FLORA 



AND 5YLVA. 



Vol. II. No. 18.] 



SEPTEMBER, 190 4. 



[Monthly. 



THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL. 

 HOME LANDSCAPE AND HOME 

 WOODS. FLOWERLESS FLOWER 

 GARDENS. 



Our sufferings from cold and wet are 

 soon forgotten when we have a week or 

 two of hot summer weather. This year 

 in July friends write to say that they are 

 glad to get away from their gardens, then 

 without a Rose or other good flower, in 

 spite of muchwateringand costly plant- 

 ing. Surely it is worth considering why 

 we should be landed with such a result 

 after all our talk and efforts. A main 

 cause of the evil is spring-planting and 

 a habit we have got into in our day of 

 depending so much upon tender plants 

 in summer; in many districts plants are 

 not put out until midsummer. If this 

 season be followed by a month or two 

 of wet, no harm comes of late planting, 

 but given a few weeks of hot weather, 

 all the roots being near the surface, in 

 spite of laborious watering the plants 

 come to little. Flower-gardens that de- 

 pend on half-hardy things must be sub- 

 ject to these troubles, but many of the 

 nobler plants cannot be planted late, 

 which is another reason for going back 

 to the old and real flower-garden in- 

 stead of the ephemeral ones we now try 



to enjoy. If we wish to grow Delphini- 

 1 urns or Carnations, Lilies or Roses, we 

 rightly plant at a season when the roots 

 may get down before the hot weather 

 comes. This summer, in spite of the hot 

 weather, we are rejoicing in the beauty 

 of such plants. Often the choicer peren- 

 nials might be planted at abetter season 

 than they are. If transplanted in the early 

 autumn or soon after flowering, they 

 take a strong hold of the ground before 

 the winter and are not nearly so liable 

 to be hurt by drought. It is important to 

 consider theplants that must be planted 

 in the autumn or winter in order to be 

 thoroughly rooted before the hot season. 



Another cause is the in- 



Over°drainlng. , . . r 



cessant draining or every 

 soil, when in seven out of ten years some 

 way of keeping the water in the ground 

 is more to be desired than the getting 

 rid of it. Most flower-gardens, being on 

 well-drained ground, and the beds being 

 usually also raised, they get rid of their 

 surface water and there should be less 

 need for lessening the earth water sup- 

 ply. The neglect of deep cultivation is 

 not so common, and the question is 

 whether something more cannot be 

 done. In the best flower-beds the soil 

 should not be less than 3 feet deep. With 



