1CS 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1905 



242. For a purple or violet-blue carpel plant the 

 creeping phlox (P. reptans). Less compact and taller 

 growing than the moss pinK 



can easily be made to do almost anything. 

 They will flower early or late, as dwarf or tall, 

 in dry soil or in moist soil. When planted 

 intelligently, the perennial phlox border can 

 be made to yield flowers from May till frost. 

 As the late-flowering kinds grow taller than 

 the earlier ones they should be planted in 

 the back rows, but the mixing of the species 

 already explained reverses this order and 

 gives us some early flowering tall varieties 

 and late flowering dwarfs. A happy com- 

 bination is to plant in beds in alternate rows 

 early and late flowering types, and a further 

 variation in the season of flowering can be 

 brought about by cutting down every alter- 

 nate plant in each row in the early part of the 

 season to induce late flowering. 



NOTHING EASIER TO GROW 



No amateur can afford to be without these 

 phloxes. If you have none as yet, send at 



once for the catalogues or read the November 

 Country Life in A merica for the best varieties. 

 Plant a new bed this November. They will 

 even grow on a poor soil and flourish more 

 and more as they are given better, richer soil. 

 Really I don't believe there is a limit to the 

 enrichment they will take and pay for. 

 Frequent waterings after planting mean un- 

 qualified success in growing phloxes. Begin 

 in the early summer and use the hose every 

 week right through until the fall, and you 

 will have all the flowers you want. Every 

 three years the old plants should be lifted 

 out from the bed, in October or November 

 after the foliage dies, or in early spring, and 

 divided. 



The tall phlox seeds so easily that anyone 

 who wishes to raise new varieties can do so 

 by sowing the seeds outdoors in the fall, as 

 soon as gathered, and covering them with 

 a light mulch of leaves. But what we need 

 is fewer and better, not merely different, kinds. 



One species (P. divaricata) has blue 

 flowers in early spring. It is fragrant, and 

 is sometimes called wild sweet william. It 

 makes a good edging to a bed of the late 

 kinds, and flowers before them. It is a creep- 

 ing phlox, but its flowering stems stand up 

 a foot and a half high. It is useful to extend 

 the season, but its best place is in rich ground 

 along the borders of woodland. It will grow 

 in dense shade, where its blue color is par- 

 ticularly effective. 



THE EARLIEST SPRING FLOWERS 



The evergreen "moss pink" (Phlox subu- 

 lata) is one of the earliest of the perennial spring 

 flowers. It is so popular indeed that there 

 may be a danger of overdoing it with the 

 little plant. Once established, it spreads to 

 make a wider circle each year. It begins to 

 grow as soon as the spring arrives. It will 

 even make an opening in the snow and give a 

 touch of bright green before the grass. By 

 April or May the green is completely covered 

 by the flowers, which, opening almost simul- 

 taneously, make a sudden change of color in 

 the garden. There are many forms, flower- 

 ing at slightly different times, and varying in 



243. The pink phlox of Carolina (P. cvaia) grows 

 afoot high. Flower heads flat topped. This species is 

 probably used in some of the modern tall perennial 

 hybrid phloxes of gardens 



color from white to pink and pale purple. It 

 is not only the most useful of the dwarf 

 phloxes for carpeting purposes, but it is 

 valuable, too, as a soil binder on sloping banks 

 where grass fails. This and other carpeting 

 phloxes refuse to grow in a wet soil. They 

 are perfect ironclads as to frost and flourish 

 in full sun or partial shade, preferably the 

 former. Old-established masses will some- 

 times show a tendency to rot and die out in 

 spots during spells of long-continued wet 

 weather, but this can be prevented by shear- 

 ing as soon as they have done blooming. 

 Sheep-shears make a handy tool for this 

 purpose. 



OTHER EXCELLENT CARPETING PLANTS 



There are a great number of these carpeting 

 phloxes recorded in the floras, but only a few 

 of them are grown in gardens. I think 

 we could get along very well with two — the 



244. A little-known plant very valuable for carpeting on elevated dry soils is 

 the Western phlox (P. Douglasii.) An excellent substitute for the moss pinK 



245. For a permanent, typical old-fashioned border the garden hybrids of the per- 

 ennial phloxes (called Phlox decussate) are unequalled. Replant every three years 



