April, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



IX 



and summer houses is the Japan hop. This 

 plant — it is an annual like the other two — 

 has foliage of a dark green ground broadly 

 and irregularly blotched and marbled with 

 creamy white and pale yellow. It grows 

 rapidly and gives dense shade. 



"I would like a sort of hedge between the 

 flower and vegetable gardens. What would 

 you advise?" 



The zinnia is a very good plant for this 

 purpose. It is of the easiest culture, grows 

 fast, comes into bloom early in the season, 

 reaches a height of about three feet, is com- 

 pact and symmetrical in habit without train- 

 ing, requires no support, and continues to 

 bloom until frost comes. It runs through a 

 wide range of colors — red, scarlet, pink, or- 

 ange, violet and yellow — and, because of its 

 profuse blooming, makes a most brilliant 

 show. Its flowers are shaped like Lilliputian 

 or Pompone dahlias, and each plant will 

 have hundreds of them. 



Amaranthus is another excellent plant for 

 hedge purposes. It grows to a height of about 

 four feet. Many varieties have dark, bronze- 

 green foliage, others foliage of a dull, deep- 

 red. Its flowers, which are small individu- 

 ally, but are produced by thousands in long, 

 pendant racemes, are mostly of the same dull 

 but rich red which characterizes the foliage 

 of some varieties, and are very striking be- 

 cause of their resemblance to ropes of coarse 

 cheneille. To secure best results from this 

 plant as a hedge or screen, grow it thickly 

 in two or three rows about a foot apart. Its 

 decorative effect can be greatly heightened by 

 growing a flowering plant of contrasting color 

 at its base. The nasturtium, the large double 

 yellow marigold, or the velvety maroon sort 

 catalogued as African, are excellent for this 

 purpose. 



Sweet peas make a fine screen if given 

 proper support. The best support I know of, 

 when plants are grown for this purpose, is 

 made by using two strips of coarse-meshed 

 wire netting. Have two rows of the plants 

 a foot and a half apart, and let the bottom 

 of each width of netting run along each row, 

 but let them meet at the top, like an in- 

 verted V. The vines will grow up through 

 the meshes of the netting, and no wind will 

 be able to dislodge them, or blow them over. 



"I would like a large group of ornamental 

 foliage plants on the lawn, but have grown 

 tired of cannas, caladiums and plants of that 

 class. What would you suggest for a 

 change?" 



If very large plants are wanted I would 

 suggest, as best of all, ricinus, better known 

 in most localities as castor plant or castor 

 bean. If planted in a rich soil it often reaches 

 a height of eight and ten feet, with foliage 

 often a yard across, of a dark, coppery 

 bronze, overlaid with a metallic luster. The 

 best effect is secured by growing four or five 

 plants in a group. None of the tropical 

 plants which have come into prominence in 

 gardening, during the last ten or twelve years, 

 are anywhere nearly as effective as this easily 

 grown annual, whose seeds sell at five cents 

 a package. For a prominent location on the 

 lawn no better plant could be selected. 



The amaranthus advised for hedge uses 

 makes a very showy circular bed on the lawn 

 when grown in large masses. Its effect is 

 heightened by using it in the center of the 

 bed, and surrounding it with plants whose 

 colors are in strong but harmonious contrast. 

 The calliopsis, rich golden yellow, marked 

 with brown, combines charmingly with the 

 dull, deep, rich reds which characterize the 

 foliage and flowers of the most desirable 

 varieties of this too much neglected annual. 



"I would like a bed of very brilliant flow- 

 ering plants for the front yard. Can't have 



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many, for I haven't time to take care of them, 

 so want those which will give the most show 

 for the least trouble." 



An exceedingly brilliant combination can 

 be secured by the use of Salvia Splendens — 

 scarlet flowering sage — as the center of a bed 

 eight or ten feet across, with calliopsis sur- 

 rounding it. The scarlet and yellow of these 

 flowers will light up the place as vividly as 

 a bonfire, and both will continue to bloom 

 until frost comes. They will require very 

 little care. 



Phlox Drummondi — the annual phlox — 

 makes a very pleasing show in large beds if 

 proper care is taken in the arrangement of its 

 colors with a view to contrast and harmony. 

 The pale rose varieties combine charmingly 

 with the pure white and soft yellow kinds. 

 A bed composed of these three colors alone 

 will be found much more satisfactory than 

 one in which a larger number is used. Set the 

 colors in rows. 



Petunias are excellent plants for large beds 

 where a brilliant and constant show of strong 

 color is desired. They bloom early, continue 

 throughout the season, and almost take care 

 of themselves. 



"I would like a low bed, that is, a bed 

 near the path, under the window, where it 

 can be looked down upon. Tall plants would 

 be wholly out of place there. What shall I 

 use r 



The portulacca is well adapted to such 

 use, as it only grows to a height of three or 

 four inches, and spreads in a manner to form 

 a carpet of dark-green foliage, against which 

 its flowers of rose, red, crimson, yellow and 

 white are shown with brilliant effect. This 

 plant might with great appropriateness be 

 called a vegetable salamander, as it flourishes 



in hot, dry locations where most other plants 

 would utterly fail. If fairly revels in intense 

 sunshine. 



The verbena is another very desirable 

 plant for low beds. It is of spreading habit, 

 blooms profusely and constantly, and comes 

 in a wide range of rich colors. 



The ageratum is a lovely plant for low 

 beds, when covered with great masses of soft, 

 lavender-blue flowers. Fine effect can be 

 secured by using dark-yellow coleus or golden 

 pansies as an edging, these colors contrasting 

 charmingly with the pale-blue of the ager- 

 atum. 



"What flowers shall I grow to cut from? 

 Would like something not at all coarse, 

 and something that will bloom with consider- 

 able regularity throughout the greater part 

 of the season." 



At the head of the list I would place the 

 sweet pea. This is a stand-by for cutting 

 purposes. The most satisfactory varieties are 

 those of soft rose and white, the pure whites, 

 the dainty lavenders and the pale yellows. 



The aster is a magnificent flower, and it 

 seems to be growing better and better each 

 year. Nothing else among the annuals com- 

 pares with it in lasting quality. If the water 

 in which they are placed is changed daily its 

 flowers will remain fresh for two weeks. 

 The most useful variety for cutting is the 

 "branching," with flower-stalks from a foot 

 to eighteen inches in length. I would advise 

 growing at least three colors — white, pale 

 rose and lavender. 



The newer varieties of dahlia, like the 

 decorative, the cactus and the single sorts, 

 are fine for cutting. Their flowers are not 

 at all formal like those of the old very double 

 kinds, and being so much lighter because of 



