Large-flowered Chrysanthemums Out-of-doors-By Viola McColm, b- 



A LESSON FROM KANSAS, WHERE, IN SPITE OF FROSTS, HAIL AND HURRI- 

 CANES, THE RAISING OF FIVE-INCH FLOWERS WAS REALLY AN EASY MATTER 



\ T a Farmers' Institute in our home 

 **■ town some beautiful chrysanthemums 

 attracted more attention than any of the 

 farm products displayed, and made us desire 

 to have some the next fall. So in the spring 

 we ordered, from eastern firms, fourteen 

 different chrysanthemums, named. Some 

 plants came the first week in April, and the 

 others eight days later. All were set out in 

 the garden the same evening they were 

 received. 



Our little flower garden is directly against 

 the north side of our house, that it may be 

 sheltered from the hard south winds. The 

 weather was warm when the first plants came, 

 but the second night a cold wave made it 

 necessary to cover them. The temperature 

 dropped to within sixteen of zero, and sev- 

 eral other, times it was ten below freezing. 

 And strong north winds and sometimes rain 

 accompanied these cold turns. Notwith- 

 standing the unfavorable weather only two 

 chrysanthemums died — two that were cov- 

 ered with small stone jars! And with the 

 extras that were sent there were seventeen 

 plants left. Boxes formed a good protec- 

 tion from both cold and wind, and were left 

 over the plants during some of the windiest 

 days. As soon as the chrysanthemums 

 commenced to grow they were tied to stakes 

 to prevent their being broken by the wind. 

 And later stronger stakes were driven and 

 the plants were kept carefully tied; for in this 

 prairie country the wind frequently attains 

 a high velocity. 



The soil here is deep, but our little gar- 

 den was further enriched by one wagon- 

 load of well-rotted manure. Western Kan- 

 sas has an unfailing underflow of water with 

 plenty of wind to lift it; so by use of hose 

 the garden was easily watered. All through 



A plant of Mile. Marie Liger chrysanthemum. Hail 

 bruised many of the buds, causing one-sided flowers 



The chrysanthemums "were planted along the 

 north side of the house so that they would be pro- 

 tected from the hard south ■winds 



the spring and summer the chrysanthemums 

 had all the water they needed. We would 

 give the garden a good watering, then allow 

 it to become just dry enough for the soil 

 to be in good condition for hoeing, when 

 it was hoed and not watered again until it 

 should be. 



On August 15th some plants were potted, 

 and the others on September 1st. Candy 

 pails of ordinary size were used — first 

 boring a few holes in the bottom, then put- 

 ting in a thin layer of gravel to insure drain- 

 age. The plants were lifted when the soil 

 was sufficiently moist to not crumble easily. 

 We tried to lift each one in an undisturbed 

 chunk of dirt nearly large enough to fill 

 its bucket; using just a little rich soil in the 

 bottom and to fill in around the edge. Then 

 they were watered and taken into the house. 



It was necessary to keep them in the house 

 and away from sunny windows for several 

 days — ■ even the shade north of the house 

 would not prevent their wilting. In the 

 shaded room in the day, and out in the dew 

 at night is the ideal way for the first week 

 after potting, or until the plant commences 

 to grow again. Then leave it out-of-doors, 

 in the shade for a few days, then in a sunny 

 location — a part of the day at least. And 

 all the time give the chrysanthemum water 

 just as needed. Until the plant becomes 

 well-established after potting only a small 

 quantity should be given. After it com- 

 mences to grow nicely, it is well to loosen the 

 soil in the top of the pot or bucket and give 

 enough water at once to moisten all the soil 

 — a quart or more being required for a 

 bucket. Then wait until soil on top has 

 dried out slightly before watering again. 



No place indoors will give the sturdy 

 growth of buds that out-of-doors will give, 

 and since we have but few good plant win- 

 dows we kept our chrysanthemums out-of- 

 doors whenever the weather was fit. Many 

 days were so windy that the plants had to 

 be brought in early in the forenoon. Later in 

 the season we watched the thermometer and 

 did not leave them out when there was dan- 

 176 



ger of frost; for although chrysanthemums 

 will stand some frost it is better to not sub- 

 ject tender varieties to such temperature. In 

 the late fall we kept them out-of-doors every 

 day that was not too windy or cold. After 

 the buds were well advanced the plants were 

 fed with liquid manure twice each week. 



During their growth in the garden and 

 afterward the plants were given the prun- 

 ing and pinching of flower buds that seemed 

 desirable. Our mistake was in not doing 

 enough of this. 



One hail-storm in September came unex- 

 pectedly, so the chrysanthemums were not 

 brought in until in the midst of it. The 

 driving rain and hail, it seemed, would have 

 them ruined before they could be carried 

 under the shelter of the porch roof. Then 

 it was well that the buds had not been lim- 

 ited to the number of flowers desired. The 

 hail broke off many buds and bruised others 

 so that many imperfect flowers resulted. 

 But plenty of perfect buds remained. 



On Mile. Marie Liger — our earliest 

 sort ■ — we left too many buds, and most of 

 them were bruised with the hail. Yet with 

 its quantity of flowers it was attractive, and 

 is of very easy culture. 



The two most beautiful were the Viviand- 

 Morel and Dr. Enguehard. The plants, 

 each in their buckets, on the floor reached a 

 height of four feet and each had as many 

 as twenty large flowers, Viviand-Morel being 

 a deep pink and Dr. Enguehard a more 

 delicate pink. Most of these flowers meas- 

 ured \\ inches in diameter and 3J inches 

 in depth. 



But for a mistake of ours Colonel D. 

 Appleton would have been remarkably beau- 

 tiful. The plant stood 4$ feet in height, 

 very symmetrical and vigorous. First we 

 made the mistake of allowing sixty buds to 

 remain on it. Not content with this, we 



Viviand-Morel blossoms, four and one-half inches 

 across and three inches deep. Color, a deep pink 



