The Month’s Activities 
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE AMATEUR IN FLOWER AND VEGETABLE GARDEN IN THIS BUSY 
SEASON—SPECIAL CULTURAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE THINGS YOU WILL PROBABLY GROW 
Photographs By E. J. Hall and N. R. Graves 
[This is the second of two articles covering garden problems for the busy man or woman who has not had time to make plans, manage a coldframe 
and in other ways get ready for planting-time. What may be done & now, to make tip as far as possible for lost time, and to insure satisfaction in 
both the vegetable and dower garden, is conclusively told. — Editor.] 
H AVE you ever gone past a place on 
a May morning, where the florist 
and his man were digging around in the 
bare, brown beds, and mussing the place 
up still more by spilling dirt and manure 
all over the beautiful, clean lawn—-and 
then, coming back that way at night, been 
startled by the change in the look of 
things ? Summer has sprung full-fledged, 
or rather full-flowered, on the grave they 
were filling over departed winter. The 
bare brick foundations of the house have 
disappeared; in their stead are the bright 
blossoms of geraniums. The paths are 
bordered with gray or silver, or more 
prominent colors and graced with lines of 
green. Here and there, in nook and cor¬ 
ner, other things have come suddenly into 
existence. All is transformed. 
Now, of course, such a metamorphosis 
may be a matter of great expense — and, 
again, it may be largely only a matter of 
brains or taste in using the inexpensive 
things in effective ways. So before you go 
to the florists to select your plants this 
year, why not first make up your mind as 
to what you are going to try to do? De¬ 
cide first what effect you want, and choose 
your plants accordingly. Ninety per cent. 
of those who buy simply pick out a flower here and there at ran¬ 
dom, with absolutely no regard for variety or color and without 
knowing, until they 
get home, where 
they are going to 
put them. Take the 
trouble to be one 
of the sensible ten 
per cent, and you 
can make your 
flower money go 
three times as far 
by selecting plants 
to meet a prede¬ 
termined purpose. 
Another often 
needed word of 
warning is in re¬ 
gard to choosing 
plants. The great 
majority of people 
will pass the thrif¬ 
tiest, stockest, 
plants, even when 
_. . . -r well budded, to se- 
The prejudice against cannas is overcome it . . 
they are properly used as in mass effects Ret f ar inferior 
This month sow seed of the Shirley poppy 
—one of the most beautiful of annuals 
ones with flowers — sometimes just ready 
to drop. When buying plants remember 
that you want them for long continued re¬ 
sults ; don't be tempted by present bloom 
into getting poor stock. 
Flowers for setting out in spring or 
sowing in May may be grouped into three 
general classes, (i) Those for beds and 
solid masses; (2) for borders or edgings, 
and (3) for individualistic effects, such as 
groups in the corners of the lawn, or in 
front of shrubbery or raised verandas, etc. 
Among the best for massing and beds are: 
asters, California poppies, cannas, colum¬ 
bine, chrysanthemums, cosmos, corn¬ 
flower, dahlia, fox-glove, geranium, Ice¬ 
land poppy, lupine, marigold, nasturtium, 
pansy, peonies, petunia, phlox, pink, Ori¬ 
ental poppy, salpiglossis, salvia, snapdrag¬ 
on, stock, sweet alyssum, verbena, zinnias 
and gladiolus. 
For borders and edgings, those most 
commonly used are: ageratum, candytuft, 
cockscomb, daisy, forget-me-not, varia- 
gated geranium (such as Mme. Salleroi 
and Mrs. Pollock), lobelia, love-in-a-mist, 
dwarf marigold, mignonette, dwarf nas¬ 
turtium, pansy, portulaca, pyrethrum 
(golden feather), salvia (dwarf), sweet 
alyssum, verbena, dwarf zinnia (such as Little Red Ridinghood). 
For single plants, ornamental groups and screening: columbine, 
anemone, bleeding- 
heart, campanula, 
castor bean, cos¬ 
mos, dahlia, fox¬ 
glove, gourds, 
gladiolus, helian- 
t h u s, hollyhock, 
iris, larkspur, mal¬ 
low, moon-flower, 
morning -glory, 
climbing nastur- 
t i u m , rudbeckia, 
salvia, sunflower 
and sweet pea. 
This classifica¬ 
tion, of course, is 
meant to be sug¬ 
gestive ; there is no 
hard-and-fast rule 
as to the use of 
plants, and very 
frequently most 
pleasing effects are 
gained by using 
Buy young plants of salvia now to secure the 
deep red of its blooms late in the summer 
( 338 ) 
