WILD- FLOWERS FOR TOWN GARDENS. 



139 



saturate the air with moisture — perhaps twice or thrice 

 a day. On warm days the house must be thoroughly 

 ventilated and the plants carefully syringed with a fine 

 syrin-ge. Sudden and great changes in temperature, too 



much and intense light, and dry air, will speedily cause 

 the destruction of any and all of the filmy ferns. 

 Nothing is prettier or daintier than these exquisite 

 forms. N. J, Rose. 



WILD-FLOWERS FOR TOWN GARDENS. 



HOW TO HAVE FLOWERS FROM APRIL TO NOVEMBER. 



THERE are thousands so fond of flowers that 

 when they see nature's wild beauties in 

 woods or fields they long to bring some of 

 them to their home gardens. Many do ; 

 but where one succeeds fifty fail, and the only re- 

 sults for their trouble are a few miserable plants 

 that scarcely last out the summer. 



In most of such lots is a long strip, shaded 

 by a high fence or wall, and the general 

 complaint is that nothing will grow there. 

 Now, I propose to show that all you need 

 to fill the strip can be grown there, and 

 with a little care it can be made a thing of 

 beauty and delight. Dig up a good-sized 

 strip the whole length of the shady side of 

 the garden, even if you have to encroach, 

 on the grass-plat to make a walk. Any or- 

 dinary soil will do, if not clayey or filled 

 with lime and bricks. 

 Don't manure it — it 

 will be rich enough if 

 you only follow na- 

 ture's teaching. If 

 you want to cover the 

 fence, grow a honey- 

 suckle that will fall 

 over the top, and 

 leave the bed free be- 

 low, and trim it in 

 spring. If it is an 

 open one, have a light 

 foliaged clematis 

 such as Jackmanni or 

 Helena, or any other 

 hardy kind. 



Then in summer 

 get baskets and trow- 

 els, and go to wood Fig. 5 

 and field and swamp 

 and be sure that 

 every plant you dig up has a ball 

 of the earth it grows in attached to 

 it, for therein lies one secret of 

 success. Don't wrench out the 

 plants and bring them home all 

 wilted, but take them up carefully, 

 and with the help of a few news- 

 papers they can be kept fresh and 

 nice till planted. Procure every kind of fern, from the 



Fig. 4.— Hymeno- 

 phyllum «rugi- 



NOSUM. 



large Osviunda cinnaiuomea , or cinnamon fern, to the 

 dainty maidenhair, or adiantum ; and remember, small 

 plants are more likely to succeed 

 than large ones. 



Golden-rods, blue and purple as- 

 ters, the black-hearted cone-flow- 

 ers, rudbeckias and asclepiadaces^, 

 especially the pink and or- 

 ange milkweeds, will all 

 thrive. Any one who 

 knows the leafage can find 

 bloodroot, hepatica, Jack- 

 in-the-p u 1 p i t , the cut- 

 leaved Viola pedata, and 

 wild geraniums. Espec- 

 ially must the Lobelia car- 

 dinalis and wild lilies be 

 hunted for. The Lilium , 

 superbum and L. Philadel- 

 phicum are common in 

 most swamp lands. Great 

 care must be taken in dig- 

 ging up the root of the 

 siiperbtim. Just below the 

 ground i s a white stem 

 with what looks like a 

 fringe of rootlets ; but you 

 must go much deeper for 

 the small scaly bulb. Of 

 course, these cannot be 

 procured all at once ; in- 

 deed, it may take many a hunt before all are 

 secured. 



Plant the golden-rod, asters, asclepiads and 

 cone-flowers alternately with the large ferns 

 in the background. Hepatica and Viola pedaia 

 will make a lovely edging to tnebed in spring, 

 when their flowers open so early. Scatter the 

 Trichomanes other plants over the bed, witn ferns between. 

 ARTicuLATUM. The rich crimson-flowered Lobelia cardinalis 



can be planted among your cultivated flowers. 

 If you put it between taller plants, such as larkspurs, 

 canterbury-bells, or any that will screen the roots, the 

 vivid spikes of blossoms will add greatly to the beauty 

 of the garden ; only don't forget to water it. 



We will suppose the bed is filled with everything that 

 can be got in the fall, and that everything is looking well. 

 Late in October things begin to look not so well, but you 

 have only to follow nature's teaching and your bed will 

 well repay you. Nature does not put a heavy load of 



Fig. 6. — Tricho- 

 manes PYXIDI- 

 FERUM. 



