HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, 1915 
Our New Red 
Sunflower 
T O know our “New Red Sun¬ 
flower’’is to love it. For tall 
borders and in shrubbery it is 
most effective. It’s six feet of 
height are full of grace and dis¬ 
tinction, whether on a large or 
small place. 
The illustration below gives but 
a faint idea of its real beauty, 
which lies much in its brilliant 
coloring—dark center with petals 
of bright rich red merging to yellow 
at the tips. 
We want you to grow this won¬ 
derful flower this year, and will 
send a generous package of the 
seed and our 1915 Spring Cata¬ 
logue (of 144 pages) for ten cents 
in stamps or money. 
We believe a good many will 
ask for this — better write promptly 
to make sure of yours. 
J. M. Thorburn & Co, 
53D Barclay Street through to 
54 Park Place, New York 
Getting Results with Gladioli 
(Continued from page 157) 
den that can be utilized in this way. It 
is better to plant gladioli in beds or groups, 
rather than in rows, as the plants help to 
sustain each other. 
In heavy soils the corms may be covered 
two inches deep and four to six inches in 
light soils. For massed effects, plant four 
to five inches apart and twice that distance 
if one wishes to fill in nooks or portions of 
the border. When the gardener plans for 
successive planting the earlier lot should 
be put in a foot apart, to admit of later 
settings between. A six-inch distance, 
however, is generally applicable. 
As they grow, stake the plants, for the 
stalks are fragile. In conspicuous posi¬ 
tions stakes are desirable. Those who 
care for garden novelties will find in the 
shops a variety of pretty stakes with but¬ 
terfly and bird heads that add a touch of 
color and picturesqueness quite pleasing 
to those who have been accustomed to the 
more homely but none-the-less serviceable, 
old-fashioned garden stake. If these are 
not desirable, stakes can be driven in at 
regular intervals around the beds and a 
cord tied on them, which will help support 
the stalks. Some gardeners nail laths to 
the top of the stakes and wind on them a 
mesh of light string that will steady the 
fragile spikes against the wind. 
The time to cut gladioli spikes is when 
the lowest blossoms open. Keep them in 
fresh water and cut the stems daily, and 
the buds will open one by one. With this 
precaution they will last over a week. Cut¬ 
ting the spikes will help increase the size 
of the bulbs — an advantage that will be 
appreciated next season. If the stems are 
allowed to dry without cutting after the 
flower spikes are removed strength is 
thrown back into the bulb—an added ad¬ 
vantage for the next season. It is a wise 
plan to cut gladioli so soon as the flowers 
appear, for the flowers fade quickly if left 
on the plant—some varieties particularly. 
This is notably true of America — the deli¬ 
cate, flesh-pink variety — which will be 
wilted at the end of one warm day. 
Like cannas, elephants’ ears, tuberous 
begonias and dahlias, gladioli must be 
lifted in the autumn. Late in the fall, 
after frosts and before freezing, the corms 
should be dug up, cleaned and dried in the 
sun for several hours. The top should 
be left on, or, if space is needed, kept on 
until completely shriveled, when the corms 
can be stored away in boxes about two 
and a half inches deep. Keep your va¬ 
rieties separate as much as possible. Place 
in a cellar where they can be undisturbed 
throughout the winter. 
Should the gardener wish to force 
blooms in November and December, the 
process is simply done by keeping some of 
the corms in a cool place, thereby retard¬ 
ing their growth until August. Plant them 
in boxes of rich soil four to eight inches 
deep, and keep them outdoors until frost. 
THE Machine For 
REAL Cleaning 
Efficiency 
We have stocked this machine—The 
Bissell Vacuum Sweeper — because we 
believe its combination of the carpet 
sweeper and vacuum cleaner afford the 
solution of the cleaning problem. 
In its efficiency, ease of operation and 
simplicity it has no superior. It is well 
designed and well constructed, and will 
maintain its exceptional cleaning ability 
for years. 
See this machine here and let us show 
you what it can do. 
tEWIS SPONGER 
Home Furnishings 
45th Street and 6th Avenue, New York 
Old English Garden Seats 
And other Artistic Garden Accessories, including 
Garden Houses, Arbors, Pergolas, Treillage, Gates, 
Rose Temples, in painted and rustic. “ We have 
an attractive offer for January buyers.” 
For Catalog of many designs address 
North Shore Ferneries Co. 
BEVERLY, IV1A.SS. 
New York Showroom Craftsman Bldg., E. 39th St. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
