February, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



17 



One of the best bricK-red-flowered plants is the Mal- 

 tese cross (Lychnis Chalcedonica) 



help greatly in ripening the wood for winter. 

 The shrub can be kept in a bushy form if the 

 shoots are cut back after the flowering season. 



Of the many red flowers that June con- 

 tributes the most splendid in effect is the 

 Oriental poppy {Pa-paver orientate) ; the variety 

 Parkmanni has given me special pleasure. 

 While established plants of this poppy are 

 hardy, the young seedlings are easily winter 

 killed in some localities. The best way of 

 overcoming this difficulty is to sow the seeds 

 early in spring where the plants are to remain, 

 and by autumn a vigorous growth will have 

 been made, and if mulched lightly and 

 covered with boughs, the plants will usually 

 endure a severe winter. There is so much 

 vigor in this poppy that any portion of the 

 root cut into small pieces will grow into new 

 plants. In its second year the plant blooms 

 a little, and in the third is a veritable patri- 

 arch. The leaf somewhat resembles that 

 of a thistle, and the flowers, borne on tall 

 stems two feet high, are usually four inches 

 across — though one of mine was six inches. 

 They are a gorgeous naming red with a black 

 spot at the base of each petal. The blooming 

 season covers but a few weeks; after which 

 the foliage assumes a rusty appearance, and 

 in a few weeks should be cut down for the 

 sake of tidiness and also to induce the for- 

 mation of new crowns. 



The first week in July brings a dazzling 

 array of an old-fashioned, semi-double red 

 rose, such as was formerly found in every 

 New England dooryard. I have a number 

 of plants massed in a long bed that outlines 

 the driveway for about a hundred feet from 

 the entrance. I do not know the name of 

 this rose, nor can I identify it in any of the 

 catalogues. The plants were brought from 

 an abandoned farm, whence all trace of the 



old house had disappeared; for more than a 

 generation they had run wild in the grass and 

 were not growing over eight inches high. 

 They were transplanted into a heavily man- 

 ured bed and now make an annual growth 

 of from two to three feet, which is cut back 

 each autumn within six inches of the ground. 

 In mellow ground they spread much at the 

 root. The flowers are nearly four inches 

 across, semi-double, brilliant red, with a 

 lovely fringe of yellow stamens showing 

 about the pistil. I have counted more than 

 forty roses on a single bush. The fragrance 

 is spicy and clean, unlike the heavy perfume 

 of many other varieties. It resembles the 

 American Beauty in many respects, but is 

 less double and is a clearer red. 



The hollyhock, in both single and double 

 varieties, in pure cardinal red, is another July 

 perennial, growing from five to eleven feet 

 high and bearing spikes of large, open, 

 funnel-shaped flowers four or five inches 

 across. It does not bloom until the second 

 season, and as winter kills it in some places, 

 it is often spoken of as a biennial. It can be 

 propagated both from seed and by division 

 of the root; the former method gives stronger 

 plants. The hollyhock varies greatly from 

 seed, and a strain is quickly changed. From 

 seeds of a pale pink single kind, years ago, 

 I have grown all shades of pale pink, deep 

 pink, deep rose and pure cardinal red, and 

 all in both single and double varieties; also 

 a lovely, distinct semi-double kind that had 

 a few small tufty petals about the centre. 

 This latter type, in a shell pink, was the most 

 beautiful hollyhock I ever saw. Plants from 

 self-sown seeds are strongest because they 

 have found conditions peculiar to their needs; 

 so I allow mine to spring up where they will 

 and select the most vigorous for transplanting. 

 The plants should be renewed every few 

 years as they outgrow their vigor and become 

 subject to the rust, which is death to the plant. 

 Spraying the plants, while still young, with 

 a weak solution of permanganate of potas- 

 sium is recommended for the rust in its 

 incipient state. If the tops of hollyhocks 

 are nipped when not more than three feet 

 high the stalks throw out lateral branches. 

 This pruning delays the bloom and prolongs 

 the season into October. 







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Among the modern varieties of the perennial phlox, 

 Coquelicot (poppy red) is one of the best 



In July there is an abundance of annuals 

 in red. Perhaps none is more satisfactory 

 than the nasturtiums (Tropaeolum) , both 

 tall and dwarf in pure red. A good dwarf 

 variety is known in the trade as Compact 

 Lustrus; of the climbing or tall type select 

 Coccineum. The only difference between 

 these plants lies in the manner of growth. 

 The dwarf form is a low mass of green, with 

 an abundance of blossom, while the running 

 kind makes a vine of four to ten feet in length. 

 I tried the experiment once with a dwarf 

 variety, of cutting off most of the leaves, and 

 the result was an almost solid mass of blooms 

 of enormous size, but the plant was soon 

 exhausted. Extreme forcing impairs the 

 vitality of any plant. By picking off a 

 reasonable number of leaves, and the seed 

 vessels as they form, nasturtiums may be 



The red-hot poKer plant (TrHoma "Pfifnert) : flowers from July to SeDtember. Stalks 3 ft. high 



