May, 1918 
21 
THE ELEVENTH HOUR GARDEN 
Flowers, Shrubs and Vines to Plant at the Last Minute so that the Summer Home Shall 
Not Lack Beauty of Surroundings 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
W HAT should the cottage garden be? 
First comes the mentioning of some 
things it should not be. In fact, these are from 
the nature of the case the more definite, and 
consequently something is to be gained by con¬ 
sidering them first. 
The environment of the summer home should 
be, first of all, natural and unpretentious. Any 
suggestion of the distinctly formal garden 
should be studiously avoided. The plantings 
should be made in long borders or irregular 
groups rather than in round or rectangular 
beds. There should be variety in height and 
color, with a good proportion of the tall, in¬ 
formal things such as hollyhocks, sunflowers, 
ricinus and the like. An effect as well as an 
appearance of comfort is gained by the free use 
of quick-growing vines. These can transform 
a solid veranda—which, as one finds it, would 
be of little use except for keeping the children 
out of the wet on rainy days, or ripening to¬ 
matoes and melons on sunny ones—into the 
favorite living room of the house. 
Independence and Quick Growth 
Another most important point in the plan¬ 
ning of the summer garden is to get things 
which will to a large extent take care of them¬ 
selves. Unless one is abnormally keen over the 
pleasures of gardening one will not care to have 
to get up about six o’clock in the morning, and 
give up motoring and tennis matches, in order 
to keep the garden from getting out of control 
and growing up to weeds. The work to be done 
in a summer garden has to be crowded into a 
much more limited time schedule than the gar¬ 
dening that can be done on an all-the-year- 
round place. Better no garden, indeed, than a 
garden that becomes a burden and a failure. 
Perhaps the most important of the several 
things which you should keep in mind when 
planning your summer cottage garden is the 
selection of plants which will give immediate 
results. It is already late for a beginning, and 
the first measures adopted must be such as to 
overcome the handicap. The demand for ready- 
to-use plants has become so great that some of 
our best growers make a specialty of potted 
ones—annuals, biennials and perennials— 
which can be set out any time before midsum¬ 
mer, with little or no check in growth, to give 
immediate results. Plants grown in this way 
and properly shipped may, if carefully han¬ 
dled, be set out even when in bud and bloom; 
whereas similar plants torn from the nursery 
row at their height of growth would be set back 
for a year or two, even if they survived the 
operation at all. 
Among the things available for the planting 
of the belated summer garden for immediate or 
quick effect, are plants for many different pur¬ 
poses. Instead of selecting them at random as 
is usually done, however, one should get a 
fairly good idea of just what can be done in a 
simple way to make more beautiful the place 
to be planted. The main points to be consid¬ 
ered are: where climbing vines, either for shade 
or for screening to give greater privacy, would 
be desired; where there are objectionable fea¬ 
tures to shut out, especially from view from the 
porch, the windows of the dining room and 
Name Color of Flowers or Foliage 
Vines for Shade and Screening 
Canary bird vine 
Cypress vine 
Cobea scandens 
Cardinal climber 
Dolichos 
Echinocystus 
Morning glory 
Nasturtium 
Balloon vine 
Bryonopsis 
Yellow flowers 
Scarlet 
Violet 
Scarlet 
Purple or white flowers 
White flowers 
Various colored flowers 
Inflated seed vessels 
Green, red and white fruit 
Tall Plants for Screens 
Castor oil bean Green and bronze foliage 
Hollyhock Various colored flowers 
Gladioli {taller va¬ 
rieties ) 
Caladium Green or variegated foliage 
Musa ensete Very large green leaves 
For General “Garden” Effect 
Snapdragon 
Geranium 
Tuberous rooted 
begonia 
Heliotrope 
Salvia 
Petunia 
Verbena 
Various colored flowers 
Various colored flowers 
White to indigo flowers 
Scarlet flowers 
Various colored flowers 
Fragrant foliage 
living rooms, and other places frequently occu¬ 
pied; where there are unsightly corners or 
foundations to be covered from view with lower 
growing things; and where there are blank 
walls, high fences or other monotonous surfaces 
which can be broken up to great advantage by 
a row or clump of plants such as ricinus, holly¬ 
hocks or tall cannas. 
Quick Growing Vines 
For shading and screening, there are a num¬ 
ber of very quick growing annual vines which, 
even if planted now, will make considerable 
growth within a few weeks, and will have cov¬ 
ered a wire trellis 10' to 20' high long before 
the summer season is over. Among the best 
known of these is the balloon vine, which is 
unique and curious as well as pretty. It thrives 
in a bright sunny situation, even in light soil. 
Bryonopsis, with foliage and fruits like a min¬ 
iature gourd, is another. The canary bird vine 
and the cypress vine are too well known to need 
description; both are easily grown, and the yel¬ 
low flowers of the former, contrasting with the 
scarlet of the latter, make a very attractive com¬ 
bination. Cobea scandens, the cup-and-saucer 
vine, is much more vigorous in growth, reach¬ 
ing a height of from 40' to 50'; and cardinal 
climber, one of the newest and most beautiful 
of all, should be secured in started plants, and 
in fairly rich soil with an abundance of water 
will make remarkable growth in a few weeks. 
One of the most easily grown and free flower¬ 
ing of annual quick growing vines is the climb¬ 
ing hyacinth bean ( Dolichos ); flowers of both 
purple and white may be had. The wild cu¬ 
cumber vine ( Echinocystus ) is ideal for cover¬ 
ing stumps of dead trees, walls, and in other 
places where a very quick growing vine which 
will cover a large amount of surface is required. 
It makes a vigorous and much branched growth 
and is covered with sprays of white flowers 
somewhat resembling in general effect the per¬ 
petually popular Clematis paniculata. Morn¬ 
ing glories and nasturtiums, of course, need 
hardly be mentioned. The latter are particu¬ 
larly valuable where the soil is poor. 
Of the taller plants available for growing 
against backgrounds or screening unsightly ob¬ 
jects from view, the castor oil bean or ricinus 
has more points in its favor than anything else. 
If you can obtain strong plants in 4" or 5" pots, 
results will be almost immediate. The larger 
varieties attain a height of 8' or more, with im¬ 
mense tropical looking leaves which effectually 
cut off from view anything behind them. Seed 
planted now will quickly attain a height of sev¬ 
eral feet. Where a plant 4' or 5' in height will 
answer, and flowers are desired, the taller va¬ 
rieties of cannas are very satisfactory. They 
have luxuriant foliage in light or dark green, 
and bronze shades, beautiful and effective as a 
screen; and some of the newer varieties have 
truly wonderful flowers, many of them over 5" 
or 6" in diameter. For use against walls, or 
around a house, especially near windows, 
nothing is more artistic than the old favorite 
hollyhocks. Where a similar effect with plants 
not so tall is desired, the graceful upright 
growth of the taller varieties of gladioli is 
equally effective. 
Where it is desired to conceal an unsightly 
basement or foundation wall, caladiums or cal- 
las are effective, provided the soil can be made 
thoroughly rich and plenty of water is avail¬ 
able. Not infrequently a plant of tropical ap¬ 
pearance on the lawn, or next to the house, can 
be used with striking effect. For this purpose, 
the Abyssinian banana (Musa ensete) is use¬ 
ful, for, granted rich soil and plenty of water, 
it thrives in the hottest situation. For late and 
quick results it is, of course, necessary to use 
plants already started. 
In addition to the plants which may consti¬ 
tute the background or framework of the sum¬ 
mer cottage garden, one will want some flowers 
for color and more general “garden” effect. 
The fancy things and elaborate color schemes 
may be attempted if one desires, but not without 
running the chance of failing to get the results 
aimed at. I do not mean by this that one 
should not attempt something more artistic than 
the old-fashioned, hodge-podge, put-them-in- 
as-they-come garden, but that by utilizing the 
old friends—snapdragons, geraniums, begonias, 
heliotrope, salvias, petunias, verbenas—one 
may be sure of having flowers, and still have 
some time for other things. One may achieve 
a pink and white, or blue and white, or red, 
white and blue garden with these plants, as 
well as with others. 
Plants Already Started 
For quick results in a semi-shaded position, 
nothing surpasses the tuberous rooted begonias. 
Started plants of these, and of all the other 
plants just mentioned, will be in bloom or 
nearly so when you set them out. Most of them 
are good for cutting as well as giving service 
in the garden. These flowers for the most part 
will bloom until it is time to go back to the city 
in the fall, but with such plants as asters and 
gladioli it is best to plant later or to select late 
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