46 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1913 



The Paris daisy wants sunshine and rich soil, with 

 a "rest" in late summer 



window the air is often as cool as this, while 

 the room registers seventy. An east win- 

 dow is best for cyclamen and just a medium 

 amount of water and sunshine. They 

 should bloom straight through till May. 

 Plant them in the ground then ■ with a 

 northern or eastern exposure and they will 

 care for themselves till fall. Give them 

 rather small pots, ordinarily rich soil 

 and the east window again for another 

 season of bloom. Cyclamen will not 



stand manure that is at all fresh, or 

 liquid manure. 



Petunias make excellent window plants, 

 especially where conditions are not of the 

 best. Instead of the magenta shades grow 

 the lovely ruffly whites and silvery pink 

 tints which are just as cheap. Take up an 

 old petunia plant in the fall, cut the stalks 

 nearly to the ground, pot it in rich earth 

 in a rather small pot with good drainage, and 

 set in a cool window for a while, giving only 

 a little water. As the plant sprouts and 

 grows thriftily, move it to a south window 

 and increase the water, sprinkling once a 

 week for cleanliness. Blossoms will follow 

 blossoms all winter and their fresh bright- 

 ness is most welcome. 



Snapdragons, treated precisely like the 

 petunias, will bloom from Thanksgiving 

 till March. The tall kinds require con- 

 siderable room and the half-dwarf sorts are 

 better for the house. Often one can find 

 young plants in fall growing about old ones 

 in the garden. These succeed remarkably. 

 One can have snapdragons in white, several 

 pinks, orange, warm velvet crimson and 

 lemon yellow. The colors are so clear, 

 the plants so spruce and bright, and the 

 flowers so plentiful that few cheerier things 

 can be grown for one's self or as gifts. 



Plants (especially such heavy feeders as 

 geraniums, petunias and marguerites), are 



Cinerarias need much water and a cool place, 

 colors with care 



Select 



apt to act tired after several weeks of 

 steady blooming. If the plants are clean 

 and healthy, fewer flowers and paler colors 

 are sure signs of starvation. A teaspoonful 

 of fresh bone meal may be stirred into the 

 earth but liquid manure is better. A pail 

 of manure water in the basement is never 

 offensive if kept covered, and half a pint, 

 the color of weak coffee, given once in two 

 weeks, heartens the plants wonderfully with 

 no danger of their getting too much food 

 at a time. 



Which Shall It Be? — By Wilhelm Miller, 



Illinois 



A NAKED UGLY YARD, OR A GARDEN SUCH AS ANY WOMAN CAN MAKE UNAIDED, 

 AND WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPENSE, IF SHE HAS THE LOVE OF FLOWERS AT HEART 



HERE is a lesson that ought to go 

 straight to the heart of every one, 

 rich or poor, who has a spark 

 of humanity in him — the story 

 of this humble, cottage garden. It is the 

 home of Mrs. Fenn, who lives in Ottawa, 

 Ont., and does all the work herself, except 

 what help an invalid daughter can give. I 

 have seen a great many gardens that suggest 

 money; here is one that suggests love — 

 love of home, love of outdoor life, love 

 of flowers. Contrast it with its surround- 

 ings! 



Very little money has been spent on this 

 garden. You can see that. But every 

 plant speaks of daily care. It is often said 

 that certain people have the "growing 

 touch," that " anything will grow for them." 

 There is something in the old saying. I 

 saw no failures in Mrs. Fenn's garden — 

 no plant that sulked or looked unhappy. 

 It may be all sentimentality and moonshine 

 but why do people repeat the old saying 

 generation after generation unless the 

 flowers know and love the hand that cares 

 for them? 



There are tens of thousands of cottage 

 gardens in the Old World equal to this 

 garden of Mrs. Fenn's, but in our great, 

 proud, wealthy America how often do you 

 see its equal? Have you ever seen a cot- 



tage garden in the United States more 

 eloquent of the love of flowers? 



Nearly 200 species of flowers, they say, 

 are in Mrs. Fenn's garden. I should not 

 be surprised. I noted sixty-four myself 

 and then gave up in despair, for no long 

 list of names can give the most precious 

 part of a garden ■ — its meaning, or spirit. 

 Any one who really loves flowers can have 

 an altogether lovely garden without a single 

 dollar's outlay. That seems to be the 

 message of this garden. 



For Mrs. Fenn has gotten many of her 

 flowers by exchange. For example, you 

 make a success of phlox and share it with 

 your neighbors; they bring you the surplus 

 of their chrysanthemums. Then, too, Mrs. 

 Fenn has received many gifts. The Horti- 

 cultural Society of Ottawa has given her 

 many of her rarest plants. There is an- 

 other old saying, "To him that hath shall 

 be given." A person who loves flowers 

 unconsciously attracts everybody. You 

 cannot help giving the best you have to the 

 person who will appreciate it most, care 

 for it best, and develop the highest pos- 

 sibilities in it. 



Most of the flowers in this garden are 

 annuals, i. e., they are grown from seed 

 every year. On August 19th I noted the 

 following annuals in flowers: Shirley pop- 



pies, sweet peas, China asters, larkspurs, 

 sweet alyssum, Drummond's phlox, Jap- 

 anese pinks, balsams, stocks, snapdragons, 

 petunias, verbenas, calliopsis, sunflowers, 

 cosmos, salvia, crimson flax, scabious, 

 zinnia, love-in-a-mist, celosia, and pansy. 



Of tender plants the following were 

 in bloom: Oleander, geranium, bedding 

 lobelia, ageratum, hydrangea, begonia, alter- 

 nanthera. Other tender plants were English 

 and Kenilworth ivy, fuchsia, coleus, abu- 

 tilon, dusty miller and golden privet. 



Of hardy perennial flowers the following 

 were in bloom: Shasta daisy, hollyhocks, 

 plume poppy, golden glow, phlox, aconite, 

 coral bells, hepatica, larkspurs, columbines, 

 pearl achillea, bellflower and funkia. Other 

 perennials were florist's spirea, ferns, 

 sedums, golden feather and an herb whose 

 leaves had the odor of pineapple. 



Of bulbs, gladiolus, white speciosum lily 

 and golden banded lily of Japan, were in 

 bloom. In May, they say, 1000 tulips 

 bloom in this garden. 



Of vines the following were in bloom: 

 nasturtiums, wild cucumber, wild clematis 

 and white maurandya. Other vines on 

 fence, porch or window box were wild 

 grape, Virginia creeper, and cobcea — 

 the latter forming the centrepiece of the 

 flower garden in the backyard. 



