Frepruary,1908 
bushels of them during March and April, and 
they continue, often, to bloom at intervals 
until January, though a freeze may stop them 
much earlier in the season. We have planted 
only a few varieties, as this plan gives us a 
profusion of bloom of each kind. For 
white we have Kaiserin Augusta Victoria and 
The Bride; for pink, Caroline Testout and 
Bridesmaid: for red, Meteor, Reine Marie 
Henriette, and Baldwin; and for yellow 
Maréchal Niel. In addition to these we 
have La Marque where a strong effect is 
wanted, as it is of wonderfully vigorous 
growth and a free bloomer. All of these 
roses are thoroughly tested here and per- 
fectly adapted. The only culture we give 
the Kaiserin is a top dressing of stable 
‘manure about once in two years, a severe cut- 
ting back after each blooming, anda thorough 
watering once in two weeks during the dry 
season. During very dry weather we rake off 
the surface soil to the depth of about two 
inches, soak the ground thoroughly and then 
rake back the dry soil. 
The Maréchal Niel should be budded on 
Manetti stock as it grows slowly on its own 
roots. It is a most satisfactory climber as 
the foliage is beautiful. Reine Marie Henri- 
ette sometimes loses its foliage and is then un- 
sightly. Caroline Testout and Reine Marie 
Henriette for some reason more frequently 
bloom for Christmas than any other varieties. 
I do not know what a rose bug is. The 
only insect enemy to roses that we have 
noticed is one that bores into the branches 
after they have been pruned, hollowing out 
thepith. Thisis easily stopped by cutting off 
all the hollow branches as soon as discovered 
and burning them. Mildew sometimes at- 
tacks Meteor and it has proved so bad cn 
Crimson Rambler for several years that we 
cut ours down and budded them to Reine 
Marie Henriette. 
THE MOST POPULAR SHADE TREE 
The only real enemy to roses in Austin is 
the hackberry tree. This is our most popu- 
lar shade tree and is a very beautiful one in 
the rare instances when it is not pruned to 
a cabbage head in the mistaken effort to get 
rid of the mistletoe with the least possible 
expenditure of energy. But unfortunately 
for lawn and garden the tree sends out a 
fine mesh-work of surface roots to great 
distances and ruins flower beds. We have 
no hakeberry trees. 
So far as I know there are no “tender” 
bulbs here. We leave our cannas, tuberoses, 
and gladioli out all winter without even 
mulching, and the gladioli begin blooming in 
April. Chrysanthemums die down to the 
roots but the roots are not winter-killed and 
we do not protect them inany way. The best 
varieties bloom in November and the florists 
cover them with a cheesecloth tent to protect 
the blossoms from wind and light frosts until 
Christmas. 
We have tried only the commoner kinds of 
annuals, such a nasturtiums, phlox, larkspur, 
and the double sunflower. Most annuals 
require such a lot of water, and the hot sun of 
July and August plays sad havoc with them. 
Sweet peas are best sown in December and 
GARDEN MAGAZINE 
THE 
nt es i 
te CALE 
Seven years’ growth of a white Ischia fig tree. The top may be frozen back occasionally 
begin blooming in March. Pansies bloom 
during February, March and April, and are 
dried up by the southeast winds in May. 
FLOWERING AND EVERGREEN SHRUBS 
It is in shrubbery that we have blundered 
most, and consequently learned most. We 
sent away for a lot of Rosa rugosa because we 
read a beautiful description of them saying 
that they would thrive anywhere; and they 
laid down and died in three days. Out of 
about thirty lilacs that we have planted one 
is alive—hbarely alive. But we have not given 
up lilacs, and are now trying an experiment 
with them which may succeed. It consists 
simply in budding them on Ligustrum Ja- 
pomcum and ovalijolium, high — always high 
enough to prevent them from sending out 
roots from their own wood. 
Spirea prunijolia and Van Houttei—and 
mock oranges (Philadelphus) thrive with al- 
most no attention. A Deutzia crenata, var. 
rosea plena — sent to us by a mistake of the 
florist who put it in for a mock orange — has 
grown, bloomed and prospered, but requires 
more water than our other shrubs. 
We have beautiful altheas (Hibiscus Syri- 
acus) but they also require a good deal of 
water to keep them in bloom during the sum- 
mer. We have var. totus albus and another 
single variety white with dark red center. 
They begin blooming in April and continue 
at intervals. 
Perhaps our most beautiful shrub, besides 
pomegranates, is the pink crepe myrtle (La- 
gerstremia Indica). It is covered with resy 
blooms from June until frost. Like the pome- 
granate, it will stand any amount of neglect. 
Next in favor come the oleanders (Nerium) 
which in addition to being constant bloomers 
have the advantage of being evergreen. The 
single white is the most showy and seems to 
be most hardy, while the double pink has 
more beautiful blooms and is fragrant. The 
red and cream varieties are not so good. All 
kinds bloom from April on, until frost. The 
bushes are sometimes frozen down to the 
ground by an unusually cold winter, but as 
the roots are not killed they quickly recover. 
I don’t know just where to class the Span- 
ish bayonets (Yucca) but we have planted 
them in our shrubbery borders. ‘Their great 
crowns of pearly bell-shaped blossoms in 
March are a delight. 
Prickly pear and mesquite bush have to be cleared off, and paths cut through growths like this 
