236 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1914 



thusiast's heart." The Fawn, the well 

 known Darwin tulip, was grown among two 

 year old plants of Hydrangea arborescens, 

 Blanc rose, No. 3, in the chart, gives an idea 

 of the tone of the outer petals of this very 

 wonderful flower, but its luminous quality 

 will not be described. An underlying tone of 

 palest yellow in the tulip made it peculiarly 

 lovely among the leaves of the hydrangea. 



I have come to believe myself among the 

 most impressionable of gardeners; delighted 

 at the least indication of the love of flowers 

 in a casual acquaintance; ever ready to set 

 off at short notice to look at gardens; but 

 not always so delighted with what I find, 

 And since there is in me this critical quality, 

 born doubtless of much looking and compar- 

 ing when I see as I saw lately a garden com- 

 paratively small in compass but incompara- 

 bly interesting, my heart fills with a pleas- 

 ure not unlike the poet's at the sight of 

 the celebrated daffodils. 



In this garden, some of it under tall trees, 

 a city garden not a hundred miles from where 

 I live, on a day in earliest June, there was 

 to be seen a most lovely flower grouping, in 



Garden Celery 



BLANCHING AND STORAGE 

 AN EASY CROP TO GROW— 



CONSIDERING its al- 

 most universal use 

 celery is not grown in 

 the small home gar- 

 den nearly to the extent that 

 it should be. Commercial 

 grown celery is now so cheap 

 and plentiful that from a 

 standpoint of dollars and cents 

 it may not be profitable always 

 to grow your own celery; but 

 compare the coarse, muck- 

 grown celery with the crisp, 

 splendidly flavored product of 

 an upland home garden and 

 quickly realize the difference. 



Celery to be really good eating must be 

 perfectly fresh. It is then crisp, brittle and 

 has that delightful nutty flavor which so 

 often is entirely lacking in the commercial 

 product. 



THE EARLY CROP 



Methods in celery culture depend largely 

 upon whether an early or late crop is de- 

 sired. The early crop is more of a commer- 

 cial proposition. Seed is sown about the 

 first of February, but unless you have 

 facilities for raising early plants you had 

 better buy them from neighboring gar- 

 deners or greenhouse men. In the home gar- 

 den the early crop is generally unsatisfac- 

 tory, because of its short season, and extra 

 care required; and if neglected is will soon 

 run to seed, i. e., "bolt." 



LATE CELERY FOR THE HOME GARDEN 



Seed for the late crop is usually sown 

 some time in April and often with good suc- 



which the following flowers had place. 

 Masses of that wonderful pinkish mauve 

 Iris pallida var. Dalmatica Queen of May, 

 tall lupins of rich blue near by, with Iris 

 Madame Chereau back of this, while before 

 the group and among it were opening on tall 

 stems the luscious silken salmon-pink flow- 

 ers of the two oriental poppies Mrs. Perry 

 and Mary Studholme. Below these the 

 coral bells of heucheras (alum-root) hung at 

 the tops of slender swaying stems, a slightly 

 richer note of pink than the poppies. 



As I beheld this beauty in flowers, I said to 

 myself "Here is an end to adjectives." I 

 have none in which to adequately describe 

 the loveliness. It must be seen. Its deli- 

 cacy, its evanescent quality, 

 all who garden know the texture 



Home grown celery will surpass the commercial article 

 in crispness and flavor 



of the poppy petal, of the flower of the iris. 

 In no medium but water color could possibly 

 be expressed the beauty, the daring yet deli- 

 cate beauty of this arrangement of flowers. 

 I am permitted the privilege of trying to de- 

 scribe it to my readers; and while my words 

 are weak I know full well that any flower 

 grower is to be congratulated who may en- 

 deavor to arrange for himself the picture 

 here set forth. All hardy perennials, all very 

 hardy. Do pray experiment with the beaut- 

 eous blooms; set them out together this 

 coming autumn in some sun-warmed spot, 

 and in two years behold a picture unsur- 

 passed for subtle color harmony and con- 

 trast. In this garden again I saw that the 

 superb poppy of the group above, Mrs. 

 Perry, and the ever glorious im/>a^f a var. 

 Dalmatica dwelling most happily together, 

 the poppy a round flower, a flower on horiz- 

 ontal lines, the iris perpendicular, standards 

 and falls. The greens of iris 

 and of poppy foliage deli- 

 cately contrasting; in the 

 one the yellow predominat- 

 ing, in the other the blue. 



By S. N. Green, ow.. 



PLANTING EARLY AND LATE 

 CROPS— SIMPLE OPERATIONS. 



cess late into May depending 

 much upon the latitude. At 

 this season of the year no 

 special facilities for growing the 

 plants are necessary. Enough 

 plants for the average garden 

 may be started in a small box by a sunny 

 window and even in beds out of doors. 



Celery seed is very small and care should 

 be taken not to sow it too deeply. A good 

 way is to firm the soil down even, sow the 

 seed broadcast or in very shallow rows; 

 press the seed in lightly and cover with fine 

 sand or loam barely out of sight. It takes 

 the seed from ten to fifteen days to germin- 

 ate and during this time the soil is kept 

 fairly moist yet not wet. If the soil be- 

 comes dry it will retard germination and if 

 the seed has started to sprout it is almost 

 certain to destroy it. By keeping the seed 

 bed covered with glass, paper or cloth until 

 the seedlings appear, much less water will 

 evaporate from the soil. If you have good 

 seed and it germinates well, a package will 

 supply enough plants for an average home 

 garden. 



Upon the seed depends much of the suc- 

 cess of the crop. If the celery becomes 

 pithy you cannot blame dry weather, time 

 of sowing, etc., for this condition is ninety- 

 nine times out of a hundred the fault of the 

 seed, therefore buy your seed from a regular 

 seedsman — not from the corner grocery. 

 Celery seed that is not carefully bred will 

 soon revert to its ancestors, which were 

 pithy green swamp plants. If the seed 

 grower does not take great pains to reject 

 all plants which show a tendency to revert, 



