22 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN 



THE USE OF FLOWERS. 



God might have made the earth bring forth 



Enough for great and small, 

 The oak-tree and the cedar-tree, 



Without a Hower at all. 



We might have had emmgh.-enongh 



For every want ol ours, 

 For luxury, medicine, and toil,— 



And yet have had no flowers, 



Springing in valleys green and low, 

 And en the mountains high. 



And in the silent wilderness, 

 Where mi man passetll by I 



Will much more care for Him. 



-Mary Howitt. 



THE TUBEROSE. 



(Polianthcs tubcrosa.) 

 The original, single variety is a native of 

 India, and lias for many years been grown in 

 large quantities in Southern France, where 

 the flowers are used for manufacturing per- 

 fumery. 



The double variety, which is now almost 

 exclusively used for garden purposes, is very 

 much superior to the single one in the size and 

 appearance of the flowers. Owing to the easy 

 manner in which they can be cultivated, they 

 are found in almost every garden, while their 

 rich perfume and clear white color have 

 made them very desirable for all sorts of 

 floral designs. 



To make the flowering of Tuberoses a suc- 

 cess, it is indispensable to procure sound 

 bulbs, of good size. If the center of the bulb, 

 or " flower-germ," is not perfectly sound, it 

 is hopeless to expect flowers; and any bulb, 

 be it ever so large, that lias flowered once, 

 will not bloom again. 



It is a common mistake among amateurs to 

 select the largest bulbs, when buying. Fre- 

 quently, the flower-germ in large bulbs has 

 been so far advanced as to get killed or 

 injured by the drying process which the bulbs 

 have to undergo to keep them sound over 

 winter. A medium-sized, well-formed bulb, 

 with a hard, sharp-pointed neck, is the kind 

 to be recommended, as these can, with proper 

 treatment, be depended upon to flower suc- 

 cessfully. There is no way of telling, in the 

 dry bulb, the difference between the single 

 and double variety ; the buyer is depending 

 solely on the honesty of the dealer. I think 

 it well, however, to remark here that it is not 

 always the fault of the dealer if what is sold 

 as the double comes single. The double va- 

 riety is only a sport of the single one, origi- 



nally produced by garden cultivation, and it 

 is not a very uncommon occurrence to see 

 them running back again, especially if the 

 bulbs are grown in the same ground for a 

 number of years. 



Before planting the bulbs, all the little 

 bulblets, or " sets," which are always attach- 

 ed to the main bulb, should be removed, as 

 well as the sprouts or eyes that may be show- 

 ing on the sides of the bulb. By this opera- 

 tion, all the strength and nourishment that 

 are contained in the bulb will be preserved 

 for the development of the flowers. 



The proper time for planting, in this vicin- 

 ity, is the latter part of May or beginning of 

 June. It is of no advantage to plant Tube- 

 roses before the soil is thoroughly warm. The 

 bulbs should be placed at least three inches 

 under the surface of the soil, and will do best 

 in rich, warm, sandy ground, exposed to the 

 full sun. 



If wanted for early flowering, the bulbs 

 may be planted about the first of March, 

 in small pots, with clear sand or sandy soil, 

 placed in a hot-bed, and replanted in larger 



THE PEARL TUBEROSE. 



(One-half the average size.) 



pots, with rich soil, as soon as started. They 

 must not be planted out, or left uncovered, 

 before the end of May. 



(The "Pearl" Tuberose, a variety of later 

 introduction, and, in general respects, similar 

 to the old double, bears somewhat larger 

 flowers, on considerably shorter and stronger 

 stalks. Although the flowers of this variety 

 do not keep as long as those of the old kind — 

 a consideration of some importance to the 

 professional florist— its dwarf habit makes 

 it most valuable for greenhouse cultivation. 



HARDY AZALEAS. 



Probably no readers of The American 

 Garden have ever visited an Azalea house 

 when its inmates were in flower without 

 being lost in wonder and admiration at the 

 variety, intensity, and delicacy of coloring 

 there displayed, or wishing to be able to 

 transfer some of these floral beauties to their 

 open grounds. 



Azalea incMca alba has been for a long time 

 one of the leading and most popular white 

 varieties, and till within a few years its cult- 

 ure has been confined to the greenhonse and 



conservatory, under the impression that it 

 was not hardy. 



A few years ago, some one discovered acci- 

 dentally that it was not so tender as was 

 supposed ; and, seeing the statement, I vent- 

 ured to procure a plant and set it in front of 

 my house, south of the steps leading to 

 the piazza, thus protecting it from the rude 

 blasts of the north and west winds. This 

 was, perhaps, half a dozen years ago. The 

 experiment has proved a success from the 

 start, and year after year (from the middle 

 to the last of May) the. pleasure and satis- 

 faction deepen and increase. Last season 

 the spring blossoms were, from some cause, 

 not very profuse, and it took on the novel 

 freak (perhaps by way of atonement) of 

 blooming sparingly, at intervals, all through 

 the summer and fall till frost came, so that I 

 had about concluded to forego any flowers 

 this spring ; but to my agreeable surprise it 

 has produced a greater profusion of blossoms 

 than ever. It has attracted a great deal of 

 attention from visitors and passers-by, and 

 many people, even florists, have been sur- 

 prised to learn that it has had no more 

 protection than the house affords. Thus em- 

 boldened, I next ventured to set a number 

 farther away to the south-east of the house, 

 but where the west and north winds sweep 

 around it fearfully. This, also, was a success, 

 and last spring I made another venture by 

 setting one hundred plants in nursery rows, 

 fully exposed. The extraordinary drought 

 and intense heat of last summer proved too 

 much for some of them, and may have 5m- 

 I paired the vitality of others so as to affect 

 their hardiness ; at all events, I find some 

 more or less injured this spring, while others 

 do not seem hurt in the least, and are show- 

 ing a few flowers. A plant that has success- 

 fully passed through two such extremes as 

 the past year has presented may, I think, 

 justly lay claim to hardiness in this latitude. 

 Still I would recommend, to insure safety, 

 to plant them on the lee side of buildings or 

 shrubbery. A little protection of this kind 

 will do no harm, even if not necessary. 



In planting groups of shrubbery, this and 

 other Azaleas might appropriately form the 

 border, on account of their slow growth and 

 dwarf habit. Possibly there may be other 

 varieties of this class that would prove 

 hardy on trial, but if not, we have them 

 in the class known as Ghent Azaleas. 

 As a companion to the above white, I pur- 

 chased at the same time a Gloria Mundi, 

 a variety of the Ghent family, and planted 

 it on the opposite side of the steps. This 

 also has become established, and proved 

 every way satisfactory. Its flowers are deep 

 orange, quite as handsome in their way as the 

 other, blooming a week or ten days later. 

 Since commencing to bloom it has not failed 

 to put on its royal robes annually save once, 

 and this failure was due to the "cussed" 

 sparrows eating out all the flower-buds. Of 

 course, if I ever had any love for the little 

 pugnacious chatterboxes, I lost it then, and it 

 has never returned. 



There are no doubt other Ghent Azaleas 

 quite as desirable as the one named above, 

 but my experience has been limited to this 

 variety only. 



In most soils, Azaleas thrive well without 

 further preparation than deep working ; in 

 others, however, an addition of leaf-mold 

 becomes necessary to make them succeed 

 and grow thriftily. 



