426 
The Garden Magazine, August, 1924 
beside the white variety I have saved since “befo’ the war” (on 
flowers!). May we not have Tigridias ever again? 1 would like some 
more “forbidden fruit” after this year’s taste. What can we ever find 
to replace Paper-white Narcissus, by the wav? I have Snowdrops 
sallying forth on January nth. Has any one tried Ixias, Anemones, 
Ranunculus, Calochortus, and Camassia in this vicinity? I am saving 
Anemones for spring planting to see if I can raise them in that way. 
Gladiolus Mrs. Francis King and Summer Hyacinth came over last year 
in the open ground all right. 
Do you know how I get twice as much fun as most folks do out of the 
space in my bulb bed? I remove the top four inches of soil and fertilize 
heavily the carpet 1 have left. On this I plant first a row of Tulips 
and then, very closely, a row of Hyacinths, and so on, and put back 
the earth as a whole. Spring brings me a fragrant square of pink, 
white, yellow, and porcelain blue Hyacinths; and then after their 
blossoms are gone, along come my gay and radiant Darwin and Cottage 
Tulips against the green leaves of the Hyacinths, stately rosy Psyche, 
rare sun-kissed pink John Ruskin, crimson vase-shaped Elegans, 
demure Dawn, lavender Ewbank, apricot La Merveille, golden Fairy 
Queen, all colors except scarlet which are relegated as quarrelsome to 
the back of the house—but the children love them! 
Last year I had a surprise in a dozen of a wonderful pale yellow 
Cottage Tulip shading lighter toward the edges as though a light 
burned at its heart. It is larger than Mrs. Moon and not so bright a 
yellow, and it does not have the tinge of scarlet found in Inglescombe 
Yellow. It resembled a Chrysanthemum Yellow Advance, which I 
have been so lucky as to winter here, but which I must slip this year as 
young plants have more vigor to survive our trying climate. 
For my hardy border I have found another Dicentra the past year, 
the Plumy Bleeding-heart, daintier in flower and foliage and blooming 
at intervals till August if well watered. Near it 1 hope to plant the rare 
pink lily-like Amaryllis Halli. There is a small tree with weeping 
branches of pale pink blossoms that blend with the hazy distance of a 
spring landscape. I want this elusive beauty for my own, but when¬ 
ever I have espied it, it could not be purchased, nor did the owners 
know its name.—C. A. Cardin, Ridgewood, N. J. 
HAS ANY ONE GOT THESE IRISES? 
N OT by any means the least useful work of the special flower 
societies is the elimination of the undesirable varieties, yet 
associated with it is the elimination of names of obsolete varieties so as 
to keep current lists really alive 
The American Iris Society in the Iris section of “Standardized Plant 
Names” published all names thought to be in commerce, but the belief 
is growing that a number of these varieties are no longer to be found in 
cultivation, and are obsolete. If any reader of The Garden Maga¬ 
zine is growing any of the varieties listed below, please communicate 
with John C. Wister, President of the American Iris Society, German¬ 
town, Philadelphia, Pa.: 
Adelaide, Admiration, Agathe, Albion, Amelie, Argentea, Ariadne, Ar- 
taxerxes, Askabad, Aurea maculata, Avalanche. Beatrice (DB), Belgica, 
Belle Chatelaine, Bessie (not Fryer), Bismarck, Blue Sky, Bobs, Bossy. Car¬ 
not, Chamaeiris delicata, Chancellor, Charles Darwin, Clara, Clara Butt, 
Coltaire, Clotilde, Colenton, Commandant Betti, Commonwealth, Copperman, 
Corbeau. Die Fee, Doris. Edna Mercia, E. E. Adams, Effie, Enid, Ernest, 
Evelyn. Fries Morel, Fulgorie. Gedeon, Gervase, Gladys, Gold Coin, Golden 
Spire, Gorgeous (TB not DB), Grand Master, Gravereau, Guinevere. Har- 
monia, Henkler, Herald, Horace de Paris, Hybrida aurea. Imogene, Indiana, 
Incognita, Italica. La Grandesse, Lady Stump, Le Reve, Libaudi, Lord Rosse, 
Louis Van Meyer, Lutea maculata. Madcap, Madonna, Manon, Margaret, 
Mary, Memory, Mimung, Minerva (MB), Minor Beauty, Mme. de Baunne, 
Mme. Matta, Mme. Sonntag, Mrs. Naegli. Neala, Nefert, Newton, Nigra, 
Nimrod Nova, Aurea. Oom Paul, Oriel, Osiris. Perry Beauty, Perry Purity, 
Phaeton, Picotee, Porsenna, Prairie Beauty, Prairie Queen, Prince of Wales, 
Proserpine, Pumila alba (not the Bride). Queen (TB), Queen (DB), Queen 
Emma (not Florentina) Queen of the Dale. Racemosa, Reggie, Rolette, 
Rosabelle. Samboo, Sapphire, Sea Nymph, Semele, Senator Festelin, Si- 
berienne, Sidonie (DB), Sterling, Sulphurea Pallida, Sweetheart. Telemaque, 
Topsy, Toussaint, Tristesse, Trocelestial. Uranus. Vestal (DB), Virgo. 
Waines. York (old Duke of York). 
The following have been reported as in existence abroad, but ap¬ 
parently no plants can be found in U. S.: 
Askabad, Die Fee, Enid, Golden Spire, Grand Master, Guinevere, Harmonia, 
Hybrida aurea, La Grandesse, Le Reve, Lutea maculata, Madonna, Margaret, 
Nefert, Osiris, Porsenna, Pumila alba. Queen of the Dale, Reggie, Samboo, 
Sapphire (Caparne), Semele, Topsy, Uranus, Virginia. 
A LITTLE PORTABLE “GREENHOUSE” FOR HOME USE 
ALBERT LOWENFEI.S 
T HERE are a lot of flower lovers 1 am 
sure, who, like myself, have often envied 
folks with greenhouses. We read the gar¬ 
den articles on how to “put cuttings or 
seedlings on the bench with bottom heat,” 
but they always seem to be written for the 
man higher up. 
1 have tried so many ways of rooting cut¬ 
tings; in cold and hot frames, in pots of sand, 
in jelly glasses with sand, etc., etc., but the 
results were never very satisfactory, until it 
struck me that one could have a little green¬ 
house at very slight expense. 
Here is a simple, inexpensive affair that 
can be moved anywhere you want it—out¬ 
side, or on a porch, or in any sunny window 
in the house. It is ideal for Dahlia and other 
soft-wood cuttings, slips of those beautiful 
Roses, rare Lilac or other shrubs in your 
friendly neighbors’ gardens; for starting 
early Tomatoes or other seedlings, or early 
sproutings of the bulblets of rare Gladiolus 
so that you can get flowers the first year 
from them. 
The accompanying picture shows an oat 
sprouter such as most poultry firms sell to 
sprout oats and so make green feed for 
chickens during the winter months. They 
are priced at around $7 to $10. This one 
MY HANDY LITTLE GREENHOUSE 
Just an ordinary oat sprouter with glass replac¬ 
ing the usual tin sides (total cost about $10) 
had glass only in the door but I cut out 
the tin on the other three sides, replacing 
with glass and giving light on four sides. 
The cover is tin, and is removable and if 
more light still is wanted it too can be re¬ 
placed by a piece of glass. However, 1 have 
found that light on the four sides is enough 
for cuttings. The bottom is the heating 
chamber, and a little kerosene lamp comes 
with the sprouter. Over that is a tin 
container that holds water. The top is the 
compartment for sprouting, which I use for 
a tray of sand to hold the cuttings. 
For some time 1 used the kerosene stove. 
But that simply heated the water above 
and generated vapor throughout rather 
than bottom heat to the cuttings, so now I 
have substituted a small electric light bulb 
(you can see the cord running into the box). 
This furnishes a gentle bottom heat to the 
sand tray above and a little pan of water 
next to the bulb supplies sufficient mois¬ 
ture. The cuttings can be watered once or 
twice a day, depending on atmospheric con¬ 
ditions, and on warm days the tin cover 
can be removed. If you stand a thermom¬ 
eter in the sand you can easily maintain 
an even steady temperature by adjusting 
ventilation, and so on. 
