HOUSE AND GARDEN 
May, 
1912 
botany has not had the dust blown off its top in years. I cannot 
advise you what sorts to plant for your fall garden — they all do 
well with a little care and plenty of food. Perhaps my choice 
would not please you at all, but personally, the cactus and peony- 
flowered sorts are the only ones I care for, with maybe just a few 
of the grotesque “collerettes” and the miniature pompons for 
variety. The fat, stiff, perfectly rounded “show” type always 
struck me as too heavy and commonplace. Yet I know many 
flower lovers who are quite enthusiastic over these ample blos¬ 
soms. So, instead of following my example, try things out for 
yourself; for, after all, it is your own garden, not mine, that you 
want to plan. 
I prefer, too, in dahlias, the solid and decided colors. I mention 
a few of the older sorts which have long been, and remain, my 
favorites. Kriemhilde is a beautiful, brilliant pink with a light cen¬ 
ter. Standard Bearer, a fine flaming scarlet. Mrs. Henry R. 
Wirth is similar to the above, and even better. Pius X is a 
splendid white, of great size. Countess of Lonsdale, another fine 
pink, but entirely distinct from Kriem¬ 
hilde. Roland von Berlin, a fine red. J. H. 
Jackson, a striking dark crimson. Geisha 
and Riesen Edelweiss are two of the peony 
flowered sorts that I think everyone would 
like: the former is scarlet, with a golden 
center, and petals charmingly twisted and 
irregular in form; the latter, pure, shin¬ 
ing white, and quite gigantic in size. 
Dahlias are usually taken up late in the 
fall, kept in the cellar over winter, and 
then set out again, the whole clump, in 
the spring. Experience has taught me that 
for the best effect, whether flowers or 
mass of color, this is not an advisable 
method to pursue. Separate the clumps— 
if necessary throw half the tubers away, 
though you can usually find a friend glad 
to take them—and plant them three feet 
apart, if the soil is deep and rich, as it 
should be. Probably a number of shoots 
will be thrown up: ruthlessly remove all 
but three or four of the strongest—all but 
two if you want extra fine flowers. Do not 
wait until some sudden summer thurider- 
storm has laid 
them low before 
you begin to think 
of tying them up to 
stakes. I have little 
use for the dainty 
little “plant- 
stakes.” Pieces of 
chestnut board, cut 
into inch strips, 
and painted dark 
green, will give 
you something not 
over - conspicuous, 
and that can be de¬ 
pended upon; they 
should be six or 
seven feet long. 
Dahlias are not 
as particular about 
soil as they are 
about drainage and L- 
food supply. The Among the anemones there is a 
former they must variety of color and form 
A cactus dahlia that 
over the stiffness 
startling 
have or they may rot; the latter, or they will do very poorly. 
Strong but well decayed stable manure, spaded in as deeply as 
possible, will carry them through in fine shape. While dahlias 
will not thrive in a sodden soil, they require plenty of moisture, 
and unless you have them within reach of the end of the hose, 
give them a mulching of half rotted manure when hot weather 
comes on. 
In the fall, after the first frosts have blackened the masses of 
foliage and glorious blooms, cut them down to within six or 
eight inches of the ground, dig them up, shake off what earth 
falls away readily, and store them in a dry, frost-proof place. I 
let mine ripen for a couple of weeks in the sunshine under glass, 
or covered on cold nights with bags, before storing permanently. 
Another of the glories of the early autumn garden is the cos¬ 
mos. This is an entirely different flower (although they now 
have, as the latest type, a cosmos dahlia). Its charm lies, I think, 
not in its being an autumn flower, but a graceful and belated sum¬ 
mer beauty, still lingering afield after the rest haye gone, and all 
unmindful of approaching night. 
The cosmos was a beautiful flower be¬ 
fore the Argus-eyed hybridizers turned 
their attention to it. Now we have a 
larger, and, what is more, an earlier 
flowering race, which will bloom well be¬ 
fore frost even when sown out-of-doors. 
The new giant-flowered type I always start 
indoors, or in a frame, in late March or 
April. Lady Lenox is a marvelously beau¬ 
tiful flower, and he who does not plan to 
have at least a few plants of it to adorn 
his garden will be omitting something that 
no other flower can take the place of. 
The cosmos is one of those tall grow¬ 
ing annuals which should be beheaded 
when about one-third grown, to induce 
branching. I like to have the plants at least 
a foot and a half apart, to give sufficient, 
room. 
I am not so enthusiastic about asters 
many of my friends are, and yet I admit 
no fall garden would be complete with¬ 
out them. Semple’s Late Branching is^ 
the type usually sown for late autumn 
flowers, and they 
are very strong 
growing, with 
magnificent fliow- 
ers, and strong, 
long stems. Butt 
the Comet, or Os¬ 
trich Feather type, 
has to me always- 
seemed much more 
beautiful. If sown 
early they will' 
bloom in August, 
but by selecting a 
favorable seed-bed, 
or shading until 
the seedlings are 
well started, they 
may be sown later, 
and be had in 
flower until frost. 
And while we 
are taking thought 
for the fall garden. 
shows the improvement 
of previous tyjjes 
Include the diverse colors of the California 
poppy in your fall garden 
