February, 1906 



THE 



These cherry branches reached a ten-fool ceiling 

 and sVread six feet on either side. They were in 

 bloom for six weeks when the ground outdoors was 

 covered with snow 



For those who love old-fashioned, com- 

 mon things, nothing will give more pleasure 

 than the flowering currant with its spicy 

 yellow flowers. Even the garden currants — 

 especially the black — are interesting. 



Magnolia buds are fascinating in their 

 gray-green velvet calyx, even if never more 

 than a glimpse of pink is seen. 



Wonderful things are done with lilacs by 

 some people, but I am content with the 

 spring-suggestive delicate fragrance of the 

 tender young leaves though the buds fail 

 time after time. 



Peach, plum and cherry buds are usually 

 the first to open. Pears and apples are 

 more deliberate. 



In cutting twigs from fruit trees, select 

 the full, round buds. They are the flower 

 buds; the slender, more pointed ones being 

 leaf buds. 



Anything is worth trying, but here are 

 some of the most satisfactory: 



5 GARDEN 



MAGAZINE 



FOR FLOWERS 



Magnolia 



Pear 



Rhododendron 



Cherry 



English filbert 



Plum 



Forsythia 



Quince 



Almond, pink and white 



Apple 



Japanese quince 



Crab apple 



Currants of all varieties 



Maple 



Lilac 



Alder 



Dogwood 



Willow 



Rhodora 



Llm 



FOR LEAVES 



Horse-chestnut 



Poplar 



Beech 



Rose and sweet briar 



19 



Most people fail to make as small a branch of 

 lilac as this bloom indoors. Miss Whitlock has had 

 great success with whole plants cut off at the base 



II. Forcing Large Branches- 

 A New Idea 



Gertrude L. Whitlock, Long Island 



I HAVE had five kinds of shrubs in flower 

 during the Christmas holidays by bring- 

 ing branches indoors the first of December 

 — cherry, forsythia, lilac, quince and Japan 

 quince. It is not practicable to cut them 

 earlier in the vicinity of New York City, 

 but it is easy to provide a succession until 

 spring. 



It makes a wonderful difference if you can 

 cut limbs six to twelve feet long instead of 

 mere twigs. These big branches make gor- 

 geous decorative effects. The quality of 

 the flowers is better and they last for several 

 weeks. 



It is utterly useless to cut small sprays 

 from the lilac and expect them to bloom. 

 They will start out bravely but will soon 

 droop. With the lilac I always cut off a 

 whole bush at the ground, and have yet 

 to fail in having a wealth of exquisite 

 bloom. 



To avoid the uneven and weak develop- 

 ment of your flowers put the pails of water 

 containing the branches in a semi-dark, 

 cool (not cold) place for a week or two. All 

 the flowers will then be lighter in color and 

 more ethereal in texture than if left to bloom 

 outside. Especially is this change notice- 

 able with the lilacs. Bushes that wear the 

 purple out of doors will, when forced in the 

 house, bear sprays pure white or faintly 

 tinged. Without direct sunlight there is no 

 pronounced color. 



The most satisfactory plan I have yet 

 tried is to devote a room to the branches. 

 We had a small, unused room on the top 

 floor, out of harm's way, where the average 

 temperature was but fifty degrees, which 

 seemed to be just right. Into this room I 

 brought on the third of December, boughs 

 of apple, quince, pear, crab apple and 

 cherry, forsythia, lilac, weigela and Japan 

 quince. I keep each variety by itself, and 

 put a large piece of charcoal in each pail 

 to keep the water fresh. I refill the pails 

 once a week. It is not necessary to change 

 the water entirely oftener than once a month. 

 Do not remove the branches from the 

 pails, as this will break off the buds and 

 flowers. 



The forsythia was the first to blossom in 

 four weeks. A week later the Japan quince 

 had begun to unfold its graceful angularity 

 of brown, thorny branches and flame-colored 

 blossoms. From this time until the first of 



First of the trees to flower outdoors is the red maple 

 Staminate flowers on the left, pistillate on the right 



April we were never without quantities of 

 flowers. 



One learns more and gets more real enjoy- 

 ment from a single twig opening under one's 

 closest scrutiny than from a whole armful 

 of full-bloom branches when cut out of 

 dcors. 



It is not possible to count with absolute 

 certainty upon any sort of flower to develop 

 within a given time, but boughs that have 

 been well frozen and then put into an ordi- 

 narily heated room should be in full bloom 

 in a month or six weeks. 



The only distinct failure I have to record 

 of the many varieties I have tried is with 

 the magnolia, which has baffled all my coax- 

 ings. Bridal-wreath, dogwood, honeysuckle, 

 snowballs, wisteria and weicela all bloomed, 

 but not freely, which failure I attribute to 

 the short stems. But apples, crab apples, 

 cherries, wild cherries, pears, quinces, for- 

 sythias, lilacs and Japan quinces bloomed 

 with glorious abandon. 



The luxuriance with which the cherry blossoms 



