22 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1914 



various kinds, which I find growing lustily 

 among the strawberry leaves in fall or 

 spring. These separate plants, which have 

 sown themselves, seem for some reason or 

 other, to be particularly strong and thrifty, 

 and therefore are of great value. I have 

 noticed this also in annuals. 



FAVORITES FOE A SMALL GARDEN 



I fancy there would be as many lists as 

 there are garden lovers! I can but name 

 those that I have found most satisfactory, 

 and which I can assure you will make a 

 good succession, and are all easily raised 

 from seed. 



Let us start with a spring border. I 

 think the most graceful and charming of 

 the early flowers is the Iceland poppy 

 (Papaver nudicaule). There is something 

 particularly ethereal and enchanting in the 

 long slender stems tipped with the lovely 

 flower cup, in every shade of yellow and red, 

 and pure white. To my mind its chief 

 charm is its early blooming time, so do 

 not try for late flowers the first season, 

 but plant in summer for the next year. 

 The gorgeous and riotous annual poppies 

 take possession of the stage in midsummer, 

 therefore let the more delicate Iceland 

 poppy be peculiarly a spring flower. Trans- 

 plant a row of them along the edge of one 

 of your conspicuous beds; in front of them 

 perennial candytuft, which looks like a 

 drift of late snow; next Viola cucullata, 

 blue as the sky ! A more enchanting spring 

 border can hardly be imagined. 



Pyrethrum is another early blooming 

 perennial very easily raised from seed. I 

 should never omit it from even the smallest 

 garden. The blossoms are in every en- 

 chanting shade of pink, from the faintest 

 blush to the deepest crimson, and the 

 pure whites are equally lovely. Once 

 started, one will have plenty of seedlings, 

 for they are always appearing, not only 

 near the parent plant, but in every odd 

 corner, and some very lovely "sports" are 

 sometimes developed. I have learned, 

 however, to scrutinize the tiny seedlings 

 with a lynx eye, after one year setting out 

 a row with great care, in a conspicuous 

 place, and watering and cultivating dili- 

 gently — to be finally rewarded with a fine 

 show of remarkably flourishing yarrow 

 plants! 



One of the chief favorites, and I think 

 one of the most useful plants in my, or any, 

 garden, is the columbine, easily raised from 

 seed originally, and multiplying itself con- 

 stantly by new seedlings which appear all 

 about the garden, it requires very little 

 care and gives a profusion of lovely flowers 

 in late May and June. I find it better 

 to raise new plants every two or three 

 years. The long-spurred type is particular- 

 ly lovely. The blossoms- are graceful and 

 delicate, and of the most enchanting colors 

 — light yellows, pinks, and blues. The 

 graceful flowers look like rare birds or 

 butterflies, lightly poised on the slender 

 stems. 



Rocket is another invaluable early per- 



ennial, and is lovely growing with — 

 or arranged with — the columbine. A 

 part of my garden is in the partial shade 

 of two apple trees. Under these trees we 

 must plan to grow spring flowers which will 

 mature and blossom before the leaves on 

 the apple trees are too fully grown. I 

 find the rockets grow beautifully in this 

 situation, and their loose, starry sprays of 

 lavender, pink, or white flowers are lovely 

 against the green. I grow columbine 

 among them too; and my dearly loved 

 Viola Canadensis, w r hich loves the shade 

 and fills in every nook and corner. It 

 blossoms luxuriantly in May and more 



No garden can afiord to omit the stately blue lark- 

 spur. Plant in masses for best effect 



sparsely all through the summer and fall; 

 I have picked sprays of it in November. 

 Both the rockets and these violets are very 

 easily raised and reseed themselves. 



Canterbury bells are invaluable in the 

 garden, and are one of our most showy and 

 invaluable June flowers. The foxglove 

 blooms about the same time, and makes a 

 wonderful show in the border, or in clumps 

 in the regular beds. We have great diffi- 

 culty in raising both foxgloves and Canter- 

 bury bells in our garden, which has a 

 tendencv to become a lake in the early 



spring. The crowns of both plants rot 

 from too much moisture, and we can seldom 

 save them through the winter. With no 

 protection they freeze, and with too much 

 covering they decay. For the benefit of 

 those who struggle with the same con- 

 ditions, I would say that we find pine 

 boughs a good cover, and that an experi- 

 ment with a butter tub over one fine plant, 

 one year, was so successful that last winter 

 my garden border was dotted with wooden 

 boxes, each box concealing a plant. 



No garden, of whatever size, is complete 

 without the larkspur (Delphinium). This 

 has been constantly and wonderfully im- 

 proved, and its tall stately spires of magnifi- 

 cent bloom are beautiful beyond words. 

 There are wonderful pale blues like tur- 

 quoises, and bright blues like sapphires, 

 and deep blues like summer skies, and deep 

 purple blues like Florentine irises. Then 

 there is a shaded pink and blue, which 

 gives a peculiar rainbow-like color. Gather 

 seed from particularly fine flowers, and 

 plant by preference in August, but do not 

 omit from the spring planting on that 

 account. Protect with a light litter 

 through the winter. They may be set in 

 their permanent positions in the fall, if they 

 make good growth. Sift coal ashes over 

 both them and pyrethrums in the autumn, 

 and also in the spring to protect from 

 grubs. They are more effective set in 

 groups, so that the blooms are massed. 

 They should be staked before getting very 

 tall, or a high wind will catch you napping, 

 and the tender stems will snap. 



The Chinese or Siberian larkspur is a 

 beautiful, form. It has a bushy habit of 

 growth, very different from the tall magnifi- 

 cent spikes of the other kinds. Its greatest 

 height is two or three feet. It has delicate 

 feathery foliage and the blossom sprays are 

 loose and spreading, the whole plant being 

 a cloud of lovely bloom. They do well in 

 the shade of my apple trees, although 

 blooming more sparsely and delicately, 

 and are even more valuable because they 

 may fill some shady spot. They are very 

 easily raised from seed. 



Marguerite carnations have always had 

 a peculiar attraction for me. The masses 

 of different colored blossoms are so enchant- 

 ing, and the odor so delicious. The books 

 say you can get flowers the first year, but 

 I think this can only be accomplished by 

 learning the very best way of planting and 

 caring for the seedlings. The first year, I 

 had a fine show of buds in late October, but 

 in a race between buds and frosts Jack 

 Frost won out. I did not know about 

 covering them, and only two or three sur- 

 vived. I found that if one wants them to 

 bloom the first season, they must be planted 

 in the house in flats in very early spring. 

 If planted in the open and covered during 

 the winter with a light stable litter, they 

 are magnificent the second year, flowering 

 most luxuriantly. They have a delicious 

 clove fragrance. Perhaps their greatest 

 value in the garden is their long 

 blooming season. Keep the old flowers 



