after Effects 
For garden lovers who must garden in localities where the sum- 
mers are very hot, the problem of after-effects is a serious one and 
seldom dealt with in books on gardening. 
After the May and June bloom the foliage of many plants be- 
comes unattractive. Columbines, some spireas, bellis, Shasta daisies, 
delphiniums, German iris, Sweet William, valerian, violas, and primulas 
must all be concealed if the garden is to look fresh and pretty and 
Canterbury bells and foxgloves must be replaced. 
By August there are the remains of many phloxes, gypsophila, 
hollyhocks, lilies, platycodons and veronicas to be dealt with. 
By mid-September, helenium, helianthus, heliopsis, Boltonia, 
pyrethrum, and many asters are quite over and there is another faded 
border. 
Such plants as bleeding heart, oriental poppy, leopard's bane, 
and Virginia cowslip, which disappear entirely, are less difficult to deal 
with, as they will not resent being covered by annuals, but I have 
found that many perennial plants rot off if overgrown by marigold, 
zinnias, petunias, etc. Where summer transplanting is a doubtful and 
difficult matter, how is one to conceal all these imperfections? 
Hardy chrysanthemums (young bushy plants, grown from cut- 
tings each year) have been my chief refuge, but the facts that they do 
not bloom until October, and that it takes much labor and reserve 
garden space to produce them are drawbacks. 
Have BULLETIN readers some suggestions to offer on this sub- 
ject of after-effects? 
Elizabeth C. Ritchie, 
Amateur Gardeners of Baltimore. 
lancle 3errp 
Do you know Uncle Jerry? He is the greatest friend of the 
gardener. Use him early and often. Uncle Jerry is dry Bordeaux 
Mixture. If it is put about the Delphiniums in late April it will help 
the plants to produce larger blooms, deeper colors and more spikes. 
Too much Uncle Jerry is not good for the plants, so care should be 
taken to give the right quantity. Allow about half a trowel full to a 
large plant, and work it in the soil about the roots. 
Uncle Jerry worked into the ground about the Hybrid Per- 
petuals and Tea Roses in late July when they are resting, will stim- 
ulate them and make them produce fine blooms in August and Sep- 
tember. 
Bordeaux itself, the powder dissolved in water, is a valuable 
assistant to the gardener. It stimulates leaf growth, kills microscopic 
pests and it is a general tonic to the plants. English Ivy is much im- 
