120 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1917 



moisture than the Foxgloves. They are hardy 

 so far as cold is concerned but the crowns 

 must be kept reasonably dry and protected 

 from the thawing and freezing so common in 

 this section. 



Here is another catch in this method. 

 Having brought them through the winter, it 

 becomes necessary to transplant them into 

 the quarters reserved for them. In disturbing 

 the roots in moving them, a large number will 

 devote their energy to reestablishing them- 

 selves and will not throw up blossom spikes. 

 To be sure of a crop of bloom they should be 

 allowed to remain in permanent quarters. To 

 obviate the difficulty of moving them I have 

 wintered Canterbury Bells in eight inch pots 

 in the coldframe. As they make a big root 

 growth, they naturally become cramped and 

 when planted out in the spring do not give the 

 vigorous growth of blossom spikes that they 

 should. 



When I want a display, now (and every once 

 in a while I revert as I have had them on and 

 ofF for years), I improvise a coldframe with 

 soap boxes and such vagrant window sash as I 

 can lay hands upon, and place it over the 

 plants where they are to bloom. This is an 

 easy matter and the idea of making them air 

 and cold tight need not be considered. The 

 main consideration is to keep them dry. 



The same ideas applies to that stateliest of 

 all fall garden biennials, the Chimney Bell- 

 flower, Campanula pyramidalis. All three are 

 biennial and really are more trouble than they 

 are worth unless one has at his command ample 

 coldframe facilities. The improved forms of 

 the Peach-leaved Bellflower, Campanula per- 

 sicifolia, I find an acceptable substitute for 

 the Canterbury Bell. They are not only 

 perennial but come through all sorts of weather 

 without any fussing save a light mulch of 

 leaves or pine needles in the fall. 



Foxgloves often will survive the winter with- 

 out protection — that is, while the central 

 crown dies, there will be side buds to survive 

 and grow. I have two large flourishing 

 clumps now awaiting cold weather which came 

 up from self sown seed two years ago and have 

 come through without blossom crowns, but 

 plenty of leaves. I am letting them alone in 

 the hope that possibly next spring they may 

 function. The old-fashioned Yellow Foxglove, 

 Digitalis ambigua or grandiflora, is the hard- 

 iest of the tribe; that is, it is most resistant to 

 changes of thawing and freezing and is more 

 nearly perennial as I have had it endure for 

 three or four seasons, but it succumbs in time. 

 — Sherman R. Duffy, Chicago, Illinois. 



A Gardener's Winter] Pastime. — There are 

 many indoor activities for the gardener 

 during the cold, season. There are outdoor 

 activities as well. One of the most pleasant 

 of these is the gathering, trimming, sharpening, 

 and storing (ready for spring use), the brush 

 for peas, and the poles for all kinds of climbing 



beans. After all, there is no support for peas 

 like brush, and the wise gardener will always 

 use it; while poles are essential for climbing 

 beans. Aside from the fact that it is a delight- 

 ful outdoor pastime, the gathering of brush 

 and poles in cold weather is desirable because 

 winter is the time for such work. All the 

 bushes and trees (except the evergreens, which 

 could not in any event be utilized) are bare. 

 The eye can see at a glance what is good and 

 what is not. Also, the material so gathered, 

 while bare, and with most of the sap down, 

 will be green and tough and strong, and will 

 last through several seasons. This plan is 

 surely far ahead of the crude custom of visiting 

 some old heap of dead brush (usually from an 



A novel idea for small bulbs. Planted on floating pieces of 

 cork with moss 



orchard's pruning) and trying to pick out 

 something which is not too brittle or too rotten 

 to use — and doing it in haste, at a time when 

 there are a thousand other calls from the grow- 

 ing garden. 



While small attention has been paid to the 

 kinds of brush and poles best adapted to the 

 use to which they are to be put, there is some- 

 thing of importance to be said on that score. 

 Among the very best brush for peas are the 

 heavier trimmings from Privet hedges; young 

 Oak bushes (especially ScarletOak) that have a 

 habit of branching heavily; Wild Cherry shrubs; 

 and sprouts from any hardwood stumps except 

 Hickory and Chestnut — these last, sending up 

 long straight shoots, are undesirable on ac- 

 count of their lack of small branches. How- 

 ever, these very ones are admirable for bean- 

 poles. As a rule they are straight and strong, 

 and their lasting quality is excellent. Among 

 other woods that are well adapted to this 

 purpose are common Birch, Alder, all kinds of 

 Oak, Ash, and Gum. In the South young Pine 

 saplings are frequently used. Of course, it 

 may be said that poles of any kind will support 

 beans; and this is commonly true. But a pole 



of any kind, after one season's use, may col- 

 lapse; any kind of a pole may be crooked, 

 scrubby, unsightly. Even in the growing of so 

 unromantic a product as beans, the element 

 of beauty should not be neglected. 



I cut poles and brush with a sharp scout- 

 hatchet; and as for getting the gathered mat- 

 ter home, I follow different plans. Sometimes 

 it is pulled in on a handsled; sometimes it is 

 stored away in a secret place until I have time 

 to go for it; sometimes I shoulder it in, or drag 

 it in, about twenty poles at a time. — A. 

 Rutledge, Mercersburg, Pa. 



Spice Sweet and Sweet Bough. — In look- 

 ing over some back numbers of The Gar- 

 den Magazine (which is a good thing to do), 

 I came across a neighborly note from M. G. 

 Kains in eloquent praise of the Sweet Bough 

 apple. I was particularly interested as I haveon 

 my place a very old apple tree whose identity 

 has puzzledtas and I seem in Mr. Kains's note to 

 detect a clue. Our tree is near the kitchen door, 

 as if placed conveniently for small people, and 

 about here it is called Spice Sweet. This 

 however, I feel sure is a local name as I have 

 not been able to find it in apple lists of either 

 books or catalogues. Local plant names are 

 always interesting and this one is particularly 

 pleasant sounding and descriptive, but as our 

 old tree is well down the other side of the hill 

 toward the sunset — so old that though we have 

 done all we know to prolong its valued life, 

 its seasons are plainly numbered and we are 

 anxious to plant others against the time when 

 the spring sunshine shall fail to awaken its 

 fragrant blossoms. Mr. Kains's adjectives de- 

 scriptive of the Sweet Bough, "delicious, 

 luscious, scrumptious, splyschious" so ex- 

 actly repeat those used by my youngsters in 

 praise of our favorite, who add delightedly 

 "the juice just runs down our chins, mother," 

 that I am hoping that they may be the same. 

 It is a green apple with an alluring pink cheek; 

 it is sweet even at its greenest and so juicy that 

 one's chin is really in danger of inundation. 

 Mr. Kains lays stress upon its apparent harm- 

 lessness to the very young. Here again is a 

 point in common. Our Spice Sweet appears to 

 cause no trouble though eaten with but short 

 intermissions from early rising to early going 

 to bed. Plainly it is an apple to be considered 

 if one could but find its true identity. If Mr. 

 Kains can help us we shall be grateful, or if any 

 neighbor knows another name for this old- 

 fashioned apple, which might be well named 

 "The Mother's Friend," we shall be so happy 

 to hear it. — Louise Beebe Wilder, Pomona, N. Y. 

 — [Spice Sweet is a "good" name, according to 

 the "Apples of New York" where it is recorded 

 as of a variety commonly grown about 1830, 

 but no description is given. Can it be that 

 Mrs. Wilder has a real relic of old times — it's 

 quite possible that the old variety has per- 

 sisted in that region remote from travel. — 

 Editor.] 



THE MONTH'S REMINDER 



CLEARING UP AND CLEARING OUT FOR WINTER 



THERE are plenty of things to keep 

 the hustling gardener occupied during 

 the shortening days of November, if 

 he is to get everything cleaned up and 

 ship-shape before winter. 



Bringing in the last of the tender bulbs 

 needs early attention now. They should be 



taken up before the ground actually begins to 

 freeze, and be stored where they can dry off 

 gradually, and still be safe from frost. Do 

 not cut off the old stalks close to the bulbs or 

 roots. LeaVe six to twelve inches attached 

 when you take them up, so that they can 

 "ripen ofF" gradually and naturally — other- 



wise they may shrivel or rot. Handle with 

 care all fleshy roots such as Cannas and 

 Dahlias. 



After the bulbs or roots have had a chance 

 to dry off (but before there is danger of their 

 being sufficiently dried ofF so much as to 

 cause shrinking or shrivelling) carefully 



