October, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



119 



spaces between the herbaceous perennials, 

 plant the bulbs, labelling each kind as you 

 go along. This will let you know exactly 

 what kinds you have used. 



Set out the plants in the back line about 

 four feet apart, and the rows of plants 

 about three feet apart. In the back lines 

 between the plants I use the following bulbs 

 for spring effects: Tulips, twelve or fif- 

 teen in a colony; narcissus, twelve in a clump; 

 while of fritillarias, four bulbs make a good 

 mass. In the front rows I plant scillas, 

 glory-of-the-snow, crocuses, snowdrops, and 

 grape hyacinths. To get effective masses 

 of the low-growing kinds, takes about fifty 

 bulbs in each colony. 



When the plants and bulbs are all up above 

 the ground, about the beginning of May, 

 I fill in all vacant spaces with forget-me-nots, 

 English daisies, tufted pansies, and Silene 

 pendula, thus carpeting the ground com- 

 pletely, and making, I think, a most beau- 

 tiful effect of richness. 



Plant the early tulips in the back rows, 

 as they will be in bloom before the tall, her- 

 baceous plants are high enough to hide their 

 flowers. The best kinds for this work are 

 Artus (bright scarlet), La Belle Alliance 

 (rich scarlet), Yellow Prince (yellow), La 

 Precieuse (white), Joost van Vondel (crim- 

 son and white), Duchesse de Parma (red, 

 yellow border), and Chrysolora (pure yellow). 



The Darwin tulips and late summer 

 flowering kinds are planted nearer the 

 front than the early tulips, as they bloom 

 later, and their flowers will show off better 

 among the low-growing plants. A few good 

 Darwin tulips are Clara Butt (rosy pink), 

 Galatea, Glory (brilliant scarlet), Gretchen 

 (shaded rose), Harry Veitch, Isis, Kate 

 Greenaway (white, shaded lilac), Madame 

 Krelage, Mr. Francombe Sanders (brilliant 

 scarlet), Mrs. Cleveland, Queen Wilhelmina, 

 Psyche, Sierard Van Flora, and Torch. The 

 following Cottage or late May flowering tulips 

 do well in the border: Bouton d'Or (pure, 



May results from October planting. The early bulbs gone, late tulips in full flower and herbaceous 

 plants coming along finely to give flowers all summer 



deep yellow), fulgens, Gesneriana (scarlet), 

 Golden Crown (deep yellow, edged red), 

 Isabella or Shandon Bells (rose and white), 

 Picotee (white, rose edge), La Candeur 

 (pure white), and Dame Elegante. All 

 kinds of narcissus may be used in the border, 

 and are most pleasing. 



EARLY FLOWERING PERENNIALS 



For early flowering effects the following 

 hardy perennials are good: Gold tuft (Alys- 

 sum saxatile), columbine (Aquilegia coeridea, 

 chrysantha, glandulosa, and Stuarti), Rock 

 cress (Arabis albida), creeping phlox, (Phlox 

 procumbens and subulata are good dwarf 

 plants); Jacob's ladder (Polemonum reptans 

 and cazrideum), especially valuable for blue 

 flowers. The best of the veronicas are 

 V. rupestris, gentianoides, incana, paniculata, 

 and latifolia. The most reliable pentste- 

 mons, or beard tongues, are P. Digitalis, 

 dijfusus, ovatus, barbatus, var. Torreyi. 

 Pyrethrum [Chrysanthemum roseum) is very 

 good. Bush clematis (Clematis recta) is 

 excellent for white. Sweet William (Dian- 

 thus barbatus) and many other kinds are 

 good. Bellflowers and larkspurs are indis- 

 pensable; Bleeding heart (Dicentra specta- 

 bilis) is one of the most pleasing plants in 

 early summer. Peonies in all their forms 

 are good. Oriental poppies and Iceland 

 poppies grow well in the border, and many 

 kinds of irises, German and Japanese. 



LATE-FLOWERING PERENNIALS 



For late-flowering kinds I recommend 

 these: Monk's hood (Aconitum autumnale 

 and Napellus), the Japanese windflower 

 (Anemone Japonica and its varieties), 

 shrubby asters (Aster Nova-Anglicz, am- 

 ellus and Shortii), Chinese bellflower (Platy- 

 codon grandiflora) , false chamomile (Boltonia 

 latisqtiama), plume poppy (Bocconia cordata), 

 tick-seed (Coreopsis grandiflora), sneeze- 

 wort (Helenium autumnale and Hoopsii, 

 ox-eye (Chrysanthemum idiginosum) cone 

 flower (Rudbeckia speciosa, and subtomentosa), 

 and Golden Glow. Stone crop (Sedum 

 spectabile), lilies and many others can be 

 added to this short list. 



ANNUALS AS FILLERS 



There are many annuals which blend 

 very pleasingly with the perennials, and 

 may be used during the summer for filling 

 up vacancies. After the bulbous plants 

 have ripened their foliage shallow rooting 

 annuals are. used to fill up the bare spots. 



WINTER PROTECTION 



A border that is planted in the fall needs 

 some protection in the winter to keep the 

 plants from heaving from frost. Leaves 

 of deciduous trees, pine leaves, and hay are 

 all good for protection. The protection need 

 not be applied until the ground is well 

 frozen, say about the first week in Decem- 

 ber; nor need the covering be very thick — 

 two or three inches is enough to prevent 

 alternate freezing and thawing, by which 

 the plants are thrown out of the ground. 

 Remove the covering in the spring, just as 

 soon as the weather will permit. 



