The Garden Magazine, November, 1921 



159 



La France, Longfellow, Milton Hill, Raoul Dessert, Rosa Bonheur, 

 Sarah Bernhardt. 



The complete list is quite lengthy and interested Peony students can- 

 not do better than study the whole report in detail in the Bulletin which 

 can be had from Professor Saunders, Secy., Clinton, N. Y. — Ed. 



Roses Instead of Weeds 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, has entered actively into a campaign 

 for a city beautiful. This includes among other things the plant- 

 ing of Roses, White Clover, and similar flowers along the edges of streets 



ROSES AND WHITE CLOVER MAKE DRIVING PLEASURABLE 



On the outskirts of Springfield, Illinois, progressive 

 property owners are planting vacant lots with de- 

 lightful effect which is enjoyed by every passerby 



in the outlying districts, not only in front of residences but on vacant 

 lots. Once these flowers have made a stand, little or no attention has 

 to be paid to them, for all weeds are crowded out. The result is most 

 attractive, and the plan is one that can be easily and cheaply carried 

 out in almost any community. — Robt. H. Moulton, Illinois. 



Mrs. Pleas on Raising Seedling Peonies 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



IN HIS very helpful article, "What America Has Done for the 

 I Peony," in the September, 1920, issue of The Garden Magazine, 

 Professor Saunders says "Peony seeds do not germinate until the 

 second year," but the fact is they will germinate as soon as ripe if given 

 the opportunity. Often when picking up those that have fallen before 

 all are ripe I have found one that has been kept moist and has made its 

 own root; it is being allowed to dry and harden that retards germina- 

 tion. Kelway's single white, The Queen, was our only plant bearing 

 seeds, blooming before any other kind was open; it was not hybridized, 

 yet from this one planting I have every color and shade from White 

 Swan to Black Beauty. 



Since I had been assured that the seedlings would come single, small, 

 and of a poor color, I had not cared to save seed; but seeing the tops 

 weighted to the ground, spilling seeds by the handful, the appeal was 



too great. Aware that hard shelled seeds require being exposed to the 

 vicissitudes of winter to insure prompt germination, we stratified them 

 in sand in a box set in the ground to winter over. In the spring when 

 the first vegetables were planted, the Peony seeds were lifted from the 

 sand and drilled in, the same as garden Peas. They came up as 

 promptly as did the Radishes, but a hard freeze that night killed every 

 plant above ground. Not having had any great expectations, I was not 

 greatly disappointed. When the cold wave had passed, I discovered 

 two bright crimson ribbons stretched along that portion of the row 

 that had been shaded from the warm sun by the top of a large Plum 

 tree which had retarded their germination. 



When planting the garden I began thinning the little Peonies by 

 carefully lifting out a trowelful here and there and filling vacancies. 

 This thinning out has been kept up annually since. These remained 

 where they originated until 19 13 when my favorites were lifted or 

 divided to bring to California. Less than one thousand of this first 

 planting escaped freezing. From this one .planting of single white 

 seeds came Elwood Pleas, Midsummer Night's Dream, Gem, Mary, 

 Quaker Lady, Shabona, Mad. Pleas, Walter Morgan, Golden Wed- 

 ding, Nellie Pleas, Gypsy Queen, Laura E. Pleas, and Rosy Dawn in 

 doubles; and in singles, White Swan, Wild Rose, Golden Cushion, Po- 

 cahontis; among the Japanese, Dr. Edgar Pleas, Novelty, Altar 

 Candles, and Golden Nugget represent the best. 



The seedlings are subject to winter loss. I noticed that I did not 

 have as many plants the second year as the first, but not seeing any 

 dead, or injured by animal or insect, I could not account for it until 

 going through my garden during a February thaw when 1 found broken 

 three-inch roots of little Peonies standing or lying along the rows, seem- 

 ingly uninjured. I put a finger on each, thrusting it back in the ground. 

 Apparently all lived. I obviated this loss after this by giving all one 

 and two year plants a heavy mulch over winter. I have found divi- 

 sions that had Iain out all winter that lived when planted. Some 

 growers advise fall planting for the seed, but nothing is gained and even 

 though none are washed out by hard rains, the weeds will get well 

 started before the ground is in condition to cultivate. — Sarah A. Pleas, 

 Whittier, Calif. 



How I Force Iris 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



1AM an Iris enthusiast in a small way and I love to experiment with 

 them. Have raised some lovely ones from seed — Japanese, Ger- 

 man, and Spanish — and I have made one discovery that gives me much 

 pleasure: that Iris can be successfully forced. About Christmas every 

 year I take up clumps of German Iris, the old Blue Flag usually, since 

 I have more of them; put them in flat pans in a sunny window in my 

 basement and before Easter they are in full bloom, more exquisite and 

 ethereal than those which bloom in the open, and at that season as rare 

 as an Orchid. I am going to try several varieties this year among the 

 earlier bloomers and hope to have flowers by St. Valentine's day. — Mrs. 

 J. H. Lide, Corinth, Miss. 



What's Good in Yellow Flowered Perennials? 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



I SEE myself quoted in September as having erstwhile "damned with 

 faint praise" the Helianthus. Before the rubicund face of old 

 Sol, H. annuus, peering at me over the back fences of my memory, let 

 me do justice to this grateful (if oft oppressive) genus whose golden 

 horde, the myriad descendants of garden outcasts, are at the moment 

 striving along the marsh road "to be a counter-glory to the sun." 

 Quantitative inspiration for much obvious sentiment, behold them, these 

 outcasts glorifying the waste places — rigidus, Miss Mellish, Wolley 

 Dod and the refined mollis, along with Golden Glow (Latin name upon 

 request) in vast assemblies, thousands and hundreds of thousands 

 standing high against the gray-green marsh distance and the nacre of 

 the September sky. I would not say that "they burst upon the in- 

 ward eye" exactly; my inward eye is more subtle. But their numbers 

 do strike a sort of terror into my heart. 



I have seen angustifolius, but I have not grown it. Mr. Lane, in his 

 description, following the example of Bailey's august encyclopedia, 

 omits the one vital particular. Does it sucker out? Angustifolius 

 and questifolius are, of course, one; q for a, u for n, g for e (the Greek 

 e) — the error explains itself; and it is cheaper for the seedsman to per- 

 sist in it (botany be damned !)than to have a new page plate for his 

 catalogue made correcting it. Questus-leafed? Questus ? 



My problem, as I recall it, was to find a substitute yellow perennial 

 for Coreopsis. The daily task of removing the dead flowers from this 

 estimable plant has brought me to the hard necessity of exiling it. 



