JLLY 25, iSSS.] 



Garden and Forest. 



259 



tion, keep the ground scrupulously clean from weeds and the 

 earth well loosened about the plants. Remove decaYin^■ 

 leaves and flowers, support vei-y neatly, with string and stakes, 

 all plants requiring the same, prevent overcrowding, and as 

 soon as perennials have done blooming cut them over, so as 

 to give the other occupants of the borders more room. As 

 soon as Drummond Phlox, Mignonette, Stocks, or other an- 

 nuals are past their best and begin to appear seedy, remove 

 them, fork over the ground, and at once replant with Mari- 

 golds, scarlet Salvia, Zinnias, Driunniond Phlox, or China 

 Asters previously prepared tor this purpose ; or sow some 

 Mignonette, Sweet Alyssum, or other annuals that will have 

 plenty of time yet to grow and bear a good crop of flowers be- 

 fore frost may destroy them. 



Many people have a passion for saving seed. This is well 

 enough and our own saved seeds are just as good as those we 

 buy, but the question is. Is it worth while ? Plants bearing 

 seed occupy room that might be used by plants coming into 



Phlox Stellaria, of which a figure is published on another 

 page of this issue, is an excellent rock-garden plant, making 

 handsome carpets of pleasant green, which, in the latitude of 

 Boston, where this plant is perfectly hardy, are covered late in 

 May with flowers quite unlike in color those of any other Phlox 

 in cultivation. It spreads much less rapidly tlian the Moss 

 Pink {Phlox subulata), but its habit is very similar, and it 

 is propagated in the same way by cuttings or by division. C. 



Plant Notes. 

 Japanese Iris. 



ONE of the most attractive features in Mr. John L. 

 Gardner's beautiful garden in Brookline, Massa- 

 chusetts, is the bed of Japanese Iris {Iris Iixvigala or Kam- 

 p/eri), which forms the subject of our illustration. 



A Bed of Japanese Iris. 



flower, and seeds of common flowers cost very little. Of 

 course, it is well to save seed in the case of extra choice or rare 

 varieties, or of sorts not easily obtained, or of expensive kinds 

 that we can save with little trouljle. Another point in 

 seed-saving is this : In private gardens the choice Ijlossoms 

 are used as cut flowers, and whatever are left to go to seed are 

 the lateral, second-rale, or poor flowers, which give inferior 

 seed; seed-growers, on the other hand, assiduously preserve 

 the best flowers for seed, cut off and throw away the poor 

 flowers, and root out and destroy all plants bearing poor 

 varieties of flowers. 



Watering plants in dry weather requires attention. It may 

 be impracticable to water all the plants in the garden, but we 

 should give, and that liberally, to Dahlias, Asters, and such 

 others as suffer much from drought. Never water plants while 

 the surface of the groimd is hot or the sun is shining brightly 

 on them; and in giving water, give enough to penetrate deep 

 into the earth. William Falconer. 



The plants, which were selected in Japan with great care 

 by Mrs. Gardner, represent the best named Japanese 

 varieties. They are arranged according to color, in 

 the Japanese fashion ; each row across the bed consist- 

 ing of one variety, those with white flowers at one end, 

 and then all the intermediate shades to the dark blues 

 and purples at the other end. The bed is sunk eight or 

 ten inches below the siu'face of the surrounding lawn, and 

 is furnished on one side with a perforated water-pipe so 

 that the plants can be irrigated during the growing sea- 

 son. It is eighteen inches deep and consists of a rich 

 compost of loam and thoroughly rotten cow-manure, 

 and every year it gets a good top dressing of manure. 

 Every pleasant morning after the middle of May the 

 water is turned on at nine o'clock and allowed to run till 

 three or four o'clock in the afternoon ; by that time the 



