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THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[June, 



JUNE, 



What is so rare as a day in June? 



Then, if ever, come perfect days; 

 Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 



And over it softly her warm ear lays ; 

 Whether we look, or whether we listen, 

 We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; 

 Every clod feels a stir of might, 



An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 

 And, grasping blindly above it for light, 



Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers. 

 The flush of life may well be seen 



Thrilling back over hills and valleys, 

 The Cowslip startles in meadows green, 



The Buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, 

 And there's never a leaf or a blade too mean 



To be some happy creature's palace ; 



Now is the high-tide of the year, 



And whatever of life hath ebbed away 

 Comes flooding back, with a ripply cheer, 



Into every bare inlet and creek and bay; 

 Now the heart is so full that a drop o'erfllls it, 

 We are happy now because God so wills it, 

 No matter how barren the past may have been, 

 'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are, green. 

 We sit in the warm shade and feel right well ; 

 How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell; 

 We may shut our eyes, but we cannot help know- 

 ing 



That skies are clear and grass is growing. 



Joy comes, grief goes, we. know not how ; 

 Everything is happy now, 



Everything is upward striving; 

 'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true 

 As for grass to be green or skies to be blue — 



'Tis the natural way of living. 



— James Russell Lowell. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



A common mistake of the amateur gar- 

 dener is to spend all his energies in the 

 production of early flowers without making 

 provisions for late-blooming plants. Most 

 annuals may still be sown, and will, with a 

 little care, give a pleasing succession ; but 

 nothing is so satisfactory in this respect as 

 the different kinds of summer flowering 

 bulbs, most of which should be planted 

 during this month. 



The Tuberose is probably more disappoint- 

 ing to beginners than any other cultivated 

 bulb, and yet its culture is of the easiest 

 kind, provided its necessary conditions, 

 which may be readily furnished, are sup- 

 plied. The most essential of these is that 

 the bulb should be first-class in every re- 

 spect, not necessarily of the largest size, as 

 good, solid, medium-sized bulbs produce 

 generally better flowers than huge, over- 

 grown ones. The soil must be thoroughly 

 drained, — as the Tuberose cannot endure 

 stagnant water about its roots, — deep and 

 friable, warm and rather sandy. In this 

 latitude, the first of June is early enough 

 for planting; nothing is gained by setting 

 them out earlier, while everything may be 

 lost. The bulbs should be planted not less 

 than four inches deep, and the soil pressed 

 firmly around them. They require about a 

 month before they appear above the ground, 

 during which period the soil should be kept 

 loose and free from weeds by lightly passing 

 a rake over the surface once a week. To 

 secure earlier blooms, some bulbs should be 

 started in pots in a warm room, or hot- 

 bed, and afterward planted out. 



BEDDING PLANTS FOR GARDEN DECORA- 

 TION. 



June is the most welcome month of all the 

 year to every lover of Nature, — the month 

 of Roses and Strawberries, — and happy are 

 those who can enjoy their beauty and sweet- 

 ness in their own homes ! But it is, also, a 

 hard-working month for the florists, who 

 must rise early every bright morning, and 

 pull up every tiny weed as soon as it ap- 

 pears — so that it shall not feed upon the rich 

 food prepared for the lovely flowers; and 

 must tend their plants with zealous care, 

 and water them patiently every night, if 

 they would reap the full reward of all their 

 labors and make their gardens and lawns " a 

 thing of beauty." 



" Paul must plant and Apollos water," if 

 we would avail ourselves of God's gifts of 

 flowers, fruits, and "the green things of the 

 earth," without whose cheering presence the 

 country would become desolated. 



But with the wealth of bedding-out plants 

 which the florists raise by hundreds of thou- 

 sands, and the mail-bags carry to the farthest 

 outposts of the " States," no home should 

 be without brilliant beds of lovely, fragrant 

 flowers ; and as they are offered at such low 

 rates, and seeds of beautiful flowers can be 

 purchased so cheaply, not even the poorest 

 laborer can afford to be without a flower 

 garden to adorn his little cottage, while the 

 most beautiful villa will appear bare and mi- 

 homelike if unadorned with shrubs and 

 flowering plants and climbing vines and rare 

 Lilies. 



Do you ask what bedding plants shall I 

 procure which will be sure to give me a plen- 

 tiful supply of flowers ? 



GERANIUMS 



will flourish and flower luxuriantly in the 

 sunniest plots of your garden, and the 

 heat will only stimulate them to brighter 

 bloom. Prepare a large oval or circular 

 bed, well enriched, and plant in the 

 center of it the richest scarlet varieties of 

 both double and single flowers, such as 

 Henry Council, J. H. Klippart, Berenice, 

 McLcod, Robert George, of the first ; and 

 Bamford's Glory, New Life, Mazeppa, Beacon, 

 Galenus and Gnome, for single flowers. 

 Plant a dozen of these in the center and 

 surround them with a row of crimson Gera- 

 niums, such as Asteroid, Depute Voix, Du- 

 liamel dn Monccau, Lemoine's Cannell, E. G. 

 Hill, Ernest Lauth, Bataclan, and Hazel 

 KirJce. Plant the next row with bright pale 

 pink varieties, like Asa Gray, Beatrice, Cheer- 

 fulness, Cybcle, Gen. A. S. Johnson, Master 

 Christine, Favorite, Mathilda, NewlancPs 

 Mary, and Bose Unique. Then plant the 

 pure white varieties, — Alba perfecta, Boulc 

 de Neige, Candidissinia, Flag of Truce, Mrs. 

 J. A. Garfield, Mad. Quinet, White Perfection, 

 Pauline Lucca, Snowden, and White Vesuvius. 

 Edge this bed with dwarf varieties of gold 

 and silver-edged and tri-eolored Geraniums, 

 and you will have a most brilliant decoration 

 for your lawn or garden, which will give you 

 an abundance of flowers until the frosts 

 destroy them. 



THE MONTHLY CARNATION 



is a fine bedding-out plant, and its flowers 

 are so deliriously fragrant that they are un- 

 rivaled for baskets, vases, and bouquets for 

 parlor pr table adornment. Every one must 

 grow Carnations ! Strong, fresh soil, well 



enriched with soluble Pacific Guano or su- 

 perphosphates, or stable manure thoroughly 

 decomposed, is very essential to their luxur- 

 iant growth. The Carnation, like the Pansy, 

 is a gross feeder, and its roots require a deep 

 soil, with a little mixture of sand to keep it 

 friable and prevent the plants from becoming 

 diseased. Plant lice will attack Carnations if 

 they are not kept well showered when culti- 

 vated in window gardens, but out-of-doors the 

 plants are free from insect pests. The new 

 everblooming Carnations, Cymbeline, Cor- 

 delia, Beatrice, Lmogen, Miranda, Bosalind, 

 Juliet, Portia, and Viola, named for Shakes- 

 peare's famous heroines, possess such brill- 

 iant hues, and are so beautifully striped and 

 flaked, and bloom so continuously, that they 

 cannot be too highly recommended to all 

 lovers of this most beautiful flower. And if 

 planted in a bed and edged with Heliotropes, 

 they will perfume the air with their delicious 

 fragrance for months. 



FUCHSIAS 



are great favorites of mine, and if they are 

 planted on the north side of the lawn or in a 

 north-eastern locality, they will bloom in 

 beauty all summer. But they require a great 

 deal of moisture to flower well, and the hose 

 must be used upon them daily. A bed of 

 double and single varieties, edged with 

 plants of Rose Geraniums of the plain and 

 cut-leaf varieties, will prove a decided ad- 

 dition to every flower garden. Among the 

 newer varieties are : Earl of Beaconsfield, 

 which flowers abundantly for many months. 

 Gracieux is also a desirable novelty, and 

 Jules Monge and Jules Ferry have large and 

 beautiful flowers. Mastodonte has a rich 

 violet-hued corolla of great size. Pascal is 

 of a shrubby habit, color light red and 

 rosy-purple. Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Thomas, 

 Joseph Bosain, and Carl Holt are older varie- 

 ties, but worthy of the culture of all Fuchsia 

 lovers. 



PETUNIAS 



are very desirable for bedders, as they require 

 little attention and flower plentifully until 

 severe cold checks their growth, and then 

 they will spring up abundantly the following 

 spring. The choice new double white, pink, 

 purple, and crimson, with the striped single 

 and double varieties, will make a handsome 

 bed of flowers. 



SINGLE DAHLIAS 



make a fine show, if planted en masse or in 

 rows, and are very ornamental as a hedge 

 along the background of a garden. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



for autumn flowering are indispensable, and 

 they can be planted after the early June and 

 July flowers are passed by, as they will not 

 bloom until September or October. Madame 

 Marthe is a pure white flower of great 

 beauty ; Fimbriata is a fringed variety of 

 rose color, shading to white ; Crimson King is 

 of the deepest red ; La Petite Marie has pure 

 white pompon flowers ; Golden Madame 

 Marthe has golden yellow flowers. These 

 varieties will bloom until the snow blights 

 them, and if well covered with leaves they 

 will survive a cold winter. Give plenty of 

 room to them, so they can grow into well 

 shaped plants; nip off the terminal shoots 

 before the buds begin to form and produce 

 two or three shoots or heads of bloom upon 

 each branch. 



Daisy Eyebright. 



