July, 1890. 
129 
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Fern Beds. 
If you have a shady and neglected corner 
of your yard, neglect it no longer, but till 
it with ferns. When once thoroughly start- 
ed, they will grow 7 and flourish with no care 
beyond an occasional wetting in a dry time. 
And what can be prettier than the exquis- 
itely delicate maiden-hair, the singular blad- 
der-fern, the showy cinnamon or plume- 
like ostrich varieties and the rarer walking 
leaf? Surely nothing, unless it be the un- 
folding of the new fronds in early spring 
when they rise in coils, gradually straight- 
en themselves, and lay aside the wooly 
wraps which nature has provided as a pro- 
tection from chilly winds. 
With your ferns take up some roots of 
partridge berry, hepaticas, blood-root, Jack- 
in-the-pulpit and cardinal flow 7 er, and next 
year your “neglected corner” will be a veri 
table “thing of beauty.” — M. C. Rankin. 
The Poisonous Properties of Primula 
Obconica. 
I recently noticed in Orchard & Garden 
an item in regard to the poisonous proper- 
ties of Primula obconica. Much to my re- 
gret I have found it to be a really poisonous 
plant. I have grown it for two years and 
have had no trouble from it while growing 
it in pots, but last fall, I bedded it in the 
bench of our green-house, where it has 
grown very luxuriantly. For the past two 
months I have been suffering severely from 
its poisonous effects, not knowing the cause 
until a few days ago when my husband be- 
came poisoned from it also. — M rs. E. W. 
Wellington, Mass. 
Seasonable Hints. 
Pick blossoms from the sweet peas freely 
and there will be a more abundant bloom. 
Don’t spoil the beauty of your plants by 
painting the pots and tubs a vivid red or 
yellow, but choose a dark neutral color. 
Sow plenty of mignonette, sweet alyssum, 
and fragrant candytuft in vacant places 
around the house. 
Do not let the roses mature and wither 
upon the bushes, but cut them off with a 
pair of scizzors and prevent them from 
forming seed vessels. 
Fight the Rose Bugs by spraying the rose 
bushes with lime-water made in the propor- 
tion of about one quart of lime to ten gal- 
lons of water, or try dusting air-slaked lime 
over the bushes. 
Cannas need heat and moisture. Make a 
basin-shaped depression around the bed or 
clump of cannas, and pour over them fre- 
quently the waste soapsuds from the house; 
result, a luxuriant growth and abundant 
bloom. 
Hanging baskets and tubs must not be 
permitted to become dry; but a mere sprink- 
ling will not suffice. Baskets should be 
taken down and immersed bodily in a pail 
of water until they are thoroughly saturat- 
ed and tubs should have sufficient water to 
soak the whole of the soil. Better such a 
soaking twice a week than a mere moisten- 
ing of the surface every day. 
Rock Work. 
Rockeries are, as a general thing, fearful- 
ly and wonderfully made. They should 
not be attempted when the surroundings 
are not picturesque and natural, and the 
last place for one to appear should be on 
the well-kept lawn. We have in mind, just 
now, one of these unnatural structures, not 
very far distant, situated in the centre of a 
lawn of only moderate extent and exposed 
to the full glare of the sunshine. There is 
no similar object near and its presence is a 
veritable eyesore upon what would other- 
wise be a pleasant looking place. 
The proper location fcr a rockery is in 
some secluded or out-of-the-way situation 
and not in the most prominent portion of 
the grounds. Its construction should be of 
THE Japanese Iris. 
the simplest style, and the more careless the 
stones and rocks are thrown together the 
better will be the effect. Take a walk into 
the woods and observe how nature has plac- 
ed rocks together; then pattern after them. 
There must be an entire absence of forma- 
lism and regularity; nothing artificial in its 
appearance. Use rich, peaty soil for filling 
in among the rocks and put in plenty of 
ferns and wild plants, mixed with such cul- 
tivated plants and creepers as succeed in 
such locations. In its proper place a well- 
made rockery is a thing of grace and beau- 
ty, but otherwise it is generally offensively 
obtrusive and mars the beauty of many a 
delightful place. 
Lawn Notes. 
The White Fringe ( Chionanthus Virgini- 
cus) is a shrub of considerable merit and it 
is very popularly admired. This should not 
be forgotten in providing an assortment of 
flowering shrubs for it is no less valuable 
for its dark green, glossy foliage than for its 
beautiful, white, fringe-like flowers in May 
and June. The leaves retain all their fresh 
and handsome appearance until late in fall. 
It is a native shrub and is often grafted on 
the common ash when it attains a height of 
twenty feet or more. The drooping pani- 
cles of flowers are very graceful and airy. 
Low, marshy places in the home-grounds 
cannot be occupied by anything much bet- 
ter for producing a beautiful effect than 
the new Japanese Iris. They luxuriate in a 
wet soil, and even on the upland the flowers 
are large and exceedingly beautiful. The 
Japanese Iris is quite distinct from all the 
other species and, we think, the most beau- 
tiful. The flowers are very large and pre- 
sent a remarkable variety of color, ranging 
from pure white to all the shades of blue 
and purple. A number of seedlings that 
we have been blooming this summer have 
given us some singularly beautiful flowers, 
mottled, veined and shaded in a wonderful 
manner. The flower (see illustration) itself 
of the Japanese Iris is curiously and fantas- 
tically shaped and a mass of them in fulj 
flower will add immensely to the charms of 
the country home. Make a note now, to 
plant that waste, marshy corner with Jap- 
anese Iris in the autumn. 
The impression that Rhododendrons can- 
not be successfully grown in this country 
without special preparation in the way of 
particular soil and situation has become so 
prevalent that a bed of imported European 
varieties that we had upon the lawn in full 
flower this season, excited a considerable 
amount of admiration and wonder, and was 
a revelation to those who had never seen 
this magnificent flower in its glory. And 
it is very remarkable that such success 
should have attended this importation. 
There was no special selection of particular 
varieties known to succeed in this country, 
but it was entirely an experiment. One 
hundred varieties were ordered, one plant 
of each, and upon their arrival they were 
planted in the natural soil of the lawn — a 
sandy loam. This is their second year and 
they all passed through the winter entirely 
uninjured and have not as yet shown any 
ill effects from exposure to a hot American 
sun. The bloom this season was superb 
and, as I have said, created wonder and ad- 
miration in all who saw them. There may, 
very probably, be reasons for their contin- 
ued well doing Last summer was cool and 
moist, conditions which the Rhododendron 
prefers, and the past winter has been an 
exceptionally mild one. However, the 
mass of bloom displayed here has created 
considerable local interest in the Rhododen- 
dron and leads to the belief that it is 
not so difficult to grow 7 it satisfactorily as 
has been generally supposed. 
Notwithstanding the beauty of a closely 
shaven lawn it is well to remember that 
our climate is hot and dry and that it is 
unwise to cut close to the ground. 
♦ 
