HOUSE AND GARDEN 
May, 1915 
35 ' 
The secret of success with a garden made of bedding plants is to choose the right plants in the beginning — getting healthy plants in bud rather than in bloom — and then 
giving them the same judicious care that one would give to any other garden 
Ageratum makes an excellent border where 
blue and white is desired. It is more 
sturdy than alvssum 
or may not be a disadvan¬ 
tage, according to circum¬ 
stances-—a bed that is well 
cared for and has good soil 
requires very little work in 
the spring. 
The improvements which 
have been made in recent 
years in the various kinds 
of bedding plants are fully 
as wonderful, although not 
nearly so well known, as 
those among roses and car¬ 
nations. The humble gera¬ 
nium, for instance, has 
been improved, until now 
there are several hundreds 
of new varieties, among 
which dozens of fine kinds 
are hardly known at all. 
There are several new 
sorts of bedding begonias 
with flowers fully twice the 
size of any of the older 
sorts ; a violet - colored 
sweet alyssum; asters 
that are as beautiful and 
as large as chrySanthe-' 
mums; and so on through 
the list. The large part 
of the pleasure of garden¬ 
ing is to keep oneself 
familiar with the new de J 
velopments. The new 
things, of course, cost 
more, but as most of them 
are easily propagated, a 
plant or two bought this 
spring will furnish you 
with a goodly supply by 
another season. 
Despite the fact that 
bedding plants are more 
commonly misused than 
any other class, the fact 
(Continued on page 387) 
Asters are the poor man's chrysanthemums. 
For both bedding and cutting they are 
favorites 
