i!iiii!i!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiii:!iiiiiiiiiii!i!iU!iiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iii!iiiiiiiiii [mini; iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniuiiiiiiiiiiii 
;!llllli::il|lilli;illllllll!!lllllia!l!ll!!ll!l!lll!'llll!l!IIIIIIIIIIIIIHII|Ll 
GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 
OF AMERICA 
Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 
Vol. XX. 
lllllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllU 
SEPTEMBER, 1916. 
No. 9. 1 
■IIIIIIIIIII 
Things and Thoughts of the Garden 
By The Onlooker 
ASSUREDLY this has been one of the most trying 
seasons we have had for several years. Until 
the end of June or nearly until then, there was 
rain at frequent intervals accompanied for the most part 
by cool temperatures. Many seedlings died; those that 
made a start did so slowly. Then since the early part of 
July there has been a period of drought, and over all the 
middle western part of the country, and as far east as the 
lower New England States, a high temperature ruled as 
well. The whole Aster crop in these parts has been 
burned up. Happy the man who had an irrigation sys- 
tem on his place. I have not even a hose pipe laid down 
and as a consequence my Asters have come to nothing. 
( >n the whole, however, the flower borders look not so 
bad. Among the more brilliant bloomers were the Zinnias, 
Stokesia, Nierembergia, the Balsams, Cannas, Scarlet 
Sage, Gypsophila, Phlox Drummondi, Petunias, Ver- 
benas, and Four-O'Clocks. These are a few of the spe- 
cially successful drought resisters here. Things that 
have not been really satisfactory are Montbretias, dwarf 
Anemones, Nasturtiums, which have scarcely thrown a 
flower all summer and many were thrown out in disgust 
long ago. Geraniums have been a kind of half hearted — 
some good some bad. One thing is noticeable in all of 
this, that the plants that were put out early, say in April 
or the first few days of May, have succeeded best, which 
is natural. It may be remembered that after the snows 
melted about the 12th of April the weather remained 
warm and open. Had we known how it was to remain 
so we could safely enough have got the greater part of 
the bedding plants out by May 10. There is much ad- 
vantage in an early start. Gladioli have also fizzled out 
quickly, but on the whole they have been a great blessing 
in the cut flower supply. Now the noble Galtonia candi- 
cans is coming in and the Dahlias are at their best. It 
has been a dreadful season for them. What fine subjects 
the yellows and the scarlets are, especially in show and 
cactus types. 
From the reports from Houston, Texas, where the 
national association of florists had their annual conven- 
tion, it was noticeable that one of the best features in that 
warm and rather trying climate was the American 
Beauty Roses in the open beds. This seemed very re- 
markable. One naturally enough expected to read of 
grand Water Lilies and pond vegetation, but the success 
of the Roses only emphasizes anew the fact that these are 
the finest and best plants of all temperate countries. No 
person who grows even one dozen plants need be without 
a bloom or a bud to pick the whole Summer through • 
even into November we usually have a few. What a gem 
< tphelia is. More and more I am confining my choice to 
Roses of first class shape, supported of course, by vigor 
of growth and constitution. Another commendable 
variety is Duchess of Wellington. Jonkeer J. L. Mock is 
one of the best of the rose pinks, also Mme. Melaine 
Soupert, a fine large flowered primrose variety ; and 
Mme. Jules Grolez, a thrifty, very dwarf Rose with 
firm, well made blooms and I lately saw Mme. Edouard 
Herriot doing finely in a northern garden, while Radiance 
is another of the best both in the open and under glass. 
The new Gorgeous, which Mi. Totty has introduced, has 
given a good account of itself in England; and (.'oil- 
stance, another novelty, is well spoken of, being described 
as an improved Rayon d'Or. No garden can have too 
many Roses and now is the time to plant them. 
^s sje ^ 
I feel a warm word of commendation is well deserved 
by that fine dwarf annual named Hunnemannia fumariae- 
polia. It grows about a foot high, has Poppy-like yellow 
flowers, glaucous dissected leaves, and blooms very per- 
sistently all the latter part of the Summer and into the 
Fall. It seems to resent transplanting ; at least at no time 
have I had success even with the most careful handling 
in showery weather. Sow the seeds in May in the place 
where the plants are expected to flower. One splendid 
point in favor of Hunnemannia is its good keeping qual- 
ities when cut. It remains in fine condition for three 
and four days even in warm weather. It also ships well. 
* * * 
Everybody is now busy re-arranging their hardy 
flower borders or planning new ones ; while trees, shrubs, 
fruits, everygreens can be and are being set out. I have 
been looking over a very helpful book lately, named 
Cridland's "Practical Landscape Gardening," published 
by the De La Mare Co., of New York, at $1.50 net, and 
find it thoroughly businesslike and very helpful in laying 
out grounds and gardens. 
$ ^ $ 
A weather bulletin put out recently by the Meteoro- 
logical Department at Washington went at some length 
into figures as to the meaning of an inch of rain. We 
had always reckoned an inch of rain as equal to one hun- 
dred short tons to the acre, but according to this bulletin 
the actual amount is equivalent to 113' , short tons per 
acre. "An acre of ground contains 43.560 sq. ft., conse- 
quently a rainfall of one inch over one acre of ground 
would mean a total of 43,560 X 144, or 6,272,640 cubic 
inches of water. This is equivalent to 3,630 cubic feet. 
As a cubic foot of pure water weighs about 62.4 pounds. 
384 
