Fifth Annual " Round-up' of Gardening Experiences 



REGULAR CHRISTMAS JOLLIFICATION BY READERS OF THE GARDEN MAGAZINE WHO HAVE GOTTEN BIGGER OR 

 EARLIER FRUIT, VEGETABLES OR FLOWERS, OR SOLVED PECULIAR PROBLEMS IN SOME CHEAPER OR BETTER WAY 



[Editor's Note — This is a unique feature among Christmas periodicals — these tales of interesting gardening experiences by "The Garden Magazine family." Every \ear 

 these true stories seem to get better and we hope that you will not fail to send us a photograph of some " record breaker " or other interesting experience you have had. We will gladly 

 send you a check for every acceptable story of this sort — perhaps enough to buy all the seeds you want next year, or those bulbs you couldn't afford/ ] 



Swiss Chard Four Feet Long 



Margaret A. Smith, Illinois 



IS NOT 47 by 13 inches a record breaker 

 for a "chard" leaf? 



Crisp, tender swiss chard at the age of 

 twelve weeks! 



The seed was planted June 3d and by 

 the first of July they were ready to eat. 

 Chard is a very economical vegetable, one 

 plant being sufficient for a meal for four 

 persons. It grows best when given a warm 

 exposure and rich, loamy soil. 



Two Weeks Ahead of All Hardy 

 Perennials 



Randolph Isham, Pennsylvania 



WHEN a famous Philadelphia nursery- 

 man catalogued a plant said to bloom 

 "two weeks before any hardy perennial" I 

 gave a shout of joy, for if there is any time 

 when the heart craves flowers it is in the 

 month of March. I paid $2.50 for a dozen 

 plants of what the nurseryman called 

 Adonis Davurica and got about $25 worth 

 of pleasure the first year. For I had the 

 earliest flowers in town and these broad 

 yellow flowers seemed as cheery as sunshine 

 itself. Some opened in late February and 

 all were in full bloom during the first half 

 of March, or about a fortnight ahead of the 

 crocuses. Naturally I went around with 

 my chest thrown out like a Russian 'sleigh. 



I am no botanist, but I see that Bailey's 

 Cyclopedia considers Adonis Davurica a 

 synonym of the common spring Adonis 

 (^4. vernal is). The latter is a native of 

 Southern Europe. Perhaps A. Davurica is 



Swiss Chard, a kind of beet, is the best yielding 

 of all vegetables 



The earliest of the spring flowers, Adonis Davurica, 

 bright yellow in February 



a Japanese form with earlier flowers. Bailey 

 also mentions a species from the Amoor 

 River {A. Amurensis). Can any one tell 

 me whether that is a March bloomer also? 



Gardening in Barrels 



I. M. Angell, New York 



IF THE spot available for a garden is too 

 stony to plant anything, the case is not 

 hopeless, for a barrel garden will be found 

 to be a good substitute. 



On some "filled" land that would not 

 grow anything we set a barrel containing 

 one-third drainage material and two-thirds 

 good soil. Into it we transplanted three 

 cucumber vines. They bore smooth, finely 

 formed fruits of excellent quality. Three 

 tomato plants were raised in the same way, 

 on a large rock. Many dozens of tomatoes 

 were taken from this otherwise unproductive 

 spot. Muskmelons also gave a crop where 

 it would have been impossible to prepare 

 the soil to raise vegetables. 



Flowers are more commonly made use of 

 to raise in this manner and we took advan- 

 tage of the adaptability of nasturtiums and 

 petunias to set kegs on a strip of soil that 

 was composed of stones and cinders and 

 on a rock too large to move and too ugly 

 to leave uncovered 



Plants grown in barrels should have a 

 soil well supplied with plant food, as their 

 feeding ground is so limited. Since they 

 cannot draw on the water in the subsoil they 

 will require frequent watering. If the 

 cucumbers and tomatoes are located near 

 the laundry they will appreciate a weekly dose 

 of the soapy water. Holes must be bored 

 in the bottom of the barrel for draining and 

 ventilation. Another point to remember 

 is that the soil should not fill the barrel to the 

 very top, for a rim will make it easy to flood 

 the barrel, when necessary, without spilling. 

 219 



Even crevices between rocks may be 

 used for portulaca beds. These bright 

 little plants gave four months of bloom, over 

 a hundred flowers a day, from a very small 

 patch so located. 



Window Boxes with Vines Sixteen 

 Feet Long 



W. E. Brinkerhoff, Michigan 



r I "HE window boxes here pictured are 

 ■*■ each 34 by 10 by 8 in., and cost 

 $3.50 each. The florist who filled the boxes 

 was instructed to cover the front of them with 

 vincas and German ivy in order to secure 

 trailing foliage, and to fill in behind with 

 different varieties of begonias, dusty miller, 

 and dracena. 



The boxes were filled about two weeks 

 before they were put out on the window 

 brackets, as the house was being painted 

 during that time. The date on which they 

 were put in place at the windows was June 

 18th, 1907. 



As the boxes were intended for foliage 

 in a somewhat shaded place, no attention 

 was given to flower effects. When the 

 vines had grown downward until they were 

 within about four feet of the ground, they 

 were looped together and continued to 

 grow both up and down as shown by the 

 photographs. 



The distance from the top of the boxes 

 to the ground is 16 ft. 2 in., and the ends of 

 the vines are 2 ft. 6 in. from the ground; 

 had the vines not been looped up, they would 

 have trailed on the ground. 



If you have only space for a barrel you can grow 

 ycur own cucumbers 



