48 



The Garden Magazine, September, 1921 



I would like to know from some one who has successful 1 / raised it. We 

 love blackberries and understood this to be a luscious variety, but in my 

 country home it seems to grow so vigorous a plant. — W. T. A., N. J . 



The Glory Pea as a House Plant 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



NO DOU BT the Glory-pea of Australia (Clianthus Dampieri) , would 

 . be a more common sight in American greenhouses if its value as a 

 basket plant were better known. This is really the only way to make 

 it seem beautiful rather than curious. In order that its oddly shaped 

 scarlet and black flowers may be revealed in their full richness against 

 the grayish green foliage, the plant demands complete isolation, and 

 this it gets in a basket. On the whole it is one of the handsomest basket 

 plants I know of. As the normal height is only two feet, the overhang 

 is not inconveniently long. The Glory-pea grows readily from seed. 

 Treat it as an annual and, if possible, use seed ripened here rather than 

 in Australia. Soak it in warm water before planting. The plants will 

 blossom out of doors if given an early start, but this is seldom worth 

 while. Nor is grafting for indoor use, despite the resultant vigorous 

 growth and bloom. In the latter case the graft is made on Colutea 

 arborescens, the stock being obtained by sowing seed of it three weeks 

 in advance of the Glory-pea. — H. S. Adams, New York. 



Perennial Window Boxes for Winter 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



WHY have window boxes that are things of beauty in summer, and 

 such eyesores in winter that they must be removed to the tool 

 house or cellar? Why not "perennial" window boxes? 



By that is not meant, necessarily, boxes filled with perennial plants, 

 but boxes that are perennially beautiful. The growths that charmed 

 us in summer can be replaced by other beauties in winter, and the very 

 variety will add spice to the enjoyment. The winter window box should 

 contain evergreen backgrounds, with colorful foregrounds. The holly, 

 the hemlock, the pine, the rhododendron, the laurel, and other ever- 

 greens will form the background. Some form of evergreen is to be had 

 in any locality. For foregrounds Ornamental Grasses, Chinese Lan- 

 terns, Straw-flowers, Sea-lavender, Everlastings, or any other plants 

 that retain their color when dry can be used to form charming effects. 



There is one thing about the winter window box that makes it 

 superior to the summer window box. Necessarily the summer box 

 presents its best face to the passerby. The winter box may be the 

 reverse, presenting to the person in the street only a uniform green 

 appearance, though that in itself is lovely, while those within the house 

 can look out at any scheme of beauty they choose to make in the box. 

 Furthermore, growing things in summer for the winter window box 

 will add zest to the gardening. — L. E. Theiss. 



Triumphing Over the Foundation Soil 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



I WAS one of the few — whether fortunate or unfortunate ones I 

 * have not yet determined — who built a home during the war period. 

 To escape the clutches of the rent profiteer I fled for refuge to another 

 set of buccaneers doing business as lumber merchants, builders, etc. 

 A detail of my experience with either set of these undesirable citizens 

 would require too many swear words, besides the possibility of getting 

 so eloquent in my exordium as to lose sight altogether of what I set in 

 to write about. 



One of my minor tribulations was that, in excavating for the cellar, 

 my man spread the clay over the lot, without first removing the sur- 

 face soil, as I had instructed him to do. It was out of the question to 

 think of having a real garden in that stiff, inert mess of red clay. It 

 would take two or three seasons of exposure to get the requisite vitality. 



I then recalled an earlier experiment of mine in mixing just that 

 kind of clay with sandy soil to promote the growth of Strawberries. The 

 success of that effort was marked. The Gandy is, perhaps, the best 

 known of the berry plants that do well in clay soil. But, would even 

 the Gandy do any good in raw clay from the bottom of a cellar? 



We moved into our new home in the fall, and just before winter set 

 in I had the lot plowed as deeply as possible, to bring up some of the 

 underneath soil to mix with the clay. Then a liberal coating of stable 

 manure was applied over the whole, and in the spring the lot was 

 plowed again and set to Gandy Strawberries. The result was a gratify- 

 ing surprise. 1 have grown Strawberries for twenty years, but never 



saw anything in size, color, or flavor to surpass the berries that grew in 

 that cellar clay. It should be remembered that the Gandy is a late 

 variety, serving admirably to prolong the season. — Robert F. Bishop. 



Westerville, Ohio. 



From "The White Violet Lady" 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



'"THE many friends of the White Violet nearly swamped me with 

 * requests for White Violet roots. Had it been a little earlier in the 

 season I could have supplied them all, as they seed themselves all over 

 my walks, but as I have cleaned and trimmed my walks of course I have 

 destroyed the seedlings. I will be pleased, however, to send a few roots 

 to as many of my correspondents as my supply will allow another 

 spring and I hope I will be able to supply the roots to all who have 

 requested them. I think it is Viola striata, native to most of our 

 northern woods. It responds to cultivation and the flowers are larger 

 than in its wild state; it has no fragrance and likes partial shade. — 

 Mrs. Donald Smith, Barre, Vt. 



Germination of Delphinium Seeds 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



DEING intensely interested in the tall Hybrid Delphiniums, I have 

 U faithfully purchased seed of the leading dealers and growers season 

 after season for several years only to be almost invariably disappointed 

 with the meager results of its germination. Seed of my own production 

 was equally disappointing until two years ago. That season my own 

 seed gave me a high percentage of germination and produced strong, 

 vigorous plants, many of which bloomed the first season. Then I re- 

 called that during the blooming season I had observed that a flock of 

 humming birds, attracted by a nearby Honeysuckle, had been industri- 

 ously working on the Delphiniums. Last season I again observed the 

 humming bird and again I was rewarded with excellent seed, high 

 germination, and rapidly growing plants. I pass the suggestion along 

 for what it may prove to be worth. — Joe Smith, Wash. 



Perennials That Bloom in Late Summer 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



[ WISH some one would tell me what perennials will flower in late 

 1 summer. In May and June my garden is a riot of bloom, Py- 

 rethrum, Foxglove, Sweet William, Columbine, Canterbury-bells — 

 all blazing away. Then comes July and August with the Phlox clumps 

 and Sweet Alyssum, the only relics of June glories, the rest, dejected and 

 blackened stems. Of course, later, the perennial Chrysanthemums 

 will enliven things; but, is there anything which will keep the garden 

 going all season with some show of bloom — except annuals which I do 

 not want? — Mrs. H. R. Caraway, Carmel, N. Y. 



■ — Some of the plants that bloom in August and later are: Hollyhock, 

 Hardy Sunflower, Swamp-rose, Henry's Lily, Everlasting Pea, False 

 Goat's-beard, False Chamomile, Larkspur, American Senna, Red 

 Sneeze-weed, Giant Daisy, Yarrow, Monk's-hood, Cape Hyacinth, 

 Sunflower, Tiger Lily, Meadow Sage, Meadow-sweet, Ox-eye, Gold- 

 banded Lily, Knapweed, Shrubby Clematis, Purple Cone-flower, 

 Japanese Lily, Rose Loosestrife, Blazing Star, Hardy Phlox, False 

 Dragon's-head, White False Dragon's-head, Leopard's-bane, Bate- 

 man's Lily, Oswego Tea, Balloon-flower, White Balloon-flower, Red- 

 hot-poker Plant, Chilian Lily, Turtle-head, Rosy Milfoil, Double 

 Sneezewort, Golden Marguerite, Coreopsis, Blanket Flower, Cardinal 

 Flower, Early Flowering Phlox, Speedwell, Mountain Bluet, St. John's 

 Wort, Blue-bonnet, Great Sea-lavender, Dwarf Starwort, Stoke's 

 Aster, Variegated Day-lily, Coral-bells, Poppy Mallow, Blue-bells of 

 Scotland, Carpathian Hare-bell, White Carpathian Hare-bell, Forget- 

 me-not, Tufted Pansy, English Daisy. September would bring in 

 addition Boltonia, second bloom of Larkspur, the shrubby Asters, 

 Japan Anemone, Mist-flower (Eupatorium coelestinum) and Iceland 

 Poppy. Surely a rich selection. One reason why the late summer 

 season is so often empty is that the plants to blossom then start so 

 late in spring, that they are destroyed in the first spring "point-up" 

 when ignorant labor is employed or some one unfamiliar with the hab- 

 its or places of such plants; and another reason is overcrowding the 

 border with plants for big effects earlier in the season; and for maxi- 

 mum results at all seasons a greenhouse is necessary to grow on stock 

 in quantity. — Editor. 



