May, 1914 



THE GARDEN M A G A Z I N E 



247 



America, a splendid example of the modern gladiolus, pale 

 pink with vigorous foliage. Good for cutting too 



where it can obtain an abundant supply of 

 moisture. It is not a plant for over lavish 

 use in small gardens or even in small beds. 

 It is seen most effectively in large beds or 

 massed in large clumps. It is the most 

 valuable bedding plant for massive foliage 

 effect in combination with flowers. For 

 best results it is desirable to have plants 

 that have been started in the greenhouse 

 or the roots may have been lain on the top 

 of the hotbed until growth has started. 

 Frost they will not withstand either at the 

 beginning of the year or the end. There- 

 fore, the larger the growth you can have 

 at planting time the greater the amount 

 of result you will have during the summer 

 season. Unless you have own roots al- 

 ready started or put into heat during March 

 it will be better to buy started plants at 

 this time. And you can grow them in al- 

 most any soil, but they will respond vigor- 

 ously to a rich soil with abundance of water. 

 And remember, if the season is dry the fre- 

 quent use of the hose is essential. Great 

 improvements have been made in the canna 

 during latter years, not only in the size of 

 the flower but in refinement of color. In 

 the modern canna the individual flowers 

 may sometime attain the size of the out- 

 stretched hand, which is a great difference 

 from the spider-like flower that was char- 

 acteristic of the old Indian shot plant of 

 30 years ago. 



The canna is not particularly serviceable 

 as a cut flower, but for distant color effects 

 in open stretches of the garden it has its 

 place. If you wish to have the largest 



size flowers select your variety according 

 to fancy from what is known as the orchid 

 flowering section and remember that there 

 are two color effects of the foliage of the 

 canna — a red brown and a green. In 

 common with most other of the summer 

 bedding plants, the canna possesses vivid, 

 strong colors and must be used with due 

 regard to this attribute. Its great merit, 

 however, is that it will not only stand full 

 exposure to the sun but actually revels in 

 the fullest blaze. 



TUBEROUS BEGONIAS 



In that respect it differs essentially from 

 the begonia, another summer flowering 

 root that may be set out during May. The 

 tuberous begonia is essentially the brightly 

 colored flower for use in shaded corners of 

 the garden or around the porch. Roots 

 can be set out dormant or they may be laid 

 on damp moss in heat in the greenhouse or 

 in the window garden until growth starts, 

 when they may be set outdoors and, if kept 

 watered, will in due season yield their bril- 

 liant flowers which may now be had in var- 

 ious shades of orange as well as scarlet or 

 white. Some of the newer forms of the 

 tuberous begonia also have charming fim- 

 briated and waved petals. Watering con- 

 stantly after planting is about the only 

 attention these begonias demand. 



THE GLADIOLUS 



The best all purpose flower root for pres- 

 ent planting, however, is probably the glad- 

 iolus. It gives greater diversity of color 

 than any other of our summer flowering 

 roots and it does not need starting in heat. 

 The bulbs or corms can be planted at var- 

 ious times of the early summer to give 

 flowers exactly in relation to the time of 

 planting. You can plant at intervals from 

 the end of April until early July and cut 

 flowers accordingly from July to October. 



Or another way of r, r cLting succession i^ t<> 

 select bulbs of different size for simultan- 

 eous planting — the smaller bulbs will 

 flower later than the bigger ones. Any soil 

 that will produce a fair crop of corn will 

 give good results with gladiolus. If 

 planted properly in a well cultivated soil 

 artificial watering during the season is 

 unnecessary. The depth to plant is gener- 

 ally given as six inches, but it may with 

 advantage be less than that on heavy soils. 

 Deep planting helps the plant to maintain 

 its own flower stalk. Gladiolus can be 

 bought in main varieties for definite color 

 effects or in selected mixtures where the 

 requirement is merely for cut flowers. 



MONTBRETIAS 



Somewhat resembling the gladiolus in 

 growth is the montbretia, another summer 

 flowering bulb almost tender but which can 

 be generally treated as a general bulb for 

 May planting. There are a great number 

 of varieties ranging from clear yellow to 

 orange scarlet. The flowers are borne on 

 branched flower stems and are about an 

 inch in diameter in the larger forms. They 

 are loosely arranged and lend themselves 

 well for decorative purposes. They can be 

 grown under exactly the same conditions 

 as the gladiolus except that they need not 

 be planted so deeply. While the corms will 

 live over the winter in most cases, they 

 usually become weaker as a result of severe 

 freezing and it is generally found best to 

 lift them at the approach of winter and dry 

 them off, like other tender bulbs. Being 

 smaller they can be planted more closely 

 together than the gladiolus. 



Another summer flowering bulb of dis- 

 tinctly tropical appearance is the crinum 

 — large massive bulbs with strong flowering 

 scapes carrying heads or umbels of large 

 sized blooms of pale color, pink or white, 

 recalling; those of the amarvllis in form. 



For edging shaded borders or lighting up dark comers of the porch the tuberous begonia is cf unique vaiue 



