
Avoid the “hourglass effect’ 
in staking flowers 

Flowers in the vegetable garden. 
To have plenty of cut flowers with- 
out disturbing your flower borders, 
plant a few rows of flowers along 
the edge of your vegetable garden. 
Or set them out between rows of 
early lettuce or radishes, where 
they can bloom after the vegetables 
have been used. 
Annuals in the tulip bed. Just 
after the late tulips finish blooming, 
set out some annuals between the 
tulip plants. If you do this, you may 
safely leave the tulip bulbs in the 
ground for several years, or at least 
until they need separating. 
Flowers for trellis or fence. Vines 
for quick cover here are quite 
numerous. For brilliant color effects, 
plant cardinal climber, scarlet run- 
ner bean, cypress vine, or Japanese 
morning glory. Less colorful are the 
cup-and-saucer vine, hyacinth bean, 
balloon vine, and Heavenly Blue 
morning glory. For heavy foliage 
effects, gourds are good. 
For garage cover. Sometimes it is 
highly desirable to screen off the 
bare walls of the back-yard and 
garage. For quick results, the taller 
annuals, such as cosmos, hollyhocks 
and sunfiowers are desirable: Any 
of the vines named in the last 
paragraph above are suitable, too. 
Between drive and property line. 
This narrow strip is often a very 
nice place for a long flower border. 
A low effect may be had by plant- 
ings of balcony petunia, portulaca, 
and sweet alyssum. Or a hedge-like 
effect is easy to get with kochia, 
four o’clocks, zinnias, or marigolds. 
WINDOW BOXES 
There’s nothing finer than window 
and porch boxes to make a house 
look “lived in’’ and gay. 
Gracillima Lineatis 
Double Giant 
Dehtia’ Flowered 
Hea gedria 
The necessary boxes may be bought 
ready-made, or constructed at home. 
Redwood or cypress are the best 
lasting materials, but ordinary yel- 
low pine will do nicely if well 
painted. Paint at least two coats, 
and use brass screws instead of nails 
to join the boards. 
Drainage of flower boxes is im- 
portant. Use about two inches of 
coarse gravel at the bottom. Cover 
this with a layer of sand, and then 
with good, rich soil. Fertilizing 
may be done with liquid manure, 
but commercial plant tablets are 
even better, and much easier to 
apply. 
Plants suitable for window boxes 
are quite numerous. Among the best 
are petunias, nasturtium, ageratum, 
candytuft, dwarf marigold, corn- 
flower, babysbreath, love-in-a-mist, 
verbena, sweet alyssum, vinca. Eng- 
lish ivy adds a nice touch, as do 
various ferns. 
GOOD POINTS TO 
REMEMBER 
Pinch ’em off! To make annual 
flower plants branch and grow more 
flowers, most of the plants should 
have the top of the stem pinched 
off when they are a few inches high. 
Remove only the end bud, about 14”. 

Divide your perennials. Most per- 
ennials must be divided every 3 or 
4 years. Cut away all the dead roots 
and stalks, save the best portions, 
and start afresh. 
Flower bed preparation. A good 
border needs a well prepared sub- 
soil. Dig deep and condition the 
subsoil just once, and you needn’t 
bother about it again for many 
years. For this happy situation, 
break up heavy subsoil with sand, 
peat moss, humus, or lime. Top this 
off with fine loam. The double-dug 
bed will be higher than before, but 
will soon settle. 
Lilliput 
California Grant 
Comparative Zinnia Flower Chart 

MARIGOLD, Dwarf Single 




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MARIGOLD, Spry 





























