Table of 
Contents 
How-to-Grow 
Section 
Tulips, Hyacinths, 
Narcissi 
Best bulb sizes, 2, 3. Kind 
of soil required, 5. Soil prep- 
aration and drainage, 5, 6. 
Fertilizing after planting, 6, 
7. How to plant, 8. Time 
to plant, 8. Keeping bulbs 
until ready to set, 10. Plaat- 
ing arrangements, 10. Natur- 
alizing, 10. Cultivation and 
watering, 11. Winter care, 
11. Why mulching is neces- 
sary, 12. Cutting flowers, 13. 
Preparing for second year 
blooms, 14. Moving bulbs, 
lao Waterings. 15.) elnter- 
cropping, 15. Diseases and 
insects, 15, 18. 
Peonies 
Good planting stock, 18. 
Kind of soil, 18. Sunshine, 
18. Soil preparation and fer- 
tilizing, 18. How to plant, 
19. Time to plant, 19. Cul- 
tivation, 19. Disbudding, 19. 
Winter care, 19. Supporting 
flowers, 19. Cutting, 22. 
Preparing for subsequent 
years’ bloom, 22. Watering, 
22. Diseases, 22. 
Poppies 
Soil preparation, 22. Fer- 
tilizing, 22. How to plant, 
22. Planting distance, 22. 
Depth, 22. Watering, 22. 
Winter care, 22. Time to 
plant, 22. Planting systems, 
23. Summer care, 23. Insects 
and diseases, 23. Cutting, 23. 
The second year and after, 
233 
German Iris—23 
Soils, drainage, fertilizer, 
26. Time to plant, how to 
plant, planting distance, etc., 
26. 
Miniature Iris—26 
Japanese or Rainbow Iris 
Mammoth size, delicate, 
26. Requirements for suc- 
cess, 29. How to prepare 
_ soil, 29. How to set, 29. 
Fertilizing, planting time, 
winter care, planting dis- 
tance, cultivation, watering, 
dividing, 29. 
Perennials—30 
Azaleamums—30 
Other Mums—30 
Asters—30 - 
Carnations—30 
Lilies—31 
Day Lilies—31 - 
Phlox—31 
Shrubs and Vines—31 
Planting-Time Map—31 
Bulb Planting Scale—31 
(Index of Plants and 
Bulbs—page 15.) 

How to Grow Them 

wire around these. Shake water out of blooms 
after heavy rains. 
CUTTING: Leave three or four leaves below 
the cut. Best time—early morning. Partly open 
flowers best. 
PREPARING FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS’ 
BLOOM: If your Peonies are doing well, don’t 
disturb them. Usually they will bloom well for 
five years or more, then if they start to fail, 
divide roots and replant. Write us for instructions. 
Leave foliage on until it dies down, as it helps 
assimilate food. 
WATERING: Water Peonies well, especially 
while in flower. Best methods: Fine spray or over- 
flow. Also water in the spring when rainfall is 
not normally abundant. 
DISEASES: You will have very little trouble 
with diseases if you buy good, healthy stock to 
begin with, and keep weeds out of your garden. 
Cultivation gives aeration and helps prevent 
diseases. 
The few diseases that may visit your Peonies are: 
(1) Bud rot, usually indicated by failure of buds 
to open. A clean garden will seldom be visited 
by bud rot. Remedy: Remove all affected buds, 
together with several leaves beneath each. Burn 
at once. Preventive: Spray with bordeaux mixture 
in early spring. Let the spray fall on the soil, to 
catch any spores that may be there. 
(2) Botrytis blight: Buds and seed pods dry up. 
Control: Keep old flowers off, remove dead foli- 
age in fall after killing frost, and burn it. Keep 
clean, keep clean, keep clean! Preventive: Spray 
with bordeaux mixture about every two weeks or 
oftener from time leaves appear in spring until 
blooms appear. 
(3) Nematodes: Buy only clean healthy plants, 
and plant in clean soil. They cause poor bloom 
and are identified by small knots on the roots. 
(4) Ants. Don’t worry too much about ants. Do 
no harm in themselves. Can, however, spread 
other diseases, but not at all dangerous if you 
have a good, clean bed. 
Poppies 
If there is one very beautiful flower that is easy 
to grow, it is the Oriental Poppy. And, note that 
we say beautiful. We think the Poppies are one 
of the most exquisite of all. They require very 
little attention, and most any soil will do for them, 
providing it is well-drained, and providing it is 
in a sunny location. Do find room for them in 
your garden. 
SOIL PREPARATION: Same as for Peonies, ex- 
cepting that it need not necessarily be prepared 
so deeply. Roppies will be perfectly happy in soil 
ee is prepared to a depth of only about one 
oot. 
Drainage: Same as for Peonies. It is one of the 
things that Poppies do require, as the roots may 
rot if it is not provided. Read back to your in- 
structions for growing Peonies, and follow them 
for your Poppies. 
Poppies will be particularly valuable in your gar- 
den if you happen to have a rather heavy piece 
of soil that will not do well for other plants. They 
will do well on this soil, providing it has the sun 
and drainage. They also require very little atten- 
tion after planting. 
[22] 
They also will often thrive in soil that is too shal- 
low for other favorite garden flowers. By shallow 
soil, we refer to the fertile part. If the part con- 
taining fertile soil is only one foot deep, the soil 
is said to be only one foot deep. 
For example, you may have a piece of ground 
with a fertile depth of only one foot, and with a 
gravel sub-soil underneath. Or, one only six or 
eight inches deep. Here you can grow Poppies, as 
the gravel will provide the necessary drainage, 
In fact, the soil would be almost ideal, though 
not suitable for such plants as Peonies, because 
of its shallowness. 
But, if your sub-soil should be an impervious 
hard-pan or heavy clay, which would not permit 
drainage, then you might have difficulty with 
Poppies. 
FERTILIZING POPPIES: Commercial fertilizers 
can be used with considerable success. Apply 
them in the spring, after growth has appeared, on 
top of the soil, and not too close to the plants. A 
4-8-4 or 5-10-5, or similar formula can be used. 
Next, rake the fertilizer in; or use some other 
suitable garden tool. 
About 1/4 lbs. of commercial fertilizer per 100 
square feet is right. Or, measure out a ration of 
about 2 Ibs. per 100 square feet, then apply only 
lY, lb. at a time, and at intervals of about 10 days, 
until the ration is used. Work in each time. 
More fertilizer can be used by this measured- 
ration method. 
Another way to fertilize Poppies is to work in 
well-rotted stable manure at soil preparation time. 
2 to 3 bushels of well-rotted manure per 100 
square feet would be about right. Other animal 
fertilizers, if well-rotted, can also be used. But, do 
not use chicken manure. 
You can also mulch with stable manure after the 
first freeze the first autumn, but that would be 
for the first year only. Poppies will not require 
mulching thereafter. 
HOW TO PLANT: After the soil has been pre- 
pared for planting, either with fertilizer mixed in 
or without, make a hole deep enough and wide 
enough to accommodate the roots easily. Set the 
roots vertically, top up. There will usually be 
some signs of green growth at the top, but if it 
appears to you that the plant has roots on both 
ends, the end with the most roots is the bottom. 
Better make the hole oversize than undersize. In 
any event, you are loosening the soil when you 
make the hole oversize, and accordingly the roots 
will have a better chance to start growth and de- 
velop. Never plant in a hole so small that the 
roots must be bent. 
Planting Distance: 12 to 18 inches. 
Planting Depth: The top of the plants should be 
just below the surface of the ground. One inch 
of soil is easily sufficient. 
After the plants are set, water the entire bed of 
Poppies thoroughly. Soak them in well, and 
they will have the best chance to bloom their 
best for you. 
After the first freeze in the fall, you can give 
your Poppies a light mulching. Use straw or peat 
moss; or marsh hay is good; and leaves are suit- 
able if used very lightly, but may smother the 
plants if applied too heavily. 
This mulching is necessary the first year only. 
Poppies are exceedingly hardy, and will come 
through most any winter unscathed. 
TIME TO PLANT: Set your Poppies just as 
soon as you receive them from the nursery. Nurs- 
eries dig Poppies as early as possible, and will 
likely ship early, usually in September. Early 
planting will give the roots a chance to develop 
before the ground freezes. 
