108 



GARDEN GUIDE 



THE COLUMBINE • Aquilegia 



Columbines are so frail, 

 yet so strong; the forms are 

 so nmnerous and the flowers 

 so varied in color, that they 

 are deserving of a prominent 

 place in every garden. 



Seed sown one year 

 blooms the next. The crowns 

 gradually increase in size 

 size until huge clumps are 

 formed. Sow th seed in a 

 prepared bed or in the cold- 

 frame in early Summer and 

 wait until the next year for 

 results. 



Some of the most charm- 

 ing forms to grow are the 

 Rocky Mountain Columbine 

 hybrids (Aquilegia caerulea), 

 deep blues and pinks, long 

 spurred; A. chrysantha hybrids 

 superb clear lemon yellow long 

 spurred sorts; A. canadensis, 

 the yellow and red wild Colum- 

 bine of the East; and A. vul- 

 garis, a short-spurred form. 



The Columbine 

 Seed sown one year blooms the 

 next 



THE DAHLIA 



There is little question why the Dahlia has gained in popularity. 

 The newer varieties win our admiration as soon as we see them. Should 

 .you insist that the Dahlia is very formal and stiff we should answer 

 that the ones to which you refer are perhaps stiff because they were 

 carefully bred for regularity and symmetry, and you would look upon 

 them as triumphs of the breeder's art if you knew that the modern 

 varieties have been evolved from several wild Mexican species. Near 

 Mexico City, at an altitude of one thousand to two thousand feet 

 above that of the city, we find the wild forms on the sides of the deep 

 ravines in partial shade. It is hot in the daytime, but really gets cold 



