HOUSE AND GARDEN 
310 
April, 
DU 
j 
Modern Sleeping Porch Fitted with Wilson’s Blinds 
Practically makes an Outdoor Room of the ordi¬ 
nary porch ; a room at night, a piazza by day. 
WILSON’S VENETIANS 
for outside and inside of town and country 
houses ; very durable, convenient and artistic. 
Special Outside Venetians 
most practical and useful form of 
Venetian yet devised for porches and 
windows; excludes the sun, admits 
the breeze. Keeps out the rain. 
For Illus.rated Booklet specify “ Venetian 3 " 
Orders should be placed now for 
spring or summer delivery. 
The J. G. Wilson Corporation 
1-3-5 W. 29th St., New York 
After Mayl-8 W.40th St.,N.Y. 
Also Inside Venetians; Rolling Parti¬ 
tions, Rolling Steel Shutters, Burglar 
and Fireproof Steel Curtains. Wood 
Block Floors. 
SOMETHING FOR EVERY BUILDING 
ALEXANDER’S QUALITY DAHLIAS 
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FLOWER 
The Dahlia of to-day is of 
surpassing beauty as a single 
flower, exquisite for private 
gardens, charming in masses, 
and ideal for planting against 
shrubbery. 
Alexander’s Up-to-date 
Dahlias lead the World; be¬ 
cause they are perfect in type 
and shape, beautiful in color 
and. most important of all — 
Free flowering. 
Our many customers are 
satislied; they receive good 
stock; true to name, and best of all—Guaranteed to Grow. 
All Flower Lovers are invited to send to the Dahlia King 
for his Free Illustrated Catalogue, which contains helpful 
descriptions and valuable cultural hints on Dahlias, Gladi¬ 
olus, Roses, Cannas, Peonies and Iris. 
J. K. ALEXANDER, “The Dahlia King/* 
8-12 Central Street, EAST BRIDGEWATER, MASS. 
C alifornia Expositions 
TMR'OU'GHfgFE] « 
PANAMA'«|| 
CANAL 
[' jsf 5 
NEW YORK 
SAN FRANCISCO 
Q y Water AllTheWay 
Calling at San DieOo 
or Cos Angeles 0 
LARGE AMERICAN 
TRANSATLANTIC LINERS 
“ F 7 I INI LAN D” and 
“KROONLAN D” 
22.000 TONS DISPLACEMENT 
16 Delightful Days ^125‘Up First Cabin 
MEALS AND BERTH INCLUDED 
April is that of the perennials, which ger¬ 
minate only while cool days and cooler 
nights are felt. The seed-bed should be 
prepared in a partially shaded situation 
in an unobtrusive part of the garden. The 
soil should be porous, rich and deep, and 
the seed sown in rows, clearly marked as 
to variety and color. 
By the middle of August the plants may 
be transplanted into the places where 
they are to remain permanently, or else 
they may be removed to temporary quar¬ 
ters to wait for final transplanting after 
the summer flowers are cleaned out and 
the borders enriched for the winter bloom. 
This sounds a little romantic, but, as I 
write this in mid-February, the Del¬ 
phiniums are showing color in their buds, 
the Digitalis have flower spikes several 
feet tall, the Campanulas are beginning to 
send out their new leaf stalks, Platycodons 
are growing, Wallflowers are budding, and 
Aquilegias are strong and vigorous, get¬ 
ting ready for April bloom. From April 
seed-sowing to spring bloom of the next 
year seems a long time to wait, but these 
perennials bridge so beautifully the gap 
between the real winter flowers and the 
annuals, which cannot be counted on un¬ 
til late spring or early summer, that, if 
for this reason only, they should be in 
every garden. But they are in themselves 
so daintily exquisite, so pure in color, with 
heavenly blues rivaling richest orange, 
with golden yellow facing clear amethysts, 
with tall flower spikes in the border back¬ 
grounds and dainty masses of snow in the 
foreground, that they should be planted 
wherever there is a garden, a garden-care- 
taker and a garden-lover. 
As to the varieties to be planted, there 
is not such a wide range of choice as in 
most of the annuals. Of the Aquilegias, 
the Caerulea, the Rocky Mountain Co¬ 
lumbine, the Crysantha, golden-yellow, 
and the Nivea grandiflora are the most 
attractive and beautiful. The red tones 
are often not pure in color and do not mix 
well with the clear blues, and for this 
reason the above-mentioned ones are pre¬ 
ferable. The Coerulea Flybrids are grown 
by many with satisfactory results. 
The lovely Campanulas in both dark and 
light blues, in white, and a delicate rose, 
are so delightful in the garden, such a 
bright spot of color in the shadows of the 
garden picture that no one should fail to 
plant them. Both the Campanula Medium, 
the single Canterbury Bells and the Caly- 
canthema, the Cup and Saucer variety, are 
to be had in the colors enumerated, and 
cannot fail to please. The Campanula 
pyramidalis, the Chimney Bellflower, in 
blue and white, can be used where a taller 
variety is needed. 
The Gold Medal Hybrids are favorites 
among the Delphiniums. The Belladon¬ 
na, Caelestinum and Formosum, Chinense 
and Chinense album, are wonderful in 
their tones of azure, that range from the 
pure white of the Chinense album to the 
deepest blues of the other varieties. 
_ _ .ICH’&BACH 
^ ifltra-Quality PlANOS 
j and Player Pianos 
Preferred by music lovers because of tangible, 
demonstrable, really remarkable musical 
superiority that is apparent to any one 
who will investigate and intelligently choose 
between real and 
If 
you 
expect 
to buy 
a piano or player piano it will pay you to 
get the beautiful Golden Anniversary Booklet 
that we send without charge. It will help 
you to avoid disappointing purchases and 
waste of money. Detach 
the coupon printed .iLtkf EASY 
below - l* ■tillU' TERMS 
and mail 
it today. 
Kranich 
& Bach 
Agencies 
Every¬ 
where 
Kranich & Bach 
237 East 23d St., New York City 
Gentlemen—Please mail booklet to 
Name 
Address 
FrancesDuncan’sGardencraftforChildren 
Not the photograph of a Country Place, but of FRANCES 
DUNCAN’S Miniature Collapsible Country House 
with the Plant-as-You-Please-Garden. 
A Most Joyous and Fascinating Pastime for Children 
An ideal Easter gift for anyone who loves a garden. Of practical 
value to the grown-up gardener. Endorsed by Montessori. In use 
by Margaret Deland. Louise Klein Miller, and other garden-loving 
folk of high intelligence. Send 25c for chicken yard with portable 
coop and pedigree fowls or 2-cent stamp for catalog of Gardencraft Sets. 
THE GARDENCRAFT TOY COMPANY, Workshop, I Milligan Place 
(6th Avenue between 10th and I Ith Streets!, New York City 
In zvriting to advertisers, please mention House & Garden. 
