helianthus 

 cucumerifolivs pure and simple) is best. The flowers are 

 small, bright golden yellow, with dark centres, and have none 

 of the coarse appearance peculiar to the ordmary .Sunflowers 

 seen in gardens. 



Verbenas. — The Mammoth strain is best. Sow early, say in 

 February or March, and plant out in May in rich, moist 

 ground. Verbenas will not thrive in hot, dry, poor land. 



Vincas. — The pure white variety, and the white, with red eye, 

 are best. Sow early and plant out in late May in a warm, 

 sunny exposure. 



Zinnias. — The new one, grandiflora plenissima, gives the 

 largest flowers, but the dwarf, double wliite, yellow and scarlet 

 give the most satisfactory results. Never buy mixed seed, as 

 it not only contains much poor stuft', but many " washy " colors. 



Wm. Falconer. 



Hepatica and Blood-root. 



AMONG the flowers which vie with each other in being the 

 first to welcome April, the Trailing Arbutus is, at the 

 East, as early as any. Even now, however, in early March, 

 the blue-eyed Hepatica is opening in our garden, to which we 

 transplanted it from the woods. It always succeeds in cultiva- 

 tion ; but to see it in its beauty one must go to the forest. No 

 flower has a more decided personality — whether its face is 

 seen peeping from among the dead leaves, from the base of 

 some rock, or tlie brow of some mossy boulder. There are 

 those who maintain that it has no odor. But really it exhales 

 a faint, but exquisite, fragrance. 



The Hepatica is a near relative of the Wood Anemone. In- 

 deed Ijotanists now call it Anonone Hepatica. Like its delicate 

 cousin, it is apetalous. Below the calyx, at a greater or less 

 distance in particular individuals, is a whorl of three ovate and 

 soft, silky bracts. Beginners in botany mistake these, and 

 naturally, for the calyx. The sepals are quite indefinite in 

 number, as are the stamens and pistils. Its three-lobed, glossy 

 green leaves add much to its charm, and theirshape suggested 

 the name of Liverwort. 



Another early April flower, equally easy to transplant and to 

 cultivate, is the pretty Blood-root [Sangtdnaria Canadensis). It 

 belongs to the Poppy family, and its pure white and very de- 

 ciduous flowers come up enfolded by a leaf. Later on, this leaf 

 expands to a great size, and is itself highly ornamental. One 

 has to lie up with the lark to catch its two fugacious sepals. 



The Hepatica loves rocky, wooded hillsides, while the Blood- 

 root seeks the banks of streams. Yet both will thrive under 

 wholly different surroundings in a city garden. This leads 

 me to say that many of our wild plants can be cultivated, and 

 with proper care they will increase in size and beauty. Among 

 the spring flowers we have tried are Bluets {Houstonia ca;rulea), 

 the yellow Violet [Viola pubescens), the wild Columbine {Aqui- 

 legia Canadensis), the Indian Turnip {Ariscema trypkillum), 

 and the Dutchman's Breeches {Dicentra Cucullaria). All these, 

 and many more, deserve a place in the flower garden. 



Providence, R. I. ">'''■ Whitman Baihy . 



w 



The Propagation of Magnolias. 



''HEN the Magnolias are to be propagated by seed it 

 should be separated from the pod as soon as ripe, 

 macerated in water for a week or more, and then, after a 

 thorough washing in clean water, it should be sown, while still 

 moist, in pots or boxes filled with light, sandy and well-drained 

 soil. These should be kept in a cool house until January, when 

 they may have a temperature of 50= at night and 10^ or 15- 

 higher during the day. If the soil is kept moist, but not wet, the 

 seed will usually germinate in five or six weeks, when the young 

 plants can be removed to small pots or boxes. If shifted on 

 from small pots to larger ones during the summer, and grown 

 in a close, moist atmosphere, many of them will be established 

 and fit to graft by autumn. If not sown in the green-house, 

 the seed, after being cleaned, should be put in boxes with 

 sand in alternate layers and placed in a frame or cellar where 



