244 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1913 



Taconic I had opportunity to observe 

 closely last August; its general color is 

 mauve rose (Rose malvace No. 2) though 

 the flakes of white very finely distributed 

 over the prevailing tone make it difficult to 

 exactly place the color. Its markings are 

 of carmine purple (Pourpre carmine No. 3), 

 slim, narrow lines. The effect of the flower 

 was of a beautiful warm-pink flaked and 

 feathered with white, as in a Breeder 

 tulip, the markings however much more 

 delicate. 



Philadelphia and Evolution come next 

 to mind; the former in color mauve rose 

 (chart, Rose malvace No. 1), clear pale 

 rose-pink tone, fine form, a wide, large 

 flower with sharp narrow markings in the 

 throat, of carmine purple (chart, Pourpre 

 carmine No. 3). Evolution's prevailing tone 

 is mauve rose (chart, Rose malvace No. 1) 

 flaked with No. 4 on the same plate, and 

 with dark old rose (chart, Rose brule No. 

 3). The anthers of this pair of lovely 

 gladiolus, with their pale pink tones — the 

 anthers are of the shade called bluish lilac 

 (Lilas bleuatre No. 1) — give a real distinc- 

 tion to these flowers. 



Gladiolus Rosella is a lovely thing. In 

 its main tone carmine purple (chart, 

 Pourpre carmine No. 1) with its throat 

 markings, No. 3 on the same plate, the 

 effect is of a huge flower of rich orchid-like 

 pink, very beautiful, a very open spreading 

 flower. Rosella above Ageratum Stella 

 Gurney cannot fail to be a success in color 

 plantings; Rosella below Salvia azurea, 

 with the annual pink mallow near by; and 

 last, Rosella with Baron Hulot, that small- 

 flowered but ever-needed gladiolus of the 

 color known as Bishop's violet (chart, 

 Violet eveque No. 4). I am myself minded 

 to grow Baron Hulot in the midst of 

 Ageratum Stella Gurney — precisely as 

 one lets a colony of tulips appear above 

 forget-me-not; and Baron Hulot would 

 be also most perfect among the fine 

 creamy flowers of Chrysanthemum Garza. 



With a few very short descriptions I 

 am done. Senator Volland is an interesting 

 flower, the general tone of its petals bright 

 violet (chart, Violet decampanule No. 1); 

 blotches of amaranth (chart, Amarante 

 No. 4), with yellow- white spaces below 

 these, occur on the inferior petals, with a 



lovely mottling of the amaranth on these 

 lower petals as well. "Bright violet" 

 does not describe the color of this 

 flower to me as well as pale cool 

 lavender, with richer lavender or purple 

 on the throat, flakes of a true cream-color 

 upon the purple. Canary-bird, with its 

 clear light yellow (no visible markings of 

 any other color) , is most charming in com- 

 bination with Senator Volland. And the 

 Senator again might stand to great advan- 

 tage before tall groups of Physostegia Vir- 

 ginica, var. rosea, the soft rosy false dragon- 

 head. The color of Canary-bird on the 

 chart is sulphur yellow (Jaune soufre 

 No. 1). 



Isaac Buchanan, may not be a new gladio- 

 lus but it was new to me — a lemon-flaked 

 soft pink, the flakes giving a charming 

 effect. The flower is not large — but rare 

 in color, and above Phlox Drummondi, var. 

 lutea an interesting effect should be got. 

 Snowbird is a lovely white with pinkish- 

 violet slender markings in the throat; La 

 Luna, a soft creamy- white with a very 

 clearly defined marking of richest Pompeiian 

 red on the throat; California, a pinkish 

 lavender gladiolus, is an excellent color for 

 use with America; Princess Altiere a very 

 large pure white with royal purple markings 

 on the lower petals; and Independence, a 

 magnificent salmon pink, very light in 

 tone, reminding me in a general way of 

 the fine old William Falconer, but far 

 and away better in type — every gladiolus 

 named here is to me worth getting and 

 growing. 



I so emphatically advise the buying of 

 small quantities of these bulbs as a starter 

 as one would with fine tulips; the careful 

 labelling, staking, comparing with other 

 flowers differing in form, color and habit 

 but blooming simultaneously; and, most 

 necessary of all, the note-making in one's 

 little book — that little book which should 

 never be in the house when the gardener is 

 in the garden! I was greatly interested to 

 learn that florists prefer for cutting in some 

 cases, the gladiolus whose stems are allowed 

 to bend and twist as they bloom. A hint of 

 this kind may be valuable for some of us 

 who grow this superb flower mainly to 

 put about our houses. It is easy to see 

 the agreeable variety of line afforded for 



such purposes by the gladiolus which has 

 not been strictly staked. 



On going over what has been said I 

 marvel at my attempt to write on the 

 glories of this special flower. I have in the 

 first place left out so many beauties, such 

 for instance as Sulphur King, Mrs. Frank 

 Pendleton, Jr., bright rose pink, a little 

 deeper toward centre of the flower, the 

 lower petals blotched with carmine — so 

 remarkable that a connoisseur writes of it: 

 " Mrs. Pendleton is in bloom, has a five foot 

 stalk with twenty flowers and a smaller 

 offshoot with twelve. It is simply magni- 

 ficent." William Falconer, America, Kun- 

 derd's Glory — dozens which should come 

 into any article in connection with this 

 flower, but no flower of the garden proves 

 more irresistible to me than this. Its 

 lovely perpendicular line, first, lily-like, 

 iris-like, then its truly prismatic range of 

 exquisite color. No wonder that hybridi- 

 zers in Holland, France, Germany, Great 

 Britain and this country have been ear- 

 nestly working now for years upon so 

 beautiful a subject, or that amateur hybrid- 

 izers are beginning to crop out in our own 

 land. 



The cultivation of the gladiolus is so 

 exceedingly simple; the results so wonder- 

 fully rewarding; the color effects so certain 

 of accomplishment with flowers which come 

 as true to type and color as these; there is 

 everything to praise in this flower, no check 

 to the imagination when forming one's 

 summer plans with lists of it by one's side. 

 Gardens of enchantment might easily be 

 created by the careful use of two annuals 

 such as dark heliotrope, Ageratum Stella 

 Gurney, and the lavender, cool, pink and 

 palest yellow gladiolus mentioned on these 

 pages. A mistake of judgment would be 

 almost impossible with these materials in 

 hand. In discussing such questions as these, 

 however, may I be ever saved from the 

 phraseology of one of our English cousins 

 who in print lately declared that white 

 Phlox Mrs. E. H. Jenkins and the scarlet 

 Gladiolus Brenchleyensis look well "planted 

 together in the proportion of two parts 

 phlox and one part gladiolus! " I cannot but 

 register an objection to the medicinal flavor 

 of such advice applied to things so gorge- 

 ous, so poetic as these flowers that we love- 



Is This the Best Cottage Garden in America?— By w. Miller, ■» 



WHAT A PRINTER AT OTTAWA HAS DONE WITH LITTLE TIME AND MONEY TO MAKE HIS GARDEN A FREQUENT 

 PRIZE WINNER — HIGH PRAISE FROM A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN ARTIST — AN INSPIRATION TO RENTERS 



THE best cottage garden I have 

 seen in America is that of Mr. 

 G. A. White of Ottawa, Ont. 

 Mr. White is a printer who 

 works in the government printing office 

 from 8 to 6, and all that yoii see here he 

 has done with his scanty leisure and with 

 very little expense. He has hidden un- 

 sightly surroundings as far as possible, 



created four charming little vistas, made 

 three distinct gardens, and has a profusion 

 of flowers the whole season. 



The main features of this garden can be 

 perceived by a glance at the sketch, in 

 which the arrows indicate where the pho- 

 tographs were taken. The lot is about 

 133 x 165 ft., and highly irregular. Con- 

 sciously or not, Mr. White has obeyed some 



of the most important principles of land- 

 scape gardening. 



1. Screening unsightly objects. Someday 

 when the great awakening comes, every 

 house on every river bank will enjoy a 

 fine view, but at present most houses so 

 situated face the eyesores that usually 

 afflict a river running through a city — 

 ugly factories, brickyards, dump heaps, 



