46 



The Garden Magazine, September, 1921 



in connection with their watering programs? Are not the 

 quickest grown, most freely irrigated, most consistently coddled 

 plants the likeliest to be delicate, diseased and even 'hypochon- 

 driachal?'" 



Who thinks so? Who thinks not? Who knows? 



THE OPE^C OLUM[h L 



Readers' Interchange of Experience and Comment 



Californian Red Larkspur 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



1FOUN D thedwarf Red Larkspurof California, Delphinium nudicaule, 

 growing in a hardy garden as far north as Goteborg, Sweden — not 

 to mention the fact that it is fairly common in English rock gardens. 

 So I see no reason why it should be a stranger to Eastern American 

 gardens. Its red is a rather dull scarlet, with a bit of yellow; but, 

 grouped in a rock garden, the color is agreeable enough and the plant 

 lends variety of form. It stands a foot or a foot and a half high. — H. 

 S. Adams, New York. 



Trapping Snails at Night 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



THIS Open Column is a feature of our magazine that I thoroughly 

 enjoy as an exchange of ideas and experiences is a good thing at all 

 times. No one person knows it all. 



After trying many different remedies for snails, but without 

 much success, I concluded to go after them at night while they were feed- 

 ing. A lighted lantern and some powdered lime in a baking powder box 

 with holes punched in the lid are the only weapons needed. With this 

 outfit I have done away with hundreds of these pests every season, and 

 while it seems impossible to eliminate them entirely, it has enabled me 

 to keep them from doing much damage. The best time is during damp, 

 showery weather, and it requires only a light sprinkling of lime to 

 finish one of these creatures. Going about in the garden at night 

 with a lantern also furnishes considerable entertainment to inquisitive 

 neighbors. — A. A. Knoch, York, Pa. 



A Good Late Yellow Perennial 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



SOME time ago in The Garden Magazine Mr. Julian Hinckley 

 asked for information as to a satisfactory late yellow perennial. 

 Although he "damned with faint praise" the Helianthus, I am wonder- 

 ing if he is familiar with the "narrow-leaved" species, Helianthus 

 angustifolius. This is a native plant that deserves to be better known. 

 A few years ago I got some seed from the U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, which describes it as "a selected variety of the native wild form 

 of sunflower, collected in Arkansas." 



I raised some plants and set them out in a bed of prepared soil — leaf 

 mold, sand, and manure — where they were shaded about half of the 

 day by large Oak trees. They grew about four feet high and were so 

 attractive that on moving to a new home I took two plants along. I 

 had to put them in a clay soil without any special preparation, but fully 

 exposed to the sun. They got no fertilizer and no coddling except 

 occasional stirring of the surface soil; but in October, 1920, a year after 

 they were moved, each plant was a mass of yellow sunshine 7 feet 

 high, with a spread of 6 feet, and carried, by count, between 400 and 

 500 flower heads. 



^The blooming period lasts approximately three weeks. The flower 

 heads are about as large as those of the Black-eyed Susan, and the 

 ray flowers are a clear, bright yellow, a trifle brighter than the "light 

 cadmium" of Ridgway's "Color Standards" and considerably brighter 

 than the illustration of this species in "Wild Flowers of New York" 

 (N. Y. State Museum Memoir 15, Part II, plate 249). The leaves are 

 correctly described by the specific name, for they are only ^ to § inch 

 wide and from 2 to 7 inches long. They are a glossy deep green on 

 the upper side, have a conspicuous midrib, and droop in graceful 

 curves. The first basal leaves are somewhat wider and not so glossy. 

 Some of the side branches dropped from my plants during the summer, 

 perhaps because of insufficient watering. If they had all remained, 

 each plant might have had 600 or 700 flower heads, but I was content 



with 400. (One botanical description of this species, by the way, 

 says, " Heads usually few ! ") 



The plants are easily raised from seed during the summer and can 

 be set out in their permanent quarters in the fall. A year later they 

 will, I think, well repay the planter for his trouble. In a situation 

 exposed to the wind the main stem should be tied to a stout stake 

 when it is about 3 feet high; a 5-foot stake will be none too long by 

 October. 



The botanies give the habitat of this species as "low pine barrens" 

 and "swamps." The two situations in which it has done so well for 

 me are far from swampy, and the Arkansas form may be slightly differ- 

 ent from the species as generally observed. It will apparently thrive 

 in partial shade, but will do much better in full sunshine. 



This species does not seem to be catalogued by the dealers, but I 

 have saved enough seed to supply perhaps a dozen experimenters, and 

 while they last will be glad to give some to any "garden neighbor" who 

 will ask for them. — Bernard H. Lane, Aurora Hills, Alexandria, Va. 



— We have reason to believe that this Sunflower is offered by 

 one dealer at least (John L. Childs) under the name of Helian- 

 thus questifolius — evidently an orthographic error in copying a 

 label at some time. We have been much attracted by the glory of its 

 flowers in late fall (recalling the golden mist of Forsythia in spring) 

 and enduring well into the period of frost. — Ed. 



That Terrible Pest, The Mole 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



WILL some of the readers of The Open Column please tell me 

 how to keep moles out of my garden? I have had a cement 

 coping put around the bulb garden, ten inches below the ground, 

 and four above — but the moles went under it, and have eaten most 

 of the Tulips. Traps catch one now and then. Last fall I put out 

 seven dozen fine Tulips in the flower garden — around this 1 had 

 boards sunk below the surface, but the moles ate three dozen bulbs. 

 They also burrow along both sides of the Sweet-peas, leaving holes. 

 It seems to me all the people who raise so many Tulips must have 

 some way of circumventing the moles. I hope they will help me. — 

 Mrs. W. W. Applegate, Coston, Calvert Co., Md. 



Eradicating Rot From Your Iris 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



SOMETIME ago a "neighbor" gave an account of her method of 

 eradicating rot, which, briefly speaking, consisted in the entire 

 destruction of every plant affected. While doubtless effectual, I do not 

 think quite such radical methods required. In the summer of 1920 I 

 discovered rot in a plant I had received from a well known nursery. It 

 had only been in my border about two weeks when its sickly condition 

 became apparent. I took it up, cut away every particle of the affected 

 stock, and, as the root was small to begin with, I had less than two 

 inches of root-stock left. This was rolled over and over in powdered 

 sulphur till it was liberally coated. I then set it out on a ridge which 

 borders a sloping bit of flower border where no moisture could possibly 

 settle about it. Before fall there was a leaf growing thriftily and no 

 more sign of rot. No other plant in my garden developed the disease. 

 I think I would never destory an Iris for rot until I had faithfully tried 

 the knife, sulphur, and removal to the driest bit of border at my com- 

 mand. — Amelia H. Botsford, Edgemoor, Delaware. 



The Grapes in My Garden 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



1WAS much interested in the article on "Grapes Where You Live," 

 in the October number of last year. One of my favorite Grapes is 

 the Brighton which seems to be about the highest in quality of the 

 dozen standard varieties on my place. This Grape must positively be 

 planted near some other variety or it is sure to be a failure. 

 It seems strange that in nine out of every ten nursery catalogues this 

 fact is not mentioned. My vine has a Concord growing near it, and 

 I train some of the canes of both varieties through each other. 

 However, the Concord is not an ideal mate, as it blossoms slightly in 

 advance of Brighton. Good results may be obtained by fertilizing 

 some of the clusters by hand from some variety which blossoms at the 

 same time. For a number of years I have received first prize at the 

 York County Fair for the finest bunches of this most excellent Grape. 

 In this locality Brighton ripens about the last week in August and 

 remains in good condition until about the first week in October, after 

 that time it deteriorates rapidly. Bagging the bunches is necessary in 



