May, 1918 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



195 



medium size and well set on the spike. It is 

 far away the best purple Gladiolus yet pro- 

 duced. 



A white Gladiolus is useful both for garden 

 effect and for cutting, and here again there 

 are several from which to make a choice. The 

 white tone in Meadowvale is good but there 

 is a dash of pink on the lower petals and a 

 patch of crimson in the throat. The flowers 

 are of good size and well formed. Augusta, 

 May, and Shasta have much the same habits 

 — medium sized blossoms appearing in num- 

 bers on a straight spike. Shasta has the 

 purest color, and has white anthers — which is 

 rarely found, the anthers in white Gladiolus 

 being usually of a pinkish tint. It will be 

 found a very satisfactory sort. Augusta was 

 for a long time called the best commercial 

 white and is still largely used by florists. 



May is also a good sort though, like Augusta, 

 it is more or less suffused with pink. 



The amount of pink color appearing in 

 these white flowers varies in different seasons, 

 for if the sky is continually clear, and the 

 air is dry, the pink color becomes more 

 prevalent. This "pinking," as the growers 

 call it, may be avoided by cutting the spike 

 when the first blossom opens and allowing 

 the remainder to open in the house. Indeed 

 the best color of many varieties is obtained 

 by letting the blossoms open under cover from 

 the direct rays of the sun. 



pHAT completes the list. In making the 



A selections only the least expensive bulbs 



have been considered, but the sorts mentioned 



are all well worth growing. The plants are 



vigorous and will flourish in any ordinary 



garden soil even without special care. If they 

 are given an extra allowance of fertilizer and 

 plenty of sunshine and an occasional watering 

 during a dry spell they will repay for this 

 attention by displaying improved blossoms. 

 Without this additional encouragement they 

 will prove satisfactory, and as they can be 

 obtained for a small sum they, will not prove 

 a costly experiment if they should be lost. 

 But they need not be lost. If they are taken 

 from the ground in the autumn when their 

 leaves turn brown, and are put in a cool but 

 frost proof cellar, they can be planted again 

 the following spring with the certainty of 

 their making as good a display as was 

 produced in the first season. They may 

 make a better display if the gardener blun- 

 dered and learned the lesson of those blun- 

 ders. 



Keeping Up Appearances in the Flower Border 



KEEPING the borders in good order 

 during the summer is a simple matter 

 if a few tasks are faithfully performed. 

 The first and most important of these 

 is staking; a matter in which all our ingenuity 

 may be employed. If not done at all or if 

 badly done, the finest garden will, after the first 

 hard storm, be a sad spectacle. In exposed gar- 

 dens there are few plants of more than medium 

 height which do not require support; and even 

 in sheltered gardens, it is best to stake all fairly 

 tall plants that have slender stems. 



The most important point about staking is 

 that it shall be done as inconspicuously as pos- 

 sible and in such a manner that the plant is 

 not diverted from its natural habit of growth. 

 The green wooden stakes, for sale by all seed 

 houses, are best adapted for most purposes. 



Plants with a single stem, such as Lilies, 

 Foxgloves and Mulleins, may have the stake 

 (always considerably shorter than the full 

 height of the plants) placed behind the stem 

 and secured with green raffia, about the centre 

 of the stem, leaving the upper half to curve 

 gracefully at will. It may be necessary to 

 change the stakes once any way during the 

 growth of very tall plants, and such strong 

 growing plants as Mulleins, Hollyhocks, and 

 Dahlias will require very heavy stakes. 



Plants with many stems, such as Boltonias 

 and Heleniums, should have several heavy 

 stakes placed in and about the clumps with 

 strong cord stretched from stake to stake, 

 thus allowing all the stems to maintain their 

 natural position while still being upheld. 

 The fine appearance of such plants is quite 

 spoiled if they are bunched together and tied 

 to a single stake. 



Plants with long, weak stems and broad, 

 heavy flower heads, as Michaelmas Daisies 

 and Gypsophila paniculata, are best supported 

 on pea brush, the weak stems being drawn 

 over and tied to the spreading branches of 

 the brush. When the plants have attained 

 their full height any unsightly ends of the 

 brush may be cut off. 



T> EMOVAL of all withered flowers is of 

 -*-^- considerable importance in the fair 

 appearance of the garden. The self-sown 

 seedlings of many plants, Phlox for instance, 



LOUISE B. WILDER 



Author of "My Garden" and "Color in My Garden" 



are a real nuisance; and besides this, most 

 annuals, and a fair number of perennials, 

 may be kept in bloom for a greatly lengthened 

 period if the plants are not allowed to seed. 

 This is particularly true of Moonpenny 

 Daisies, Geums, Erigeron speciosus and the 

 hardy Cornflower, Centaurea montana. The 

 blooming period of Phlox, Mulleins, and 

 Anchusas may be extended if the flower stalk 

 is cut just below the lowest blossom. Auxiliary 

 flower stems will then be sent out at once. 



Foxgloves may be bewitched into perennial- 

 ism if the flower stalks are cut to the ground 

 immediately after fading. Hardy young 

 plants will form around the old crown. This 

 is also true of Hollyhocks. 



Many low growing plants, such as Pinks, 

 Aubrietias, Iberis, Cerastium, Sun-roses and 

 Golden Alyssum are much benefited by a 

 severe shearing after their bloom is past; 

 otherwise they are apt to become very untidy 

 in appearance. 



TN THE summer care of the garden, culti- 

 ■*- vation of the soil is more important than 

 watering. The latter should not be done at 

 all unless thoroughly — that is, the soil soaked 

 at least two inches below the surface. Our 

 own method is to stick the rake handle in 

 the ground, placing the hose nozzle through 

 the tines and allowing it to remain in one 

 spot for several hours. In dry weather it 

 takes two or three days to get all round the 

 garden, but the effort is lasting and when 

 this method is used, the watering may be 

 done in full sunshine without injury to the 

 plants. 



The soil of the beds and borders should be 

 kept well stirred always, as this not only 

 conserves the moisture but does much to- 

 ward discouraging weeds. We always stir 

 the soil after a heavy rain, for the soil is then 

 most apt to form a hard crust. 



Combinations for Spring Pictures 



' I ''WO pictures last spring gave me so much 

 ■*■ pleasure, that I feel impelled to tell about 

 them in case some gardeningneighbor may care 

 to add them to the beauty of his own garden 

 by planting this fall. 



The first shines forth in a partially shaded 



corner of the garden in front of and reaching 

 back beneath a group of Persian Lilacs and 

 Laburnums. Here the ground is thickly set 

 with the lovely Muscari, so aptly named 

 Heavenly Blue, with the graceful little Wood 

 Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris), and dotted about 

 between them, to spread its delicate greenery 

 when the Grape Hyacinths and Tulips are 

 past are tufts of the baby Meadow Rue 

 (Thalictrum minus var. adiantifolium). The 

 Wood Tulip is a special delight of the spring 

 and not nearly so well known as it deserves to 

 be. It has small, warm yellow flowers slightly 

 bronzed on the outer sides of the petals, that 

 open widely and send forth the delicious per- 

 fume of hothouse Violets. The slender stem 

 of the tulip rises several inches higher than the 

 bright blue Hyacinth spikes that pierce the 

 waving canopy of yellow flowers with a quite 

 enchanting effect. This, I think, would be a 

 nice group for the rock garden as all the units 

 are small — the Meadow Rue rising to not more 

 than eight inches in height. Tulipa sylvestris 

 requires two seasons in your garden to become 

 sufficiently at home to bloom, after that is 

 most reliably constant if your conditions are at 

 all to its mind. Here it is pleased to be most 

 gracious, and has started numerous colonies on 

 its own account — one right in the gravel at the 

 edge of the path. 



The second picture is to-day, May twenty- 

 first, in full beauty. A white flowered Wistaria 

 covers a shallow cedar pergola that spans a 

 garden path and constitutes itself a most 

 felicitous background for the rose-wrapped 

 branches of a Crabapple tree (Pyrus flori- 

 bunda), that reach out against and through 

 the pendant sprays of white flowers. Groups 

 of rose-red Tulip Pride of Haarlem and drifts 

 of still lingering Arabis repeat the colors 

 from the ground. This picture is inexpressibly 

 gay and charming and gives us the added 

 pleasure of a fine blend of perfumes. 



There is one more bit so fresh and pretty in 

 its scheme of decoration that it seems to ask 

 for mention. It lies along the end of a north 

 border and is composed of the snowdrift Phlox 

 and scarletGeums and the tall Poet's Narcissus 

 known as Edward VII. Between these plants 

 are tufts of Carpathian Bluebell, blue and 

 white. 



