198 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
April, 1917 
O ~ COMING EVENTS Q 
kTLUB ^SOCIETY NEW0 
Meetings and Lectures in April 
The following dates arc meetings unless otherwise 
specified 
2. New Bedford, Mass., Horticultural Society. 
3. Garden Club of Myers Park. Charlotte, N. C., Bulb 
Show. 
Lake Geneva, Wis., Gardeners' & Foremen's Associa- 
tion. 
Garden Club of Pleasantville, N. Y., Lecture: The 
Home Vegetable Garden. 
4. Short Hills, N. J., Garden Club. 
5. Marshfield, Mass., Garden Ciub. 
5. Pasadena, Cal., Horticultural Society. 
9. Park Garden Club, Flushing, L. I., Programme: Our 
Native Birds. 
Rochester, N. Y., Florists’ Association. 
New Rochelle, N. Y., Garden Club. 
New York Florists' Club, New York City. 
11. Short Hills, N. J., Garden Club. 
Lenox, Mass., Horticultural Society. 
Nassau Co. Horticultural Society, Glen Cove, N. Y. 
13. Connecticut Horticultural Society, Hartford, Conn. 
Westchester, N. Y., & Fairfield, Conn., Horticultural 
Society. 
Minnesota, Minn.. Garden Flower Society. 
14. Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.. Horticultural Society. 
17. Garden Club of Myers Park, Charlotte, N. C., Sub- 
ject: Making a Garden. 
Lake Geneva, Wis., Gardeners’ & Foremen's Associa- 
tion. 
15. Short Hills, N. J., Garden Club. 
Rhode Island Horticultural Society, Providence, R. I. 
Tarrytown, N. Y„ Horticultural Society. 
19. Marshfield, Mass., Garden Club. 
20. Pasadena, Cal., Horticultural Society. 
23. Park Garden Club, Flushing, L. I. Lecture: The 
Hardy Garden. 
25. Short Hills, N. J., Garden Club. 
27. Connecticut Horticultural Society, Hartford, Conn. 
23. Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., Horticultural Society. 
Garden Beautiful Contest at Williamsport, Pa. 
FIRST-YEAR flower garden, composed 
exclusively of annuals, proved the winner 
in a spirited and interesting “City Beautiful” 
contest, conducted by the Rotary and Gar- 
den clubs of Williamsport, Pa., during the 
past summer. 1 he garden, the property of 
Mr. and Mrs. V. King Pifer, and surrounding 
their summer cottage, not only won the lead- 
ing prize of #25, offered by the Rotary Club 
to the flower garden or yard showing the 
greatest improvement, but captured the 
special prize of $20, offered by the Garden 
Club, for the most beautiful flower garden 
in the city and its suburbs. More than 500 
gardens were entered in the contests. 
Early in June the plot about the cottage 
was bare and without sod. \\ here now are 
lawns, there was a strawberry bed in July. 
There were no permanent plantings about 
the cottage with the exception of several 
two-year-old peach trees. Mr. Pifer, after 
surveying the place, decided that in order to 
make a flower garden that would prove at- 
tractive, only annual-blooming varieties could 
be used. He never had grown flowers and 
made use of those with which he was more 
or less familiar and wlpch were among the 
most common varieties— Cosmos, Marigolds, 
Balsams, Zinnias, Bachelor-buttons and Nas- 
turtiums. These were grown from seed, in 
large quantities and set out after the border 
beds had been prepared. There were no 
flower beds in the lawn, all being used in the 
borders or close to the cottage. 
The- only rule observed by the contestant 
was to stick to straight lines and endeavor 
to produce massed effects. Cosmos invari- 
ably formed the background, with Mari- 
golds and Zinnias in all shades in front. 
Masses of Bachelor-buttons and Balsams 
were intermingled to produce variety, all the 
beds being bordered with the trailing varieties 
of Nasturtiums. One of the attractive fea- 
tures of the garden was the front border, 140 
feet long, containing triple rows of cosmos 
which attained a height of six feet and dur- 
ing July, August and September bore their 
pink, garnet and white blossoms most pro- 
fusely. The choice of annuals made by the 
contestant produced a constant bloom through 
July, when most gardens are ragged, and 
lasted until bitten by the frosts of late Septem- 
ber. 
Speaking of his success Mr. Pifer, who is a 
newspaper man and worked his garden morn- 
ings and evenings, says: “I am led to believe 
that whatever success my garden achieved 
was due to the fact that massed effects were 
used and that the flowers were grown in such 
profusion. Instead of trying to grow dozens 
of varieties I selected six, but there was 
enough of every flower to excite interest 
and admiration. Variety was sacrificed for 
quantity and color effect. It was a showy 
garden in the strictest sense of the word, 
running the entire scale of color harmony 
from the most delicate colorings of the pink 
and white Cosmos to the bold, flaunting and 
brilliant hues of the Marigolds and Zinnias. 
The only color I tried to avoid was the ma- 
genta.” 
A Social Service Garden 
T AST summer my attention was drawn 
'tp an entirely new club, whose purpose 
was professedly humanitarian — “Aster Club,” 
of Monroe, Conn. The membership con- 
sisted of enterprising young ladies who were 
spending the summer in the vicinity. All 
were members of the Civic Club of the 
town; Judge Peck, of Derby, furnished the 
seeds. 
The work of planting the seeds fell largely 
to the girls of the town, but ground space for 
the aster garden was secured from a church. 
The seeds were planted in large pans filled 
with rich soil. By the first of June the plants 
were ready for transplanting. 
Transplanting day presented a novel sight 
as the members, clad in sun hats and armed 
with hoes and trowels, arrived in automobiles 
and teams, each member with her pan of 
Asters. 
By the end of August the plants were a 
mass of flowers. 
The first cutting of more than one thousand 
blossoms was taken by three of the club mem- 
bers to the Griffin Hospital of Derby and 
that hospital being the nearest to Monroe 
was given weekly donations of the fresh cut 
flowers. The second cutting of a thousand 
blooms was sent to the New Haven Hospital, 
while later in the season cuttings were sent 
to Grace Hospital of New Haven and St. 
Vincent’s Hospital of Bridgeport. The club 
also furnished bouquets for the churches and 
the sick of the neighborhood. In this way 
hundreds of sufferers were cheered by the ef- 
forts of this novel Aster Club. 
A .Progressive Society 
T HE Columbus Ohio Horticultural Society 
has undertaken a campaign of active 
education, under the newly elected President, 
Prof. Wendell Paddock. It will issue from 
time to time pamphlets or bulletins on 
popular topics, beginning with one on Roses 
in the Home Garden. 
[If 0 Problem grows in your garden write to the Readers' Service for assistance 
