March, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
23 
Iris Germanica offers beauty in both color and form, and is to be 
especially desired because easily grown 
The different phloxes lend themselves admirably to mass effects. A 
good white form of paniculata is Jeanne d’Arc 
better where things are to their liking that it is well worth taking- 
pains to give them what they want. For one thing, they are 
greedy; therefore, the soil where they are to grow should have 
plenty of enriching material 
worked into it to a depth of 
two feet or more. Cow ma¬ 
nure is probably the best fer¬ 
tilizer for them. Put a dress¬ 
ing of it around them in 
November every year, and 
work it down in the spring. 
Give plenty of water always 
and choose a deep, rich, moist 
soil for them if possible. 
They will do well in partial 
shade, holding the color of 
their flowers better there than 
in full sun. Use singly like 
a shrub or mass them in long 
rows bordering a path or 
walk. Do not disturb them 
after they are established. 
Unlike most perennials peo¬ 
nies do not need dividing and 
transplanting every third or fourth year, but may remain for 
almost any number of years untouched. Roots should be planted 
in September and should not have their crowns covered with 
more than two inches of earth. 
Phlox is familiar to every one, being a general favorite; like 
peonies, phloxes may be had in an infinite number of colors and 
varieties, most of them being hybrids of, or forms of, phlox 
paniculata. In choosing, be very careful not to get the magenta 
reds and the scarlets both, for the colors are intolerable together. 
Indeed, the magenta shades clash with pretty nearly everything 
else in the garden. Each 
nurseryman has his own list 
of hybrids usually, the same 
as with iris, so that it is diffi¬ 
cult to say that any particular 
one is best. A good white is 
Jeanne d'Arc, another is Miss 
Lingard; of pinks there are 
Elizabeth Campbell, a salmon 
shade, Peachblow and Mozart, 
the latter nearly a white, yet 
having a salmon tinge; and 
then there is Coquelicot, a 
blazing scarlet, and Siebold. 
which is brighter still. 
Phloxes should be planted 
eighteen inches apart when 
they are massed. One plant 
is lovely, but a group of from 
six to twenty, in one color, is 
gorgeous! Cut the heads 
away as soon as the blossoms fade and prolong the period of 
bloom by not allowing the plants to go to seed. Any soil will grow 
them, but rich, moist soil will give finer plants and bloom. Dig 
plenty of well rotted manure into the ground where the plants 
are to go, and reset the old plants every third year, separating each 
clump into two or three so that the roots may have room to 
{Continued on page 65) 
The yellow flowers of the adonis are among the first to open in the 
spring 
