6U 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



July, 1913 



manv noo6 points are considered. 

 Get good seed, sow it carcfuUv, 

 ^I've the scedlinsjs a few weeks in 

 a well prejjared nursery bed and 

 the Petunia will repay you gener- 

 ously. By careful sowing is meant 

 thin sowing on nicelv prepared 

 pots or pans of leaf mould, sand 

 and loam which have been well 

 mixed. The seed will require vcrv 

 little covering, just a sifting of 

 sand and ]X)wderv old cow man- 

 ure. Then cover with shaded 

 glass, till the seedlings appear. 

 Petunias are certainlv one of the 

 things which HVe being trained in 

 the way they should grow bv fre- 

 quent pinching back. Aim to have 

 stocky, bushv plants. The long 

 straggly stems one often sees rob 

 the plant of half its beauty. Do 

 not be in too great a htirry to 

 get the young plants out in the 

 open for thev have many enemies, 

 but othermse are very hardy. Give 

 them a well manured (not too 

 fresh) well drained position with 

 plentv of water and thev will smile 

 gailv through the hottest weather. 



AQITTLEGTAS. 



More than twenty years ago 

 two verv handsome species or 

 forms of Aquilegia were discover- 

 ed in the Rocky Mountains, and 

 immediately became very popular. 

 These were A. caenilea and A. 

 chr\-santha, the former being blue 

 and white and the latter yellow. 

 Almost at once growers proceeded 

 to crt>ss these two species, a mat- 

 ter of the greatest ease amongst 

 this class of plants. The result 

 was a great variety of colours, 

 combining the characteristics ol the 

 two parents, and producing flowers 

 having various combinations of 

 yellow, blue, purple, 'and bronzy 

 purple. Kver since then; thev have 

 freruently been crossed, either in- 



tentionally or by allowing the bees 

 to do so in the field or garden 

 where they were planted. There is 

 nothing better for mixing with 

 the flowers than their own, foliage, 

 which is of light and, graceful cha- 

 racter. The stems are also .slen- 

 der, the upper portion more espe- 

 cially, so that each flower is held 

 gracefulh- above the foliage. This 

 explains the popularity of this 

 race of hybrid Aquilegias. They are 

 equally suitable for garden decora- 

 tion, or for cut flower purposes. 

 In either case they are difficult to 

 beat. A large bed or patch can 

 readily be obtained by seed, sowing, 

 and when these come into bloom 

 the cultivator can cut and come 

 again. 



ROSE (t-iRDKNIA. 



As a button hole it is exquisite; 

 a rich canary yellow, the outer 

 petals lemon white and of a de- 

 lightful shape. The buds are sur- 

 roimded by two or three others 

 in a smaller stage, which .should be 

 remem'bered when plucking if only 

 coat flowers are required,. Gardenia, 

 makes a good pillar Ro.sc, with its 

 great drooping branches. I like to 

 see it best, writes an English 

 gardener, lifted off the ground by 

 some roots or other supports, and 

 allowed to ramble at will. A three 

 year old plant of this Ro.se would 

 cover a space of loo squre feet, 

 the annual growths being of prodi- 

 gious length. To maintain the 

 quality- of buds the old wood needs 

 to be freely discarded each year. 



DEAIJNG WITH TNFI':RI0R 

 PLANTvS. 



It is disappointing to grow an- 

 nuals, and especially perennials, 

 from seed and when the flowering 

 time comes to find that some of 

 them are not altogether satis. ac- 



torj' in colour. Too often a novice 

 does not dream of taking sum- 

 mary measures. Plants may be 

 of a dull muddy hue, but he has 

 grown them' ; they ha\-e l)een put 

 into some space that required fill- 

 ing — and they are lelt to fill it. 

 He would be aghast sometianes, at 

 the suggestion to pull up such 

 specimens and throw them on the 

 rubbish heap. Yet if we would 

 aim at beautiful gardens that must 

 l>e the fate of them and fresh seed 

 should be sown. 



SURFACE STIRRING. 



This is one of the routine oper- 

 ations of gardening, either in sum>- 

 mer or winter, which must never 

 be overlooked or neglected, as it 

 aids one so materially on the road 

 to success. In the generality of 

 ca.ses Dutch ho'eing is the best 

 form of cultiv^ation, for at the 

 same time as it opens up the sur- 

 face it cuts down the weeds, but 

 it is not always possible of adop- 

 tion when plants are closely pack- 

 ed in the beds and borders and are 

 making free growth. In this event 

 the most useful tool is a planting 

 fork attached to a long Ash han- 

 dle. With this one can work in 

 and among the plants without the 

 remotest chance of doing injury, 

 but it will of course, be necessary 

 to do the weeding by hand. Such 

 a tool as this comes in handy for 

 several purposes and shotdd al- 

 ways have a place in the set. 



ROSE PRUNING. 



In rose pruning, the rule is that 

 strong growing plants require less 

 .severe cutting than weak-growing 

 ones. As ro.ses always flower on 

 new wood, it is es.sential that to 

 have good blooms the bushes must 

 be pruned regularly. .Ml weak 



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