Succession Crops in the Flower Garden— By Mrs. Francis King, 



THE DIFFICULTIES OF MAINTAINING AN UNINTERRUPTED FLOWER-COVER FOR A CERTAIN 

 LENGTH OF TIME ON A GIVEN SPACE OF GROUND, ALWAYS WITH A VIEW TO COLOR HARMONY 



Mich- 

 igan 



EASY enough it is to plan successive 

 flower crops for different parts of a 

 place: but not so easy, considering the 

 limited amount of nourishment in the soil 

 and the habit of growth of various flowering 

 plants, to cover one spot for weeks with 

 flowers. An immense variety of treatment 

 is possible and much disagreement must be 

 beforehand conceded. Calculations for va- 

 rying latitudes must be made with more 

 than usual care; and the question of in- 

 dividual taste asserts itself with great in- 

 sistence. 



A very rough and hard bank of nearly 

 solid clay with a south exposure has for 

 some years been planted to narcissus Em- 

 peror, Cynosure, and one or two other 

 rather later varieties. Striking boldly along 

 among these, while in full bloom, grows an 

 irregular line, thickening and thinning in 

 places, of tulip Vermilion Brilliant, abso- 

 lutely described by its name. As the flowers 

 of these scarlet and yellow bulbs commence 

 to fade, the ground below them begins to 

 green with little leaves of calendulas Orange 

 King and Sulphur Queen, as well as of the 

 fine double white poppy White Swan. These 

 practically cover the dying bulb leaves in 

 a few weeks and produce a succession of 

 charming bloom beginning rather early in 

 the summer. A few zinnias do well among , 

 them, the medium tall varieties grown only 

 from seed labeled "Flesh-color." For my 

 purposes this zinnia-color is always the best. 

 It generally produces flowers varying from 

 flesh pink to pale or faded yellow, colors 

 which in all their range look so well with 

 yellow or warm pink flowers that many 

 unique and lovely combinations are obtained 

 by their free use. Beware of the zinnia 

 seed marked "Rose," and of all mixtures 

 of this seed. The seed rarely comes true 

 to color, and its bad colors are so hideously 

 wrong with most other flowers that they are 

 a very real menace to the beginner in what 

 we might call picture - gardening. 



Iceland poppies, thickly planted among 

 the narcissi and tulips, would bring a crop 

 of charming silken blooms well held above 



the foliage already on that bank, and coming 

 between the earlier and later flower-crops. 



The little walk of dark brick shown in 

 the first illustration is bordered in very early 

 spring by blue grape hyacinths {Muscari 

 botry aides,), followed closely by the fine 

 forget-me-not {Myosotis dissitiflora) in 

 mounds and sprays . Among these are quanti- 

 ties of the cream-white daffodil {Narcissus 

 cernuus). Alternating with the plants of 

 early forget-me-not are many more of 

 Sutton's Perfection and Sutton's Royal 

 Blue, which come into bloom as the earliest 

 fade; these grow very tall and form a fore- 

 ground of perfect loveliness for the tall 

 Tulipa reticulata, which rises irregularly 

 back of the small sky-blue flowers below, 

 completing a combination of cream-color 

 and light blue charmingly delicate and 

 effective. Following the two blue and cream- 

 white crops of flowers bordering this walk, 

 dark pink phloxes bloom in early August, 

 three successive periods of gayety being thus 

 assured to the little pathway. 



A continuation of this walk, running 

 toward a wooden gateway in a trellised 

 screen, may boast also of three successive 

 flower-appearances of different kinds. Back 

 of the brick edging bordering the gravel 

 are planted alternating groups of myo- 

 sotis Sutton's Royal blue, hardy dianthus 

 Her Majesty, and early and late hardy 

 asters, the two mentioned in a former article, 

 Coombe Fishacre and Pulcherrima. First 

 to enliven the borders with color is the 

 myosotis, a peculiarly pretty effect occurring 

 in the leading up, at either end of the walk, 

 of the irregular edge-groups of pale blue 

 to low masses of the old fashioned Harison's 

 Yellow and Persian Yellow rose. Late 



forget-me-not is never lovelier than when 

 used in connection with this rose. The 

 combination reminds me of the delicate 

 colors of the flower boxes below each win- 

 dow of Paquin's great establishment in the 

 Rue de la Paix, as it may be seen every May. 

 Following the myosotis and yellow roses 

 come masses of the scented white pinks, 

 while by this time the hardy asters have 

 developed into handsome dark green groups 

 of leaves and give all through the summer 

 a rich green contrasting well with the gray 

 mounds of dianthus foliage, and finally, in 

 September, rising suddenly into sprays of 

 tall fine lavender bloom. 



No succession crop of spring and early 

 summer that I have happened upon seems 

 to work better than that of tulip "Yellow 

 Rose" planted in small spaces between 

 common and named varieties of Oriental 

 Poppy. The tulip, in itself of gorgeous 

 beauty, very rich yeflow and extremely 

 double, absolutely lacks backbone, and the 

 first heavy shower brings its widely opened 

 flowers to earth to be bespattered with mud. 

 The leaves of the poppy, upright and hairy, 

 form a capital support for the misbehaving 

 stem of "Yellow Rose" and the poppies 

 having thus lent the tulips aid in time of 

 need, go a step farther and cover their drying 

 foliage with a handsome acanthus - like 

 screen of green surmounted by the noble 

 scarlet and salmon blooms of early June. 

 This is a very simple, practical, and safe 

 experiment in succession crops, and is 

 heartily commended. Following these 

 poppies comes the bloom of a few plants 

 of campanula Die Fee, and I am try- 

 ing this year the experiment of Cam- 

 panula pyramidalis in blues and whites 

 thickly planted among the poppies, for late 

 summer bloom when the poppy leaves shall 

 have vanished. This is a large demand to 

 make upon the earth in a small space, but, 

 with encouragement by means of several 

 top-dressings of well-rotted manure, I hope 

 to accomplish this crop succession satis- 

 factorily. Among the yellow columbines 



Fig. 1. An early spring effect — grape hyacinth., 

 forget-me-not, and cream white daSodil 



Fig. 2. The Munstead primroses are scarcely out 

 of bloom when tulips succeed 



58 



Fig. 3. Under the grape arbor tulips and forget- 

 me-not 



