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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



December, 1911 



(Editor's Note. — We want to know how suc- 

 cessful workers do things in order to put actual 

 experiences before our thousands of readers in all 

 parts of the country. Every reader is invited to con- 

 tribute a short note on some interesting experience. 

 Just state the facts about some ingenious idea that you 

 have actually worked out yourself or have seen.) 



Wintering rehmannia 



For two seasons I have tried to winter 

 Rehmannia angulata, var. Pink Perfection 

 merely for the fun of the thing, as it is 

 not supposed to be hardy. The first year 

 I managed to keep some alive until mid- 

 winter by using a thin covering of leaves 

 and corn stalks. The second year I did 

 better by making the covering looser. 

 None of the old plants survived, but half 

 a dozen of the offshoots came up last spring 

 and one of them blossomed in the face of 

 adverse circumstances. Not being moved, 

 they were overshadowed by the sturdier 

 growth of Lychnis Chalcedonica. These 

 survivors I shall try wintering in a cold- 

 frame. Rehmannia, by the way, is too 

 much neglected in the garden, where its 

 tall spikes of rose blossoms continue the 

 charm of form that the foxglove lends. 

 It is easily raised from seed sown early 

 indoors and, as few plants are so prolific 

 in the matter of offshoots, there is always 

 an abundance of stock by the end of sum- 

 mer for the coldframe, or for forcing 

 indoors. — A. C. A., New York. 



Bamboos for stakes 



I wonder how many gardeners realize 

 the value of a clump of tall-growing bam- 

 boo in some sort of out-of-the-way corner 

 of the garden? I cannot recommend it 

 as an ornament at all, but as an every-day 

 necessity in bush and vine training, these 

 poles, always at hand, in varying sizes, are 

 invaluable. On a new place, while waiting 

 for mine to grow, I buy bamboo fish poles 

 at five cents each. In growing stock, I 

 have used the heavy growths for all stakes 

 for roses and heavy shrubs, as they are 

 neat and inconspicuous, as well as endur- 

 ing. — E. S., California. 



Heliotrope for rose bugs 



This year, during the rose bug season, 

 I was much surprised to find that the bugs 

 seemed to prefer my garden heliotrope 

 {Valeriana officinalis) to almost any other 

 plant in the garden. When I went out 

 in the mornings the plants would be covered 

 with the rose bugs, while the roses and 

 peonies would have only a stray bug or two. 

 They are so easy to dispose of from the 



heliotrope, as they have only to be shaken 

 off into a bucket of oil, whereas they have 

 to be picked off the roses one by one. Our 

 plan next year is to plant the garden 

 heliotrope in the rose garden as it will 

 add to the beauty of the place and also be 

 useful as a lure to the rose bugs. — E. F. L., 

 Pennsylvania. 



Weeds as a mulch 



Lawn clippings are often used as a mulch 

 about celery and other water-loving plants: 

 why not use the weeds pulled from the 

 garden for the same purpose? I lay them 

 about the plants in the celery trench and 

 s find I am killing two birds with one stone 

 — mulching the celery and getting rid of 

 the weeds. — V. C. W, New Hampshire. 



Madonna lilies 



I would like to know what makes the 

 Madonna lily so contrary. I have only 

 six bulbs in my garden and last year they 

 all did their duty. This past season, how- 

 ever, only two spikes have come up, and 

 they were not perfect. In my neighbor's 

 garden great clusters of the Madonna lily 

 are the chief beauty. She said she had 

 planted fifty bulbs and that sixty-two had 

 come up! — S. T. H., New York. 

 Rose trouble 



Won't someone in the "Readers' Ex- 

 perience Club," tell me what is wrong with 

 my Francesca Kruger rose? It is a fine 

 healthy bush and was covered with buds 

 in due time, not one of which matured. 

 I read somewhere that that particular 

 rose needed disbudding very severely, and 

 so cut away all the small buds, leaving 

 only a small proportion on each stem, 

 perhaps two, but that did not have the 

 desired effect. The buds developed into 

 large fine specimens, and just before open- 

 ing each blighted. I have dug sheep 

 manure about the roots several times 

 since the first of June. Killarney, Kaiserin 

 Augusta Victoria, and Etoile de Lyon, 

 its neighbors, bloomed most successfully. 



— S. T. H., New York. 

 Flowers for limed soils 



Certain hardy annuals and perennials 

 common in England are little grown in 

 the United States because their would-be 

 possessors do not understand the plants' 

 need for lime in the soil. If seed packets 

 of annual scabious, annual and perennial 

 centaureas, wallflowers, snapdragon, and 

 perennial gaillardias, were labelled "Lime- 

 eaters, " many a garden could grow these 

 better than geraniums. Given lime, a well- 

 dug soil, and full sun, they will thrive 

 almost anywhere. The Madonna lily 

 also relishes a bit of calcium carbonate 

 in her diet, and the peach-leaved bell- 

 flower winters better for a handful of 

 airslaked lime thrown on each plant in 

 August or September and washed down. 



— E. S. J., Penna. 



Winter=killing 



In our part of New England, last spring, 

 there were many complaints of "winter- 

 killing." Inasmuch as I lost only three 



out of more than two hundred kinds of 

 plants, and can trace those losses directly 

 to myself, I am inclined to think that winter 

 is not so much to blame after all. As a 

 matter of fact, more plants appear to me 

 to be killed by the two items of sheer neglect 

 and too much kindness than by the winter 

 that is so conveniently used as a "goat." 

 Neglect speaks for itself, but a word about 

 excess of kindness. My plan is to rake 

 the first fall of maple leaves to the edge 

 of the lawn borders. For the roses I leave 

 a ridge of leaves for subsequent mulching; 

 in the case of herbaceous plants I toss the 

 leaves over the borders with the rake and 

 they fall naturally, eventually working 

 their way down to the ground. When the 

 apple leaves fall I gather them, and what- 

 ever else is in sight, in baskets and scatter 

 them by hand over all the herbaceous 

 borders. Later I cut off phlox, chrysan- 

 themum, peony and other stalks and lay 

 them over or around the plants, and if 

 there are corn stalks handy I use a few 

 of those also. This is all the covering 

 that the general run of plants gets and is 

 sufficient to protect the crowns. — H. A., 

 Connecticut. 



Hiding the garbage can 



In a city backyard the garbage can is 

 a hard thing to keep concealed. Close 

 to our back steps I sunk a large, strong 

 barrel in the ground to within about three 

 inches of the top, and a board cover was 

 made to fit securely over it. The hole 

 for the barrel was made a foot deeper than 

 the height of the barrel, and this space 

 was filled in with small stone for drainage. 

 Several large holes wer bored in the 

 bottom of the barrel, so that it could ba 

 washed out. Inside of the barrel the gar- 

 bage can was placed. A strong wire bail 

 was fastened to the handles of the can so 

 that it could easily be lifted out. — Mrs. S. 

 A. G., Minnesota 



Planting in frozn soil 



Last January I received from England 

 a root of a fine variety of delphinium. 

 The root had begun to sprout, but the soil 

 in my garden was frozen to a depth of 12 

 inches. I picked out a hole, eight inches 

 deep, and poured into it a quantity of 

 scalding hot water; set in the delphinium, 

 and after covering, poured on more hot 

 water. I then covered the spot with 

 a thick layer of leaves. The plant has 

 flourished all summer in my border and ap- 

 pears to be strong and normal. — L. H. D., 

 Massachusetts. 



Shading seeds 



Better than cheesecloth for partly shad- 

 ing seeds and young plants in a frame from 

 the hot sun and to get the best results, is 

 to spread hay very thinly over the top of 

 the glass sash so that there is a diffused 

 light in the beds. If it should be a windy 

 day water the hay, using a can with a 

 rose, and press the hay down. It will 

 stick to the glass. I find this better than 

 cheesecloth. — E. A. S. P., New York. 



