The Garden in the Temporary Home 
By IDA D. BENNETT 
W HILE the hardy perennial garden is admir¬ 
able in itself and appeals to us along the 
lines of utility and sentiment, it loses its 
peculiar attractiveness when viewed from the stand¬ 
point of the temporary dweller in a summer home 
whose future movements may be uncertain. Nat¬ 
urally, when confronted by the possibility of change 
one hesitates to invest largely of money, time or 
strength in a garden which requires more than the 
present year to come to its best estate and which 
another summer may see sadly divorced from our 
interests. 
Under these circumstances one seeks for those 
plants which yield quick returns and pass with the 
passing of summer. Fortunately, the floral calendar 
is rich in flowers suitable for the temporary home and 
includes both annuals, which come into bloom from 
spring sown seeds early in the summer, and those 
bulbs which may be started either in the house or 
open ground and planted out when danger of frost 
is past and lifted again in the fall and stored for 
future planting, either in the same garden or in 
some distant home. And so much beauty is pos¬ 
sible from a garden arranged from these sources 
that one need not regret the more permanent forms 
of gardens. 
For effective sub-tropical gardening there is 
nothing better than the canna, tritoma and ricinus. 
These give both color and foliage effect and are 
of the easiest culture. The ricinus, of which 
there are many varieties with rich colored leaves, 
should be started in the house by planting seed in 
pots placed in a warm, sunny window early in April 
and transplanting to the open ground when all 
danger of frost is past. Cannas, too, may be easily 
grown from seed if the precaution is taken to sand¬ 
paper the seed on one side until the white shows and 
then soak in hot water for twenty-four hours 
before sowing; treated thus they will germinate in 
about three days, while unsandpapered and unsoaked 
they will remain in the ground two or three weeks 
before germination takes place. 
Seeds of the best of the large flowered orchid 
varieties may now be obtained of most seedsmen 
and these with the tall ornamental kinds will give 
excellent results for so small a sum that one may 
leave them in the ground with a clear conscience 
when frost or moving time comes, a thing we hesitate 
to do with the high priced florist’s stock. 
Beautiful dahlias may be grown from seed and 
will give better results than plants grown from tubers, 
blooming much earlier and more freely as a general 
thing. Seeds of most of the best varieties may now 
be procured of the seedsmen including the show 
and cactus dahlias, but for cut flowers the single 
ones are far more effective. 
It is a question if there is a more popular bedding 
plant than the scarlet salvia; this, also, is an easily 
grown plant, coming quickly from seed and blooming 
from early in July until cut down by frost. It com¬ 
bines beautifully with the Nicotiana sylvestris and 
N. affinis, and a bed composed of these is a sight 
worth seeing. Nicotiana sylvestris grows some six 
feet high, has great tropical looking leaves and is 
crowned all summer and long after the early frosts 
with a wealth of snow white flowers which, unlike 
N. affinis, remain open all day. It should be grown 
in the center of a bed of scarlet salvia and the salvias 
may have a border of Arctotis grand is, another 
thrifty annual with daisy-like flowers of white with 
a blue eye, which stands much frost and is a sure and 
persistent bloomer. 
The dwarf Phlox Drummondu are admirable for 
oordering beds of other flowers and if the seeds are 
kept off will bloom as persistently as those already 
cited. They should be sown early in hotbed or 
window-box and set out when large enough to handle, 
setting the plants four or six inches apart each way. 
These are the more ornamental of the annuals or 
those plants which may be grown as annuals and 
may be given a conspicuous place on the lawn if 
desired and will be effective from early summer to 
late fall. They each require practically the same 
culture, good soil, well enriched with old manure, 
which should be kept well cultivated and free from 
weeds and given an abundance of water during 
the growing season. 
Among the summer flowering bulbs the gladioli 
will always be one of the most popular. Its cheap¬ 
ness, f reedom of bloom and ease of culture are attri¬ 
butes that appeal to the amateur gardener. Of late 
years the size and color of the flowers have been 
greatly improved and immense blossoms, five and 
six inches in diameter, are by no means uncommon, 
and strange, weird shades of gray, blue and smoke 
are mingled with the scarlets and pinks and reds so 
long familiar. Their culture is the simplest,—good 
soil and an occasional watering is about all they 
require. If the bulbs are planted deep enough, 
about nine inches, the plants will require no staking. 
There is a long list of bulbous plants not usually 
seen in the summer garden that should be extensively 
cultivated. Among these the most beautiful by far 
is the snowy Ismene with its curiously fringed petals, 
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