Midsummer in the Garden 



BY MRS. G. T. DRENNAN 



G ANNAS are like beacons, brightening 

 the flower frieze. Independent of sun, 

 dust and long days of hottest midsum- 

 mer -weather. Queen Charlotte, Fla- 

 mingo, President Carnot, Chicago, and Bis- 

 marck, in flaming scarlet and richest crimson, 

 are dazzling in effect. Burbank and Alsace 

 are superb in clear gold and sulphur yellow. 

 Tarrytown is probably the finest all-round 

 Canna yet introduced. It differs from all 

 other varieties in the branching habit of bloom- 

 ing. Each tall flower stalk produces from 

 three to five spikes of brilliant crimson flowers. 

 They are so numerous that the foliage is almost 

 obscured by them. Cannas are particularly 

 available for Southern gardens. They have 

 broad sub-tropical foliage and attain great 

 luxuriance, which as an antithesis to prevailing 

 dust and heat of ordinary summers is cool and 

 refreshing. The beauty of the Canna leaves 

 depends uj)on cleanliness. Water frequently 

 applied keeps them free from smoke and dust 

 accretions, and attention to insects on the part 

 of the gardener preserves them from lacerations. 

 Neglected, the leaves will be eaten into shreds 

 by the cut worms. 



Marechal Valiant and Discolor are very hand- 

 some bronze leaved Cannas. They both produce 

 chrome yellow flowers of large size and charm- 

 ing appearance. 



The Hibiscus rivals the Canna in fitness for 

 gardens where summers are long and heat in- 

 tense. They belong to the Mallow genus, to 

 which the Cotton belongs, and flourish under 

 like conditions. The old standard double scar- 

 let and double crimson are as good as any, and, 

 although both are red, present striking contrast. 

 Peachblow is the loveliest thing in the whole 

 class. It is large and very double, of an ex- 

 quisite, clear, peachblow pink, deepening to rose 

 color at the heart. Hibiscus is the flower of 

 a day, but is constant in bloom production. 

 Every summer morning finds the shrubs loaded 

 with fresh and brilliant flowers. Like the 

 Canna, the Hibiscus must be watered freely, 

 and the dark, glittering green foliage kept 

 free from dust. 



Cannas and Hibiscus require rich, well tended 

 bedding places. Neither of these showy plants 

 is available for cut flower purposes. They are 

 strictly for yard ornamentation. For this pur- 

 pose they are not excelled. Eeturning home 

 from the summer outing, householders will be 

 sure to find the garden gay with these flowers, 

 for they bloom brilliantly until frost. 



Where the garden forms a parallelogram the 



ever-blooming, brilliant flowers may fill the 

 frieze on the two opposite sides, planted about 

 three feet apart, with as many ever-blooming 

 white flowers as there are of all other colors 

 combined. White and lavender colored Lan- 

 tanas are luxuriant in growth, and the flowers 

 delicate and effective. Lantanas are constant 

 bloomers, and for the mixed flower frieze have 

 no superiors. • They bloom in masses from early 

 to late. Nellie Bly is the only fragrant Lan- 

 tana. It is entirely free from the peculiar cdor 

 of all others of its class. It is pure white. 



The Paris Daisy is an eye-bright, ever-bloom- 

 ing bedder. The ray-flowered corolla of pure 

 white and the bright yellow disk make the Daisy 

 very showy. It is one of the most available of 

 all for cut flower purposes. Filling in the 

 angles of the steps and base of the house front 

 and the corners of the side and front fence, 

 as well as across the front, mixed flowers, that 

 harmonize with each other, are the most effec- 

 tive. A 'gross profusion of any one kind has 

 a commercial effect. The poet says: 



"Fair are the flowers, 

 But their sw^eet suggestion is fairer." 



The Bracken and the Sword Fern, tall grow- 

 ing, green and airy; sweet-scented Heliotropes, 

 light and dark blooms mixed; Plumbago, in 

 white, leaden blue and vermilion ; mammoth 

 Verbena, from white to rich maroon; Gerani- 

 ums; Dahlias; Abutilons; Eoses; flowering 

 vines that are light and graceful, but also lux- 

 uriant ; Coleus ; Caladiums ; Crotons ; golden 

 feather Feverfew and Alternanthera, for bor- 

 ders, must be planted in selected numbers and 

 with strict regard to the harmony of colors. 

 The flora of Southern gardens is so abundant 

 in variety that something must be rejected each 

 year. What is discarded one year may be 

 adopted the next. Eed flowers may be the main 

 components of the garden scheme one year, 

 white the next. Eed and white were the colors 

 in the War of the Eoses, and are yet the colors 

 upon which flower schemes are most effectively 

 constructed. Eed and white still lead. What- 

 ever the form, however filled, let the frieze 

 have Chrysanthemums introduced. As bedding 

 plants, where the soil is rich and moist, they 

 grow with great vigor. It is necessary to thin 

 them out now and again before they form their 

 buds. Unless for exhibition purposes, grow 

 them in the open border, and not in pots. 



Flowering vines from midsummer till late 

 autumn are fascinating features of the garden. 

 The starry white Solanum blooms in sheets. 



