May, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



231 



Cannas give the richest combination of foliage and 

 flowers. Buy modern varieties for largest flowers 



Although dahlias will grow almost any- 

 where, they are apt to make soft and vig- 

 orous growth in a wet situation, espe- 

 cially if the season happens to be rainy, 

 and consequently less flowers will be pro- 

 duced because the flowering season will 

 be delayed until the frost is about ready 

 to close it. Therefore, a sheltered and 

 well-drained situation should be chosen- 

 with a good deep, rich loam. 



Cannas 



These are seen at their best when massed 

 in large beds or clumps. There is no 

 other bedding plant so valuable for both 

 foliage and flowers. It is almost neces- 

 sary to start the cannas, like the begonias, 

 into growth in a greenhouse. In our short, 

 frost-free season, usually less than four 

 months, it would be otherwise necessary 

 to have the roots lie dormant for eight 

 months of the year, and even where this 

 could be successfully accomplished, the 

 full beauty of the plants could only be enjoyed 

 for a few weeks at most, so much time being 

 necessary to bring them to maturity. 



The roots should be brought in from the 

 storage cellar at least by the end of March, 

 and divided into convenient sizes to be 

 readily potted. Almost any soil will do, 

 but that from an old carnation bench is 

 excellent. When potted the plants should 

 be watered once before being taken to a 

 moderately warm temperature to start. 

 No more water will be needed until the 

 plants show signs of growing, but the 

 pots may be sprayed over lightly every 

 day. When once started, the plants should 

 be kept growing along, spraying daily with 

 clear water, especially under the leaves 

 where the red spider and thrips are other- 

 wise likely to be troublesome. 



By the first week in June the plants 

 should be ready for planting out, but if 

 the weather happens to be cold it is better 

 to wait a few days than to have the leaves 



shrivel in a cold wind. When planting, 

 be sure to make good-sized holes and work 

 in the soil around the roots as recommended 

 for the dahlias. Care should also be taken 

 to have the tallest growing kinds in the 

 centre of the bed, or in the background 

 if they are planted in a border, finishing 

 with the dwarfest at the outside. 



Cannas are gross feeders, and like a 

 rich soil and plenty of moisture. In dry 

 weather the bed should be given fre- 

 quent, copious waterings. 



Every year new varieties of cannas are 

 offered by the leading nurserymen and 

 seedsmen, showing constant improvements 

 over the old forms. The great number of 

 excellent varieties makes one hesitate to 

 enumerate a few, as so many others quite 

 as good will be left out. Still, of the older 

 French kinds, Black Prince, Charles 

 Henderson, and Florence Vaughan, and of 

 the so-called orchid-flowering section, 

 Allemania, La France, and Pillar of Fire 

 are very good. 



GLADIOLI 



Unlike most other spring-planted bulbous 

 and tuberous plants, these do not pay for 

 early starting in pots or boxes, and they 

 will thrive to perfection in a wider range 

 of soils. Being little or no trouble to 

 cultivate, they are within the reach of 

 everybody, even with the tiniest plot of 

 garden. 



The time to plant the first lot of gladioli 

 is as soon as the ground can be worked in 

 the spring after the frost is out, and suc- 

 cessive plantings may be made every two 

 weeks up to June. All authorities agree 

 that strong "green" manure should not 

 be used. It is much better that the ground 

 should have been manured heavily the 

 previous year, but if this has not been done, 

 then only decayed manure should be 

 worked into the soil. An ordinary vege- 

 table garden soil will require nothing fur- 

 ther than deep cultivation, but a liberal 

 application of wood ashes will improve a 

 heavy soil. 



Just in what way to plant must be left 

 to each individual condition. If set out 

 in rows the drills should not be more than 

 four inches deep, and the corms set out by 

 hand in the rows four inches apart, being 

 careful to place them so that the crown 

 of each is pointing straight upward or a 

 crooked growth will most likely result. 

 To keep the corms for late planting they 

 should be spread very thinly on shelves 

 in a cool cellar; if left in bulk they will 

 grow and spoil, becoming a mass of 

 tangled roots. 



A clump of gladioli is very desirable 

 in the naturalistic garden here and there, or 

 in the shrub border, or a row well toward 

 the back of a ribbon border. When put 

 in a clump the corms should be planted 

 at from six to eight inches apart each way. 

 The ground in the border must be well pre- 

 pared, that is, manured and dug deeply, or 

 only puny growth will result. One takes just 

 so much more pleasure in any plant as one 

 sees it vigorous and healthy. This can only 



result from a well-cultivated and rich soil, 

 with copious watering in very dry weather. 



The sorts now in common cultivation 

 are all hybrids which have been produced 

 from crossings of the original species. 

 There is scarcely another garden plant 

 which has been so much improved by the 

 process of hybridization and selection over 

 a number of years. The principal types 

 of gladioli for garden culture are the Childsi, 

 Gandavensis, and Lemoine's and Groff's 

 Hybrids. Of these only the Groff's Hybrids 

 are unnamed, their originator not believ- 

 ing in dignifying the slight variations 

 among his hybrids by separate names. 

 They are sold only in mixture. Of the 

 others, Gandavensis is the largest class, 

 and where only a few are grown, selections 

 from this type would be likely to give the 

 most satisfaction. 



MONTBRETIAS 



These are something like the gladioli 

 in appearance, except that the sword- 

 shaped leaves, and the flower stems, usually 

 much branched, are much more slender, 

 the flowers far smaller and more loosely 

 arranged, not crowding each other, and 

 consequently the plants are more graceful 

 and therefore better for cutting and for 

 decoration. There are a number of 

 varieties, the colors of which range from 

 red through the orange shades to clear 

 yellow. 



They will succeed with the same treat- 

 ment as for gladioli, except that the corms, 

 being smaller, should not be planted quite 

 so deeply. They are also hardier than 

 gladioli, and will live if not taken up in the 

 fall, but they come weaker the second 

 year, owing to the severe freezing, so that 

 it is advisable to take them up in the fall 

 and store them in sand or earth in a cool 

 cellar, or else to mulch heavily over winter. 

 In this respect they differ a little from the 

 gladioli corms, since these latter are better 

 kept absolutely dry; on the other hand, 



Anyone can grow the gladiolus. Make successional 

 plantings up to June for late bloom 



