194 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1919 



Picking Sweet Peas. — No doubt others have' 

 acquired the same "trick" in picking Sweet Peas 

 that I have, but for the benefit of those who have 

 not, I wish to pass it along. First, I will state 

 my objections to both the cutting and plucking 

 method of gathering these flowers. In cutting 

 Sweet Pea blooms the lateral buds at the base of 

 the stems are left to grow. They quickly exhaust 

 the energy of the plant, retard top growth, and 

 result in flowers with miserably short stems. 

 Plucking, while it usually removes the ofFending 

 lateral when it is yet in the embryo state, is apt 

 to "skin" the tender surface of the vine, or worse 

 still, break it off at the roots. Hold the main 

 vine with the left hand. With the thumb and 

 finger of the right 'hand grasp the flower stem 

 and lateral bud together, as near the base of the 

 stem as possible, and using the fingers as a pivot, 

 bend them quickly and sharply first to one side 

 and then the other. This gives a clean break- 

 away. 1 might further describe it as a sort of 

 rubbing out of the stem and lateral bud from 

 their socket. This way of picking Sweet Peas 

 does not damage the vines, and the lateral buds 

 are removed exactly when they should be. The 

 " trick" can be acquired with few trials, more 

 especially in the morning when the vines are full 

 of sap. They grow much taller under this 

 treatment, require less fertilizing, and yield 

 uniformly long-stemmed flower sprays over an 

 extended season. — Claudia B. Walters, Ohio. • 



Catawba Early an Ideal Sweet Corn. — In 

 rereading the spring garden magazines for 

 1919, I noticed several writers praising the 

 Golden Bantam for Early Sweet Corn. I won- 

 der how many of those who value this corn so 

 highly have ever grown Catawba. We like 

 this the best of any corn that we have ever 

 grown or eaten, and though we have but a small 

 home garden, we try to plant each year some 

 Catawba corn for early, late, and mid-season use. 

 The plants are of the small dwarf growth, and 

 produce quite freely — the ears are medium size, 

 but the cob is so small, and the kernels so large 

 and meaty that one gets more corn from the 

 smaller cob than from some larger. The hull 

 of the kernel is very tender, so that the corn can 

 still be eaten when so old that some varieties 

 would be tough. We prefer its flavor to that 

 of Golden Bantam; it is extra sweet and extra 

 tender. The kernel when ready to eat is white, 

 deepening to pale pink as it grows older, until, 

 when ripe it is a deep purplish shade.' — Mrs. 

 Ruth G. Plowhead, Caldwell, Idaho. 



Verbenas as Bedders. — Here is a picture show- 

 ing Verbenas as a bedding plant used out on the 

 open prairies. The plants presented a joyous 

 mass of bloom all summer, doing every bit as well 

 as Geraniums did in seasons past. Let it be 

 noted that the plants were exposed to the full 

 glare of the sun all through the long summer days 



and there was nothing to protect them from the 

 winds and the wind on the prairies blows wildly 

 at times. The border used is Dusty Miller. 

 Though the, planter achieved little of art in his 

 effort to duplicate what he saw elsewhere, he did 

 inadvertently demonstrate the value of the 

 Verbena as a plant for sun and wind. — C. L. 

 Meller, N. D. 



To Lengthen Clematis Bloom. — Two good 

 Clematis to plant together are the wild species 

 and the cultivated paniculata. The wild sort 

 blossoms first, and just as it is through the other 

 begins. They both bear clusters of small white 

 blossoms — those of paniculata being fragrant, 

 the other not. Another advantage of planting 

 them together is that the foliage of the wild kind 

 is apt to present a rusty appearance toward 

 the end of the season, while that of the other is 

 evergreen and helps hide the unattractiveness 

 of the former. We were at first bothered by 

 seedlings of the wild Clematis springing up in 

 unexpected places over the yard. To avoid 

 this we gather the seeds and burn them, but as 

 the fuzzy seed clusters have a beauty of their own, 

 we leave them on the vine till nearly ripe. — 

 Mary Rutner, Traverse City, Michigan. 



Chokecherry for the Garden. — Our common 

 Chokecherry or Prunus virginiana, due to its 

 suckering roots tends to develop into a shrubbery 

 clump of its own, though with a little attention 

 it can be grown either as a large shrub or small 

 tree. It is not to be recommended for general 

 planting, particularly not where a more cultured 

 specimen of shrub or small tree can take its place, 

 but to tidy up the ragged ends of a place it is 

 sometimes about the only thing that will grow 

 satisfactorily and persist. Its roots will push 

 their way through almost any kind of a soil and 

 once established the plant is drought resistant. 

 Left alone a Chokecherry will sooner or later 

 occupy all the ground available. Growing at 

 its own sweet will a few of the innermost shoots 

 develop into small trees while the outermost 

 shoots grow as short canes that carry the foliage 

 of such a clump down to the ground. If one 

 has a mind to do it a Chokecherry can be grown 

 as a well balanced lawn tree while the persistent 

 suckers that keep springing up all about the base 

 of the tree can be easily held down with the lawn 

 mower. They do not injure the lawn. During 

 its blossoming time, a period of about two weeks, 

 a Chokecherry clump is really pretty and the 

 fragrance is all pervading. When the fruit is 

 ripe there is a feast for the birds, robins appear 

 to be especially fond of it. This is a point in 

 its favor not to be forgotten. As a means of 

 screening an objectionable view, especially on 

 poor soil that cannot be given much preparation 

 and where subsequent care is out of the question, 

 Prunus virginiana is to be recommended. — 

 C. L. Meller, N. D. 



One solution of flower tedding in a place on the prairies fully exposed to sunshine with no protection from wind, Verbena with 



Dusty Miller as an edging 



A flowering climber is always a relief to a brick wall. By 

 combining the early flowering native with the late blooming 

 Japanese Clematis a double season of bloom is achieved 



A Sermonette. — Flower growers have some- 

 times been criticised, and during the war, often 

 censured by self-alleged practical persons, ,for 

 wasting valuable material space and labor on a 

 mere hobby. It is useless to argue with such 

 people. I prefer to preach a little sermon, taking 

 for my text Genesis 2:8-9: "And the Lord God 

 planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he 

 put the man whom he had formed. And out 

 of the ground made the Lord God to grow every 

 tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for 

 food." My dear Garden Neighbors, note care- 

 fully that "every tree that is pleasant to the 

 sight" has prior mention, while those "good for 

 food" are accorded sec®nd position in the scrip- 

 tural record. "Every tree that is pleasant to the 

 sight" means flowers, which in Eden took prece- 

 dence over food producing plants. Let us be 

 reasonable and concede that, after the loss of 

 Eden, these positions were reversed, and food 

 production necessarily became of primary im- 

 portance demanding strong Adam's close applica- 

 tion. But happy industrious Eve digged and 

 planted too. She labored and the responsive 

 earth rewarded her with a little paradise all her 

 own. A flower here, and a bush there, beautiful 

 fragments of Eden for God provided the seed. 

 God makes the flowers and what He makes is 

 good. Flower gardening is Eden-making. Let 

 us preach and practise the gospel of Every Home 

 an Eden. — Mrs. R. W. Walters, Ohio. 



