86 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



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MAY BLOSSOMS. 



Oil, the pink Arbutus blossoms, 



Peeping forth with starry eyes 

 From their shady hiding-places 



'Neath the Spring-time's azure skies! 

 Grateful for the light and shadow, 



Grateful for the balmy days, 

 How the dainty trailing blossoms 



Yield the incense of their praise! 



Timidly they roused from slumber, 



Wakened unto life again, 

 These sweet darlings of the May-time, 



Born of April's sun and rain ; 

 Timidly, then growing bolder 



As the sunshine warmer grew, 

 'Neath the merry sunbeam's kisses, 



Blushing into brighter hue. 



Now they wait to hear the music 



Of the children's voices sweet, 

 Of the merry lads and lasses 



Coming swift on eager feet. 

 Searching for the dainty flowers, 



For the welcome gifts of May ; 

 Hunting field and forest over 



For the treasures of May-day. 



Oh, the merry -hearted laughter! 



Oh, the baskets crowded o'er, 

 Overflowing brim and cover 



With the dewy, fragrant store ! 

 Hail, ye sweet Arbutus blossoms ! 



Welcome, all bright flowers of May, 

 'Neath the hedge, o'er field and meadow, 



Blossoming from day to day! 



— Companion. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



To most of our readers real spring days 

 laden with the perfume of bright spring flow- 

 ers do not come much before this month, 

 and even in this latitude it is not rare to see 

 snow-squalls after May-day. 



Tender Plants should, therefore, not be 

 trusted outdoors until all danger of night 

 frosts is over. The last week of the month 

 is early enough for Coleus, Salvias, Helio- 

 tropes, and most bedding plants. However, 

 by repotting them in good soil, and keeping 

 them growing in a cold frame or sunny win- 

 dow, they may be forwarded so as to produce 

 an immediate effect when bedded out. 



Hardy Annuals are, since the introduction 

 of the many showy bedding plants, not as 

 extensively grown as formerly, and yet many 

 of them are still unsurpassed in fragrance 

 and delicate beauty, and cannot be dispensed 

 with by the real lover of flowers. 



"What could replace the Mignonette, the 

 Sweet Alyssum, the Sweet Pea, the Phlox- 

 es, the Portulacas, the Morning Glory, and 

 many other treasures of summer ? All these 

 should be sown without delay in rich, mel- 

 low, deep soil, covering lightly, especially 

 the smaller seeds, packing the soil after sow- 

 ing, watering copiously, and shading for a 

 few days from the brightest sunlight. An 

 important point with annuals is not to 

 allow them to grow up too crowded ; they 

 have, therefore, to be thinned out so as to 

 permit sufficient room for the development 

 of each plant. 



If there are any of our readers who think 

 they have neither time nor money to devote 

 to flowers, and yet are fond of them, let 

 them try a package of Wild Garden Seeds. 

 These are sure to give pleasure, with the 

 least possible labor and expense. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



The history of the improvements in Chrys- 

 anthemums furnishes considerable material 

 for interesting study, and when it is consid- 

 ered that the production of the first seed in 

 Europe does not date back more than half a 

 century, the progress made appears mar- 

 velous. Blooming long after the blossoming 

 season of nearly all cultivated plants, they 

 stand without a rival, and can never fail to 

 meet deserved appreciation. The Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society has taken up 

 this subject at a recent meeting, and from 

 the interesting discussions thereon we con- 

 dense the following : 



The cultivation of the Chrysanthemum, 

 said Dr. H. P. Walcott, begins with the 

 treatment of the flowering plant, which, 

 after flowering, should be at once cut down 

 to the level of the ground. The shoots, 

 which are promptly made, should be grown 

 with thorough exposure to light and air, so 

 as to give strong cuttings in March, which — 

 with the exception of a few late varieties — 

 is the best season for propagation. The 

 cuttings should be three or four inches long, 

 and potted separately in two-and-a-half-inch 

 pots. They do not require bottom heat. 

 When the roots are formed they should be 

 shifted to five-inch pots, in a compost of one- 

 half good loam, one-fourth leaf mold, and 

 one-fourth well-rotted stable manure. "When 

 ten inches high, the plants should be pinched 

 down to four buds. The young plants should 

 be given a place in a cold frame as soon as 

 possible, and "on the third week in May 

 planted in the open air, about three feet 

 apart, in a well-exposed location. The sub- 

 sequent treatment consists in keeping the 

 ground moist, and watching for mildew, 

 which appears the last half of August. The 

 final potting is finished by the middle of 

 September, after which the plants are kept 

 in the open air in a sheltered situation until 

 the first severe frost, when they are placed 

 in a cold house. The final potting is in a 

 soil of equal parts of rotted sod and stable 

 manure ; and until the buds are on the point 

 of expanding, the plants receive frequent 

 waterings with some strong liquid manure. 



For mildew the remedy is sulphur, either 

 in powder or in the compound called water 

 of Grison. This is made of one pound each 

 of sulphur and quicklime and three quarts 

 of water, boiled ten minutes in an iron pot. 

 After settling, the top is poured off and bot- 

 tled, and diluted with one hundred parts of 

 water. 



The insect enemies of the Chrysanthemum 

 are the green aphis through the season, the 

 black aphis later, the grasshopper, and a root 

 louse. The aphides can be destroyed with 

 Tobacco water, the grasshoppers must be 

 picked off by the hand, but no remedy is 

 known for the root louse. The formation of 

 the plants is effected by pinching ; but to 

 obtain perfection of flower, the Japanese 

 varieties should not be pinched more than 

 once, or the large flowered more than twice, 

 while the Pompons may be pinched with safe- 

 ty to any extent up to the middle of August. 



Though the Chrysanthemum is essentially 

 a plant requiring protection to insure its 

 flowering, a number of varieties have been 

 obtained, flowering in September and Octo- 

 ber, and some as early as July; and the 

 number of these has, by the efforts of the 

 French growers, much increased in the last 

 few years. 



| E. "W. Wood said : Most of the trouble in 

 growing Chrysanthemums arises from im- 

 proper treatment after flowering. Some- 

 times they are placed under the greenhouse 

 stage without water, or too much is given. 

 In the latter case the roots become diseased, 

 and such plants cannot afford healthy cut- 



' tings for the next year. 



Edward L. Beard said that the Japanese 

 varieties should not be nipped as late as the 

 others ; once is enough. Another mistake is 

 leaving them in small pots too long; they 

 want to be grown continuously, and unless 

 they are, cannot be grown successfully. If 

 properly nipped they can be grown much 

 earlier. 



Hon. Marshall P. Wilder said that he fills 

 every available space in his greenhouse with 

 Chrysanthemums in their - season. They 

 come at a time when there are few flowers. 

 They must be propagated from good cuttings, 

 and not from little wiry suckers. They 

 must be kept growing before and after they 

 are put out. No flower is so good to cut 

 from, and none affords as good a return for 

 so little labor. Sulphur, with a little caustic 

 I lime, is a sovereign remedy for mildew. 



SALVIAS. 



For the production of a brilliant, massive, 

 floral effect during late summer, and all of 

 autumn until frost, no plant can compare 

 with the Scarlet Sage, Salvia splendens. Its 

 large, pendent, plum-like racemes of bright- 

 est scarlet form a striking contrast against 

 its glossy green foliage, and in fact against 

 that of any green-leaved plants and shrubs. 



The plants may be grown from cuttings or 

 from seed, the latter method being the one 

 generally adopted. The seed is sown very 

 early in spring, in a greenhouse or hot-bed ; 

 when of proper size, the seedlings are 

 planted in small pots, and toward the end of 

 May transplanted to the open ground. They 

 are now raised in immense quantities by 

 florists and nurserymen, and the young 

 plants may be purchased cheaply in every 

 flower market. The Salvia is naturally a 

 rank grower, forming long-jointed stalks ; 

 and in order to produce its best effects, the 

 plants must be pinched back from the start, 

 so as to shape into a compact bush. 



They delight in deep, rich soil, and should 

 be watered evenings during very dry weather. 

 Toward the end of September they may be 

 taken up, potted in soil consisting of three 

 parts loam, one leaf mold, one manure, with 

 a sprinkling of sand, or in any good, rich 

 soil. If lifted carefully, shaded for a few 

 days, and then brought to a sunny window, 

 they will continue to bloom for some time. 



BENEVOLENCE AND ELOWEES. 



In the culture of flowers there cannot, by 

 their very nature, be anything solitary or 

 exclusive. The wind that blows over the 

 cottage porch sweeps over the grounds of 

 the nobleman ; and as the rain descends over 

 the just and the unjust, so it communicates 

 to all gardeners, both rich and poor, an in- 

 terchange of pleasure and enjoyment, and 

 the gardener and the rich man, in develop- 

 ing or enhancing a fruitful flavor or a delight- 

 ful scent, is in some sort the gardener of 

 everybody else. — Charles Dickens. 



