THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



77 



The Flowers Shown on This 

 Month's Cover — Ixias 



WHY ixias should not be as popular as 

 freesias I cannot understand, for 

 although the charming ixias lack the delicious 

 fragrance of the freesias, they have at least 

 twenty times as great a range of colors. 



Ixias are spring - blooming plants with 

 grassy foliage about a foot and a half high 

 and with six petalled flowers an inch and a 

 half or two inches across, which grow in 

 clusters of six to twelve flowers. They have 

 every important color except sky blue, even 

 including green. It is an astonishing fact 

 that these plants should have hundreds of 

 named varieties in the old world and be com- 

 pletely ignored in America. The plants 

 remain in bloom for about three weeks. The 

 flowers close at night and remain closed on 

 dark days. 



Only connoisseurs in America grow ixias 

 in their coldframes and greenhouses, but Mr. 

 William E. Endicott, of Canton, Mass., has 

 succeeded in growing them out of doors. 



For years he has had thousands of ixias 

 in flower during June, and he declares they 

 make a braver show even than tulips. Mr. 

 Endicott delays planting the bulbs until 

 November 30th, as they are inclined to 

 start growing in autumn, which would be 

 fatal. He plants them three inches deep in 

 unfrozen ground, as ixia bulbs cannot stand 

 any freezing, and covers them with about 

 three inches of leaves, hay or, preferably, 

 pine needles. The secret of success with 

 ixias is the management of the mulch in 

 early spring. Uncover the tender shoots 

 early and do all you can to harden them, but 

 leave the mulch handy and cover the plants 

 if there is any danger. Mr. Endicott is prob- 

 ably the first American who has found it 

 practicable to propagate ixias at home. He 

 finds that many of the offsets bloom the 

 first year and nearly all the second. 



Henry Maxwell. 



How to Raise a Second Crop of 

 Flowers in the Bulb Bed 



THE beautiful full - page pictures on 

 pages 68-69 "vvill doubtless stimulate 

 many home gardeners this year to raise a 

 second crop of flowers in their bulb beds 

 after the tulips, crocuses and narcissi are 

 gone. If the bulbs are moved every year, 

 as is the regular practice with the early or 

 bedding tulips, it is easy enough, but when the 

 bulbs are to remain three years or longer in 



the same spot the problem is more difficult, 

 because the plants which succeed the bulbs 

 may require so much water during the sum- 

 mer months that the bulbs will not have a 

 chance to ripen thoroughly. At the end of 

 the growing season every kind of bulb needs 

 less water or none at all. A friend of mine 

 who has grown bulbs for twenty years tells 

 me that he has tried nearly all the impor- 

 tant annuals as succession crops on his bulb 

 beds, and that the most satisfactory seed to 

 plant after the bulbous flowers are gone is 

 that of the annual phlox (Phlox Drum- 

 mondii). In his experience, most of the other 

 desirable annuals require too much water 

 for the good of the ripening bulbs. 



It is quite possible, however, that in a very 

 rich soil that is highly retentive of moisture 

 and not subject to drouth, other annuals can 

 be used that would furnish flowers from 

 June until frost, and for these one would 

 turn naturally to verbenas, petunias, pansies 

 and forget-me-nots, all of which are shallow- 

 rooting plants, and therefore less likely to 

 interfere with the bulbs than taller-growing 

 plants like salvias. 



It would be impossible to sow seeds of 

 these plants in May and have flowers in 

 June, but young plants already in flower can 

 be purchased in May, from the local florist, 

 for about ten cents each. While the four 

 flowers just named are satisfactory for this 

 special purpose, they are somewhat expen- 

 sive, as the dimes count up quickly. One 

 can sow seeds of these things outdoors in late 

 April or early May, but one can hardly 

 expect to have flowers in June. 



If for any reason the home gardener does 

 not wish to have Drummond's phlox, let him 

 sow seeds of alyssum or candytuft, unless he 

 thinks they are too commonplace. Mari- 

 golds and zinnias are the other annuals which, 

 with good management, would give from two 

 and a half to three months bloom, but they 

 are so much stronger-growing than the plants 

 above mentioned that it would be too much 

 to expect as good results. 



New Jersey. Thomas Mc Ad am. 



The English Ivy as a Ground- 

 Cover Under Trees 



HPHE accompanying picture (Fig. 121) 

 A ' shows the marvelous results that can be 

 obtained in California by the use of English 

 ivy as a ground - cover under trees and in 

 positions where there is too much shade for 

 grass to grow well. It is impossible to get 

 such results in the northern States with the 

 English ivy. Our best plant for such pur- 

 poses is the running myrtle (Vinca minor), 

 the dark-green, glossy, ever-blooming plant 

 with blue flowers which is so commonly used 

 in cemeteries. 



Somebody ought to make a careful study 

 of the English ivy in the northern States. 

 It is not considered hardy in climates charac- 

 terized by alternate freezing and thawing in 

 winter, but there are cases where it is per- 

 fectly hardy in localities a hundred miles or 

 more north of the region where English ivy 

 is commonly used by the people. Possibly 

 there is a variety of the English ivy that is 

 hardier than the rest, and adapted to the 

 climate of the northern United States. If 

 so, this is not generally recognized. The 

 conditions under which ivy succeeds along 

 its northern limit should be carefully com- 

 pared, as there is a wide difference of opinion 

 as to how far north the English ivy is hardy, 

 and under what circumstances it will survive 

 our winters. If there is any consensus of 

 opinion, it is that the ivy likes a somewhat 

 moist and rich soil and a shaded position. 

 W. E. Pendleton. 



'. ■ '■ '--,--■•■ ■"•■ > r. Z^. 







- .y 







125. English ivy as a ground-cover under trees in California. In the northern United States the English 

 ivy is not reliably hardy, and the best plant for covering the ground in the shade of trees and shrubs is 

 running myrtle (Vinca minor), an evergreen trailer with thicK, waxy leaves and blue, five-lobed flowers 



