The Garden Magazine, June, 1923 
271 
on Larkspur and Iris. The last two years I have tried some of the 
hybrids and have had some beautiful shades of pink and some fine 
spikes of white. I do not sow the seed directly in the border but in 
seed-boxes and when the little plants are strong enough, transplant 
them to their permanent quarters.— Polly Anthos, N. Y. 
—The right method of handling Lupinus polyphyllus is hit upon bv 
A. L. Truax. It is by no means a poor-soil lover; the same applies 
to the Delphinium; indeed what suits one suits the other. Doubtless 
one has to make allowances for climatic conditions; but in England, the 
Lupin is perfectly happy in the open border, or in the nursery. The 
modern Lupin, by the way, is a rival to the Delphinium for the new 
strains of hybrids embrace a marvellous range of color, including 
yellow, bronze, pink, etc. The yellow bicolors are remarkable. I 
may add that Lupins are apt to suffer from black root rot. Lime is 
essential to them. L. polyphyllus is not a biennial but generally it is 
better treated as such for it is now possible to raise named varieties 
practically true from seed. The English specialists have quite a large 
number of named varieties.—T. A. W., New Jersey. 
—Having been in the landscape garden business for about ten years 
I have had some experience with Lupinus polyphyllus, although not 
in the United States but in Europe, and the culture which proved 
successful there is as follows: 
Plant seeds April-June in coldframe. Transplant when changing 
leaves to 4 in. pots. Keep in coldframe till the following spring, then 
plant in their permanent place 12-18 in. apart. They desire a good 
garden mulching and a sunny, but not too hot place. Will even thrive 
in some shade.—J. L. Jorgensen, Detroit, Mich. 
Do You Perchance Grow These? 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
HERE are a number of things that seem common, and one feels 
sure ought to be common, and yet are almost never found growing 
in any garden anywhere! Every spring 1 give a number of persons the 
name Doronicum, for example; for its yellow masses blooming with 
the Tulips always excite admiration. It is a kind of yellow Daisy¬ 
like flower about three inches across, on a yard-long stem, and it en¬ 
joys the ferocious folk-name of Wolfbane. 1 suppose it is so rare be¬ 
cause it has the habit of dying back in midsummer—and so being dug 
over. It is a habit that is bad for most plants, (except Oriental 
Poppies; these positively thrive on the treatment and multiply by being 
chopped to pieces). Mertensia virginica, the Virginia Cowslip or 
Bluebells, is another sufferer by this; an early blooming little plant 
which withdraws quietly soon after flowering, and needs severer letting 
alone once it is established than almost anything you can think of. 
It is as aloof and retiring as a ghost, and exacts almost the same ig¬ 
noring. Eupatorium coelestinum is a blue flower that, on the other 
hand, does not come up until midsummer—hence it gets the murderous 
digging over whereby it comes to its untimely end in the spring. This 
perennial has the unique distinction of blooming after the Hardy Asters, 
but before the Chrysanthemums. It resembles Ageratum as to flower, 
but grows into a three-foot bush; and it ought to be the commonest 
plant in the hardy border because it is the most rapid multiplier— 
more rapid than Sunflowers or Golden Glow or even, I should judge, 
that little pest, Ranunculus repens. But Rupatorium coelestinum 
does not spread; it simply multiplies in a compact clump which needs 
only to be kept within bounds. One clump at five foot intervals will 
give the border lovely color all through September. It will not endure 
a winter like that of 1917-18, however, I may say in passing.— -Julian 
Hinckley, L . /. 
Zinnias in Texas 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
WOULD like to say a word for this old-fashioned flower of our 
grandmothers, which is not, to-day, the small sized flower of their 
day. Under the magic wand of the horticulturist it has put on amaz¬ 
ing beauty and size. The Zinnias in my garden last year were of such 
exquisite beauty that they were taken for Dahlias. On Decoration 
Day (about the time yours are coming up in the North, I suppose) I 
sent twenty-two large vases of this flower to the cemetery to decorate 
the graves, and they were the admiration of all who saw them. A very 
old lady who had known the Zinnias in her mother’s garden some 
sixty years ago could “scarcely believe her eyes.” 
Almost every flower that grows depends for its popularity upon its 
value as a vase flower and, for me, the Zinnia did not “vase well” until 
I learned to strip the stems of all foliage and use other green with the 
blossoms. In this way the flowers will last for weeks by cutting the 
stems off a little each week. I find simple wild grass blades a most 
artistic greenery to use with the Zinnia. Let me suggest that in making 
your bouquets, you leave the stems very long and place them in the 
vase one at a time, allowing them to sweep out in naturalness. Often 
my Zinnia bouquet will measure three feet across. Never crowd stems. 
Allow plenty of space for the blossoms. 
Aside from its vasing well under this plan, the Zinnia makes a fine 
hedge plant. I recently saw a hedge, between two city yards, of scarlet 
Zinnias that made a veritable wall of flame in the morning sunlight. 
I always plant a generous row in the vegetable garden and cut its 
plentiful blossoms for the sick and for visiting neighbors. By all means 
try several of the Giant varieties this season. Give them rich soil and 
deep cultivation and you will feel well repaid.— Mrs. J. C. Darnell, 
Texas. 
The Humming-bird a Pollen Carrier for the Gladiolus 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
NE morning last season I stood watching a big bumble-bee working 
on the Gladiolus blooms. As he visited flower after flower, 1 
noticed that he went in and out without touching pistil or stamens. 
They did not even tremble with the vibration of his wings. How, 
thought I, can he pollenize the flowers as he is reported to do if he does 
not touch either pistil or stamens? As I watched there came a bright 
little ruby-throated humming-bird. He went rapidly from one flower 
to another and I observed that in every case he lifted both pistil and 
stamens with the crown of his tiny green head. “Honor to whom 
honor is due,” said I, “here is the servant who does the work for 
which the bumble-bee has been receiving the credit.” Indeed, what 
better instrument could be found for gathering and applying pollen 
than the tiny feathers on the crown of a humming bird’s head.—F. M. 
Brigham, Decatur, Michigan. 
Some Seeds That Want Their Own Way 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
AST spring I sowed the seeds of Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis 
lobata) which came up slowly and poorly and 1 was inclined to 
blame the seeds supposing that they were of poor vitality. I was 
astonished, however, when a large number of the seeds sprouted after 
lying in the ground for more than four months ! 1 used to have trouble to 
get my white-seeded varieties of Sweet-peas to germinate satisfactorily, 
also Cardinal Climber and Moonflower, until I employed the following 
method. As white-seeded Sweet-peas show a tendency to rot in the 
ground if sown early, this was overcome by filling the bottom of the 
furrow with sand and sowing the seed in same. Cardinal Climbers 
and Moonflower were started inside in seedboxes which contained a 
top layer of clean sand about an inch deep. The seeds were sown into 
the sand, well watered, kept in a warm place and showed a high per¬ 
centage of germination.— Alfred Putz. 
Do Prairie Winds Blow Beauty Off the Map? 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
HOUGH I would like to see The Garden Magazine in the hands 
of vast numbers in this part of our land yet the fact is that all 
through the great territory between the Mississippi river and the 
Cascade range of mountains there are very few people who are at all 
interested in flower gardens—or vegetable gardens either for that 
matter. The people of the Northwest think only of grains and live 
stock; nothing else really interests them. So far as I know, I am the 
only person who has a flower garden. In the counties in Minnesota 
that border on the Mississippi river, even in the cities and towns, St. 
Paul in particular, the people really do care for gardens, but in the 
prairie counties they seem not to care for such things. Perhaps one 
reason for the lack of interest is that the prairie counties are windy 
and generally more subject to drought, whereas the smaller valleys 
leading back from the Mississippi river are sheltered. But granting 
that prairie winds are severe on flowering plants, what about growing 
a home supply of vegetables? Prairie life seems to entirely change 
people’s nature. I do not know of one person here in South Dakota 
who would care to subscribe to your magazine-—which, however, is 
not saying that you have not found them. 
I heard of The Garden Magazine by chance through Charlton B. 
Bolles of Media, Pa., and though I had never seen a copy of the maga¬ 
zine, 1 subscribed for the simple reason that I am interested in flowers. 
The landscape views in each number are surely pleasing, and anyone 
can easily enough make a plan to suit his own conditions by selecting 
parts from the many plans given from time to time. So-called plans 
