66 MAKING OF A FLOWER GARDEN 



can reliable varieties be secured. Of late years great 

 improvement has been made in the size of bloom, the 

 coloring and the abundance of bloom so that the canna 

 can no longer be regarded merely as an. ornamental 

 foliage plant. The tubers can be started in house or 

 hotbed any time after the first of February. As can^ 

 nas are very susceptible to decay, the earlier they can 

 be started, all other conditions being favorable, the 

 better. The bunch of tubers should be carefully 

 looked over, giving one good eye to each piece, and 

 removing all decayed or shriveled parts. They may 

 be started in pots of soil, in boxes of sand or in bas- 

 kets of moss, either medium giving excellent results ; 

 the moss (Sphagnum) has much to recommend it, as 

 it is light and clean to heindle. Very little is to be 

 gained by too early planting in the open as, while 

 they are less tender than some of the other summer 

 bedders, still they will succumb to a late frost, and 

 the labor of covering them nights and removing the 

 cover each morning offsets the small advantage gained 

 in time. Cannas are gross feeders and quite intemper- 

 ate in the matter of drink, and they should be planted, 

 therefore, in very rich soil — manure and marsh earth 

 Buit them admirably — and never allowed to suffer for 

 water. If one has not city water or a water system 

 on the place, then it will be well to plant the eannas 

 within easy reach of such water supply as exists. 

 The plants should be set from eighteen inches to two 



