232 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Mat, 1909 



montbretias are apt to shrivel when exposed 

 for a long time in a dry air. 



TIGRIDIAS 



These have large, three-lobed flowers, 

 with beautiful spotted centres, and grow 

 from eighteen inches to two feet high. 

 The principal drawback to them is that the 

 flowers do not last long, but the plants 

 flower continuously through July and 

 August. They die down rather early in 

 the fall, and should then be taken up and 

 stored in the same way as the gladioli 

 corms. 



Bulbs of Tigridia Pavonia should be 

 planted in April, about four inches apart 

 and two inches deep in a light, rich soil in 

 a sunny position. There are several varie- 



ties, the prevailing colors of which are 

 red, carmine, rose, lilac, yellow, and white. 

 The white (vzx.grandiflora alba) is the pret- 

 tiest and most largely grown. 



TUBEROSES 



The tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) is grown 

 very largely as a "florists' flower," because 

 it can be easily forced. But it is not a 

 question of forcing, but of planting out in 

 the garden that concerns us here. 



It is desirable to start these bulbs in 

 pots, owing to the length of time necessary 

 to mature the flowers. They should not 

 be planted out until the first of June, and 

 unless they have been started into growth 

 in pots it will be nearly October before the 

 flowers are produced. The bulbs can be 



potted from February to the end of April, 

 according to the time when, they are wanted 

 to bloom. They should be planted in a 

 light, sandy, well-drained and rich soil, 

 and should have a sheltered yet sunny 

 position. 



The best variety for garden culture is 

 Double Dwarf Pearl. This scarcely at- 

 tains a height of two feet, and will 

 not need staking. The beautiful white, 

 waxy-looking, and heavily scented flowers 

 crowd together on the upper half of the 

 stem, and make a very effective display 

 when massed in the flower garden. 

 Their perfume, however, though delicious, 

 is a little too overpowering for them to 

 be recommended for cutting or for house 

 decoration. 



Dahlias For Everybody's Garden— By Maurice Fuld, 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



KEEP IN VIEW THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN VARIETIES THAT FULFILL THE EXHIBITION STANDARDS 

 OF THE CONNOISSEUR AND THOSE THAT WILL GIVE THE GREATEST SHOW OF BLOOM IN THE GARDEN 



IN last month's Garden Magazine 

 the modern methods of dahlia culti- 

 vation were explained. The most impor- 

 tant point that will bear reiteration is that 

 dahlias may be planted as late as the fourth 

 of July, and probably with better results 

 than from earlier planting. For this reason 

 dahlias are obviously the most important 

 of the large flowers for late planting. 



But there are dahlias and dahlias, and 

 although I am an enthusiastic admirer 

 of dahlias of all classes and all types, still 

 I realize, perhaps, all the more strongly, 

 how desirable it is that the amateur should 

 make himself acquainted with the niceties 

 of the points of appreciation in order that 

 he may grow such types as will most nearly 

 fill his requirements. 



From this standpoint the most important 

 consideration is the division into two great 

 classes — exhibition dahlias and garden 

 dahlias. While the first named have the 

 most highly refined and most perfectly 

 formed flowers, they are not freely pro- 

 duced; in the "garden" dahlias, length of 

 stem and profusion of bloom are counted 

 of greater importance than perfection of 

 model or even coloring. 



If you would grow dahlias for cut flowers 

 for decorative purposes only, select varie- 

 ties from the garden group, leaving to the 

 connoisseur the others in which the con- 

 volutions of the petals and the twisting 

 of their tips are matters of greatest moment. 

 Dahlias are grouped into types or classes ac- 

 cording to the form of the flower, as follows: 



The old-time dahlia, a perfectly quilled, 

 formal flower of severely geometric type, 

 known as the "show" dahlia, is still to-day 

 regarded as the highest type of perfection. 

 Until quite recently these same formal flowers 

 were called "fancy" if the flowers were 

 either variegated, speckled or spotted, or 

 with the base darker than the tip of the 

 petal. This very arbitrary color division 

 is regarded by progressive American fan- 

 ciers as entirely too artificial, and all these 

 varieties are now included in the "show" 

 class. In the garden group of the show 

 type the blooms are fairly large sized, and 

 in other respects identical with the larger 

 sized but fewer-flowered exhibition kinds. 



Of similar form, but much smaller — so 

 much different, indeed, as to be almost 



Cactus type ; the most popular for exhibition pur- 

 poses, but generally with short stems 



Anemone type ; very useful for garden decoration, 

 but not a fancier's flower 



Singles. Cactus type shown in the lowest flower; 

 Twentieth Century at the top 



