26 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[February, 



THE MESSAGE OF THE ROSE, 



BY BESSIE CHANDLER. 

 HE. 



She gave me a Rose at tbe ball to-night, 



And I — I'm a fool, I suppose, 

 For my heart heats high with a vaguo delight ; 



Had she given me more than the Rose? 



I thought that she had, for awhile, 

 Till I saw her— fairest of dancers — 



Give another Rose, with the same sweet smile, 

 To another man, in the lancers. 



Well, Roses are plenty, and smiles not rare ; 



It is really rather audacious 

 To grumble because my lady fair 



Is to other men kind and gracious. 



Yet who can govern his wayward dreams 1 

 And my dream, so precious and bright, 



Now foolish, broken and worthless seems, 

 As it fades, with her Rose to-night. 



SHE. 



I gave him a Rose at tho ball to-night— 

 A deep red Rose, with fragrance dim, 

 And the warm blood rushed to my cheelrs with 

 fright - 



I could not, dared not, look at him. 



Tor the depths my soul ho seemed to scan; 



His earnest look I could not bear; 

 So I gave a Rose to another man— 



Any one else — I did not care. 



And yet, spite of all, ho has read, I know, 

 My message — he could not have missed it: 



For his Rose I held to my bosom, so, 

 And then to my lips, while I kissed it. 



— The Century. 



SEASONABLE HINTS, 



To produce the best results and the 

 greatest enjoyment in tbe flower-garden, tbe 

 easiest and simplest methods are, as a rule, 

 the most appropriate, and the most charm- 

 ing effects are often gained with inexpensive 

 methods and without much trouble. This 

 observation suggests itself in examining the 

 lists of the season's novelties, and in making 

 a selection of those varieties which appear 

 most promising. How many will come up to 

 expectations, how many will equal our old 

 familiar kinds, and how many will disappoint 

 us, who can tell ? It is with floral novelties 

 as with new friends : they do not always im- 

 prove on nearer acquaintance, and seldom 

 come up to the standard of old, tried, and 

 reliable friendship. 



Yet there is a great charm in novelty, and 

 to be deprived of the watching care for some 

 new flower, or fruit, or plant, would mar 

 considerably the pleasures of our gardening. 

 Everybody should try a few new flowers — 

 new to the grower, at least — every year. 

 What is common in some localities may 

 be unknown in others, and many of the 

 cheapest and easiest cultivated flowers are 

 among the sweetest and most brilliant floral 

 treasures, and should be in every garden. 

 No one will be disappointed with Migno- 

 nette, Nemophilas, Candytufts, Pansies, 

 Snapdragons, Lobelias, Sweet Peas, Asters, 

 Marigolds, Phlox Drummondii, Petunias, Go- 

 detias, Balsams, Zinnias, Dianthus, Clarkias, 

 Dwarf Convolvulus, Portulaca, Tropseolum, 

 Sweet Alyssum, and many others that may 

 be had for a few cents. 



BULBOUS IBIS. 



Tho Iris family comprises many of our most 

 showy garden flowers ; indeed, we know of 

 none of which all the members are so orna- 

 mental. The German Iris (I. Germanica) 

 in its many varieties, and the Japanese 

 species {I. Kcempferi), of more recent intro- 

 duction, are hardy plants, which in June 

 and July make a grand display in the her- 

 baceous border. The smaller species, how- 

 ever, most of which have bulbous roots, are 

 not as common, though they are, if possi- 

 ble, superior in delicacy and brilliant color. 

 Their culture is very easy. The bulbs should 

 be planted in the autumn, say about October, 

 in a light, well-drained soil ; if the ground is 

 too stiff, they are apt to rot ; treat them ex- 

 actly like other Dutch bulbs, covering the bed 

 with litter as winter comes on, uncovering in 

 spring. It is, however, necessary every few 

 years to take up the bulbous species after the 

 leaves have faded, and to re-plant them, as 

 the new bulbs annually are formed below the 

 old, and thus in time the plant buries 

 itself. This care is not necessary with the 

 tuberous varieties. The English and Spanish 

 Iris force well either in pots or water, like 

 Hyacinths, but the other species, except 

 the Persian, although very showy in pot 

 culture, seldom bloom much earlier than if 

 planted out of doors. 



/. Xiphium is commonly called the Spanish 

 Iris. The flowers are very handsome, of 

 various colors, freely produced, and very 

 fragrant. It propagates freely from offsets, 

 and ripens seed in abundance. 



I. Xiphoidcs, although a native of tho Pyr- 

 enees, is called the English Iris. The bulbs 

 are larger and rounder than those of the 

 Spanish Iris ; the flowers are larger, and the 

 plant is of stouter habit. It propagates 

 slowly from offsets, but ripens seed freely. 



These two species hybridize readily, and 

 there are hundreds of named seedlings, 

 among which it would be difficult to find a 

 poor one. They are very cheap, costing 

 only from fifty cents to a dollar per dozen. 



I. Lusitanica is a somewhat rare and less 

 hardy species. The flowers are purple, 

 yellow, and buff, and very handsome. 



I. Iberica is a very showy plant, and for 

 its size has enormous flowers. The sepals 

 are very large, snowy white, the petals dark. 

 It is a singular and remarkably beautiful 

 flower. 



I. Persica is a little gem, and one of the 

 earliest of spring flowering bulbs. No words 

 can do justice to its delicate beauty, or give 

 an idea of the pure contrasts of color in this 

 charming flower. 



Two other species, more properly tuber- 

 ous than bulbous, are very beautiful. 



/. tuber osa has rich velvety flowers, and I. 

 Susiana is one of the most beautiful of the 

 family. The flowers are very large, whitish, 

 densely netted with dark lines ; indeed, 

 it is difficult to describe the colors. These 

 two species do well under pot culture ; both 

 are hardy with slight winter protection, 

 but the roots must be taken up each sum- 

 mer as soon as the foliage decays, and re- 

 planted in October, for if left in the ground 

 they make a very early autumn growth, 

 which is killed by the winter, and the plant 

 dies. The bulb known as Peacock Iris, or 

 J. peconia, is properly Yieusseuxia glavcopis. 

 It is a slender plant, with lovely pure white 

 flowers, each petal marked at the base with 

 bright blue. It is not hardy, and is not suit- 



able for border culture, but does well and 

 flowers freely in the green-house. It is a 

 native of the Cape of Good Hope. R. S. E. 



IN MY GARDEN. 



CALIFORNIA POPPIES. 



My California Poppies ( Eschscholtzias) 

 were a grand success last summer. Several 

 plants came up quite early in spring from 

 self-sown seed, and grew to large size. 

 These are plants that must be sown where 

 they are to bloom, for they will not bear 

 moving under any circumstances, not even 

 if you take them up in the rain, and hold a 

 parasol over them when the sun shines, for 

 weeks afterward. And they will not bloom 

 in the shade ; they must have sunshine, and 

 the seed should be sown as early as the 

 ground can be worked. I got mine in be- 

 times, and this is the way I did it: I dug 

 the bed deep and thoroughly, looking out 

 for worms and beetles, and, thanks to the 

 birds, I found only one noxious animal in 

 the whole bed, and that was a wire-worm. 

 Then I raked the soil nice and smooth, and 

 1 patted it all over with a trowel, until it was 

 | as level as the floor; then I scattered the 

 seeds thinly and as evenly as possible ; next 

 I sifted leaf-mold over them, and patted 

 I it down with the trowel ; then I sat down 

 and rested, and thanked my stars that the 

 job was done, and well done. The next 

 thing to be attended to was weeding, thin- 

 ning out, and sprinkling with leaf-mold. 

 This sprinkling with fine earth is needful for 

 all seedlings before they are large enough to 

 be hoed. The first hoeing should be given, 

 not with a big, full-grown hoe — oh, no! — 

 but with an old kitchen-fork, or the point of 

 the trowel, if you have nothing better. 



I am very fond of " pottering," as Salerica 

 calls it, among the "green things growing." 

 I like to coax the little leafy things aloug, 

 from the first tiny shoot to the full flower, 

 and I enjoy it all from first to last. Hence, 

 my hobby of growing everything from seeds. 



PROFUSE-BLOOMING LILIES. 



I have a bulb of Lilium Canadensc that for 

 several years has thrown up but a single 

 i stalk ; but last spring the stalk was accident- 

 ally broken off before blooming, and this 

 spring it has sent up two stalks. Now, if 

 Lilies generally were not allowed to bloom 

 the first and second years, would they not 

 become better established and last longer ? 

 [Breaking off the flower-stalks induces a 

 tendency for splitting of the bulbs. Flower- 

 ing does not weaken the bulbs materially, 

 but seed-bearing does ; all blossoms should, 

 therefore, be removed when fading. — Ed.] 



IS THE GLADIOLUS HARDY? 



This query suggests itself by the fact that 

 a few bulbs which I left out last winter, on 

 purpose to try an experiment, came up and 

 grew vigorously, some of them throwing up 

 five and six shoots. Jenny Dare. 



[The last winter was exceptionally mild, 

 so that in sheltered places frost penetrated 

 the soil but a few inches, and bulbs below 

 this line may have kept in perfect condition. 

 In fact, they may be wintered outdoors any- 

 where, provided the ground is dry, and 

 mulched sufficiently to exclude frost ; but, as 

 the bulbs increase in number, they would 

 soon become too crowded. — Ed.] 



