244 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Mat, 1911 



Wfine/S 



A Wild Flower With Many 

 Merits 



IT WOULD be hard indeed to find a perennial 

 giving a more effective May-flowering display 

 than the wild sweet-william {Phlox divaricata) . 



After a four years' test in my hardy garden, I 

 unhesitatingly give the place of honor, among the 

 May-flowering class, to this native of the woods. 

 And deservedly so, for I find this plant to be 

 unusually rich in the characteristics that are most 

 valued in plants of the garden or border 



Outranking all other merits of Phlox divaricata 

 is its perfect reliability in producing flowers each 

 year. Far too often the snow-white arabis, candy- 

 tuft, gay-colored primroses, and other spring- 

 flowering perennials greet one with but a half- 

 hearted smile because of a belated frost. Frost 

 and cold apparently hold no terror for the blossoms 

 of the wild sweet-william. Again and again, 

 while in 'full bloom, my plants have been weighted 

 to the ground with snow, and have become stiff 

 with frost, with no evident harm or check in growth. 



The- blossoms are soft and velvety in texture, 

 star-like in form, and appear generously in large 

 spreading clusters. The color is exquisite — a 

 deep lilac-blue, yet a shade so delicate in tone that 

 it is readily brought into perfect harmony with 

 the various other colors in the garden! 



The blossoms begin to unfold during the last 

 week of April here in Illinois, and from this time 

 until the first of June the plant presents a glorious 

 display. Surely, four weeks of uninterrupted 

 spring bloom is to be coveted for any garden ! 



All these excellent points, however, are not the 

 only ones recommending the wild sweet-william 



for general culture. It has yet another qualifi- 

 cation — unusual adaptability for different plant- 

 ing purposes in the yard or garden. This versatility 

 of use is due largely to the fact that it succeeds 

 perfectly in either sun or shade. In massed plant- 

 ing in the open garden or border its exquisite 

 loveliness is hard to surpass. The plant interferes 

 in no way with later-blooming perennials, as its 

 roots remain very near the surface and, after the 

 flowering season is past, the low-spreading foliage is 

 soon covered by plants of taller and stockier growth. 



Group planting of Phlox divaricata is always 

 pleasingly attractive. I know of no lovelier color 

 combination than that created by the mingled 

 blossoms of the delicate lavender phlox with those 

 of the dainty white arabis and pale pink shooting 

 star. As an edging for walks and borders wild 

 phlox gives excellent results, the foliage remaining 

 evergreen and attractive throughout the season. 

 I have also found this plant to be the most satis- 

 factory perennial for planting under a shady per- 

 gola, as well as the best carpeting variety for 

 shrubbery beds and borders. 



Illinois. Adeline Thayer Thomson. 



Growing Roses in Pails 



ALTHOUGH located in the north middle part 

 of Wisconsin, I determined to have tea 

 roses for their continuous flowering, range of color, 

 and exquisite fragrance, so two years ago I pur- 

 chased a quantity of hybrid perpetual and 

 tea roses. Previous to the date of arrival of the 

 bushes I bought empty candy pails for each of 

 the teas from the local grocer at about sixty 

 cents a dozen. In these I planted the bushes and 

 sunk them in the ground with the hardy roses. 

 They grew splendidly, bloomed continuously, and 

 at the first touch of frost I had them lifted, pail 

 and all, and placed in a cool cellar. 



This operation I have repeated now for two 

 years. The bushes not only furnish beautiful and 

 fragrant flowers, but bloom without any cessation 

 all summer long and much more profusely than 

 the other varieties do in June. This spring I am 

 ordering one plant each of all the teas listed by 

 one of the largest rose dealers. 



This little stunt is worth doing by all who have 

 cool vegetable-cellar accommodation for their roses 

 during the winter. The only change I shall make 

 in my programme this spring is to substitute 1 2- 

 or 14-in. pots, which, although forty to eighty cents 

 apiece, are more permanent than the candy pails. 



Wisconsin. A. C. Gilbert. 



A New Celery Culture 



GROWING celery indoors is not such a "stunt" 

 as it may seem. Get your groceryman to 

 bring you a good sound barrel with plenty of 

 hoops, saw it across the middle, and in the bottom 

 of the lower half bore several holes for drainage. 

 Take an old stove pipe which has a number of 

 holes in it, place it in the centre of the tub and 

 sprinkle a layer of rich dirt a foot or so deep at 

 the bottom and around the pipe. Of course it is 

 presumed that you started your celery indoors 

 in a box. 



When transplanting select the strongest plants 

 and set them in the bottom of the half-barrel 

 midway between the pipe and the outer edge, 



The wild sweet-william (Phlox divaricata'). in its flowering season from April until June, is a mass of 



delicate color 



A novel scheme in celery growing on a small scale 

 in a back yard 



and about six inches apart, also a double row if the 

 barrel is large enough. The purpose of the pipe 

 is to moisten the soil evenly when water is poured 

 into it from the top. As the plants grow add more 

 rich soil until they are "banked" sufficiently high. 



The number of stalks you have will, of course, 

 be gauged by the size of your barrel. The recep- 

 tacle can be moved from place to place or set in 

 some out-of-the-way corner where the plants will 

 receive sufficient sun and air. 



Tennessee. J. W. Biggers. 



A Blue and Yellow Combination 



FROM March until May the Virginian cow- 

 slip or blue bell {Mertensia Virginica) is in 

 its glory. I have it in my garden planted under 

 a group of Forsythia Fortunei, its blue bells con- 

 trasting pleasantly with the golden bells of the 

 overhanging Forsythia. As the foliage of the 

 Mertensia fades soon after the blooming period 

 is over, it cannot be used in masses where vacant 

 ground during the summer months is undesirable. 

 In the situation above mentioned I have overcome 

 this objection; by the time the foliage of the Mer- 

 tensia has turned brown and the plants need no 

 more sunlight, the drooping branches of the 

 Forsythia hide them from sight. The Mertensia 

 may, however, be grown in semi-shady beds in 

 masses, if vacant spaces — say a foot in diameter 

 — are left two feet or more apart, in which strong- 

 growing plants like the tobaccos, spider plant, or 

 the late-branching garden asters may be placed 

 or seed sown. But in this case one must be willing 

 to put up with the sight of brown and dying foliage 

 for a time, for the plants need the ripening off for 

 their future development. They are hardy 

 perennials, and in favorable positions not only 

 spread at the roots, but young plants come up 

 quite freely. They should be planted in August 

 or September, as they are dormant then. There 

 is a white variety, not as pleasing as the. type, 

 whose unopened buds are a lively pink and the 

 open petals a robin's egg blue. As the flower 

 stalk carries buds and matured blooms at the same 

 time, the effect is charming. My group is near 

 the edge of a ravine and, by self-sown seedlings, 

 the colony is creeping slowly down the bank. It 

 must contain now about two hundred plants. 

 Illinois. W. C. Egan. 



