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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 
OF AMERICA 
Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 
| Vol. xx 
liiiimraimniifflii 
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID 
JULY, 1916. 
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH 
No. 7. 
Things and Thoughts of the Garden 
By the Onlooker. 
I WAS struck the other day when reading J. Horace 
McFarland's book, "My Growing Garden," to notice 
that he does not hesitate to transplant things even in 
mid-summer. This is a matter of practice I myself have 
always been doing. How can one get along without 
shifting? Plants don't always grow just where one wants 
them, or, again, failures occur. At any rate, in the case 
of a large number of our best border plants and annuals, 
it is both safe and easy to shift them in showery weather. 
Don't transplant in dry, hot weather — that will only 
result in disappointment. Take as large a ball of soil as 
possible in the operation, firm the plant gently, for as the 
soil is damp it is unwise to press it tight. Event with a 
damp soil it is advisable to water the plants when planting 
is completed, for no matter how careful one may work, 
there are always some roots broken. This transplanting, 
of course, must be done immediately, and only amounts 
to shifting from one part of the border to another, or to 
some nearby place. The ideal conditions are a dull or 
misty, drizzly day, with the soil already well moistened. 
Tap-rooted plants, i.e., those with a straight descending 
root, cannot be successfully transplanted when they get 
big. 
* * * 
Those who have tried the growing of Sweet Peas in 
the fall, or rather the planting of them at that time, will 
hardly require to be persuaded as to the good results 
therefrom. Fall planting is likely to become much more 
practised in times ahead than it has been in the past. The 
work is the same in most respects as for the spring-sown 
crop. Sow just late enough to ensure the successful 
germination of the seed, which may be said to stretch 
between the 20th of October to the 1st of November in 
the latitude of New York. It is a curious fact that the 
Sweet Pea, a native of the warm or fairly warm island 
of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, should still be hardy 
enough to stand the severe winter of northern New York. 
The aim should be to get the seeds just well germinated, 
but with very little top growth before the hard frosts set 
it. This accomplished, and the soil then frosted on the 
surface, thus holding the plants in a state of suspended 
animation, as it were, they can be lightly covered over 
with long, dry straw or dry leaves and a few branches to 
keep these from blowing away. Some growers place light 
wood boards along each side and place another over the 
top. When the weather begins to open up in the spring, 
say, at the end of March, the protecting material or 
boards can be taken away, and later the soil along the 
rows may be forked and loosened. These peas will flower 
anywhere from three to four weeks ahead of those sown 
or planted from pots in the spring, and, moreover, they 
last longer, are stronger, freer flowering, and in all ways 
preferable. In some winters there is a fairly heavy mor- 
tality, but on well drained soils the chances of taking 
through the crop are very good. Even in the spring-sown 
crop we have failures, so why not give the fall growing 
plan a test? 
* * * 
Golden Privet is one of the brightest shrubs we can 
have. It has been said to lose its color under the summer 
sun, but this I have not noticed to be the actual case. Sev- 
eral times I have seen it used to good effect in a semi- 
shaded corner where it helped out an otherwise too dull 
place. It is hardy enough to bear zero weather. 
Lovers of Dahlias have had a new trouble to contend 
with in the last year or two, namely, the earwig. This is 
a busy, weevil-like insect of a brown color, rather more 
than half an inch in length. Like many of its kind, it 
does damage by eating off the tender shoots. It can be 
got rid of by placing pieces of potatoes about under the 
plants, but, best of all, by placing an inverted flower pot, 
with some hay stuck in the bottom of it, on the top of the 
stake that supports the plant. Here the earwigs congre- 
gate during the daylight period, when they can be shaken 
out into scalding water. 
* * & 
This is the season when we can do much to prepare 
for our garden display of next year. Among the biennial 
and perennial plants that may be raised from seeds sown 
now in the open border, of course, well prepared, are the 
following: Foxgloves, Canterbury Bells, Pansies, Gail- 
lardias. Delphiniums, Coreopsis grandiflora. Hollyhocks, 
double Gypsophila, Pinks, Aquilegia. Lychnis. Lunaria. 
Hencheras, Primroses. 
* * * 
What are the best dozen all-round, free-blooming, 
bright, hardy border flowers of the present season of the 
year? I vote for these : Delphinium belladonna hybrids, 
Coreopsis grandiflora, Lychnis chalcedonica, Pentstemon 
Southgate Gem, Gypsophila paniculata fl. pi., Veronica 
spicata, Iris Kaempferi, Lilium candidum, Campanula 
Medium, Kniphofia Pfitzeri, Sweet Williams, Betonica 
grandiflora, and as one over, the Shasta Daisy. And 
what's wrong with the Gaillardias ? They are handsome 
and last well. 
* * * 
A list of some good plants for the rock gardens, not 
all of them well known, may be useful : Androsacea 
carnea, Aethionema grandiflora. Antirrhinum asarinum, 
Acaena argentea, Tunica Saxifraga. Saponaria ocy- 
moides, Aubrietia Dr. Mules A. Fire King, A. Lavender 
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