varieties, are all desirable for cut flowers and effective in garden
rows; but for corsage wear the last are best. It would be difficult to
find a flower more beautiful than a vivid-coloured single Dahlia.
For the rockwork try English Daisies—pink, white, crimson, and striped.
They do admirably in such a situation, digging their toes in between the
stones, finding cool, moist spots, and holding their heads up in the hot
sunshine. Start the seeds where they are to remain, or in a flat or
cold-frame. The little plants appear in from five to seven days, and
will need shade and moisture until they have become established. For
beds that lie in partial shade they make beautiful borders, forming
little rosettes of leaves that in the fall may be taken up and divided
by pulling apart into as many plants are there are crowns; in this way
one will, in a short time, secure a large bed or border. They should be
protected in winter by a mulch of rough stable litter, evergreen boughs,
or corn-stalks, and the bed raised to shed water.
The Hibiscus (Marshmallow) is a perennial deserving much more general
cultivation. Even to flower lovers it seems quite unknown, and yet it is
cheaply and easily raised from seed, and one of the hardiest of our
garden perennials. There are three varieties hardy in the North—an
immense pure white blossom with a velvety crimson eye, a pale pink or
flesh colour, and a lovely bright pink. These three are hardy in the
open ground without protection, but they will be stronger plants and
bloom more freely if protected with a little rough litter and hilled to
shed water.
There are several that may be treated as hardy annuals, and various
tender perennials that must be kept in the house or greenhouse during
winter. Among the first are Africanus, a large cream-coloured,
brown-eyed variety; it is low-growing and effective in front of the
tall, crimson-eyed sort, which with age attains a height of six or more
feet.
Giant Yellow is a beautiful canary yellow with crimson throat, hardy as
far north as St. Louis, but safer in the cellar above that latitude, and
Coccinea, a tender perennial of a brilliant crimson. If started early
all will give flowers the first season from seed, which may be sown in
hotbeds or flats in February or March in drills one-fourth inch deep.
They germinate in from five to seven days. Plant out in good garden soil
at corn-planting time, setting the hardy varieties where they are to
remain, as they do not bear transplanting well when they have attained
any considerable size. Cultivate during the hot weather or mulch. A
two-quart tin can, with holes on one side near the bottom, may be sunk
in the ground and filled with water. This with the mulch will keep the
earth cool and moist during the hottest weather. The plant is an
herbaceous perennial, dying down to the ground in winter and coming up
from the roots the following spring—rather late in May. Plants increase
in size and beauty each year, and a five-or six-years clump is superb.
[Illustration: COOL, MOIST SPOTS BETWEEN STONES]
Cut off the stalks a few inches above the ground when killed by frost,
but do not attempt to break them off or pull them up, as that will
injure the crown of the large, fleshy roots and cause decay during the
winter. The remainder of the stalk serves to mark the location of the
plant. When they have grown to blooming size they should be tied to
stout stakes. The large clumps have a tendency to spread at the roots,
and a severe rain and wind storm may lay them prostrate. Make a support
of two or three wooden hoops nailed to two or more stout stakes, the top
hoop standing three feet above the ground. Place this over the plants in
the spring and train them to grow up through the hoops.
For effective grouping, to fill in a corner, to serve as a screen to
unsightly objects, to catch the eye and carry it on from point to point,
there is no finer flower than the Hollyhock. The double flowers, of
course, are more attractive at close range, but at a distance the single
are rather more effective. Everyone who grows plants should find at
least one corner for a big clump of this gorgeous flower.
The seeds should be sown in the spring, either where they are to remain
or in a cold-frame; the location matters little so that favourable
conditions of the soil are secured. Plants started after the seed ripens
in the summer, even when protected by a cold-frame, do not make
sufficient growth to endure a very severe winter. The new Alleghany
Hollyhocks are hardier, and a fair proportion of plants from August-sown
seeds may be expected to survive the winter. When the plants run up
their blossom stalks the second season they must be securely staked to
prevent injury by high winds. If the borer appears apply the Paris-green
solution about the roots. The Hollyhock is subject to attack very early
in the season by a variety of red spider which feeds on out-of-door
plants. The Paris-green solution may be used for this, or a kerosene
emulsion, or the plants may simply be showered with hot water at about
145°. The remedy should be applied promptly. The Hollyhock blight is a
fungous disease of a most destructive nature. Its ravages almost drove
the Hollyhock out of our gardens some years ago. Infected plants should
be burned. Though hardy the second year, they should be hilled up
sufficiently to shed water and given a shelter of corn fodder or
evergreen boughs during the winter.
When the trees are in bloom Nasturtiums may be planted in the open
ground where they are to remain. They should have fairly rich soil and a
sunny situation, as they will not bloom well in the shade. The dwarf
varieties make very attractive borders for Canna beds, the colour and
texture of the foliage harmonising better with the Canna than that of
the Coleus and many other plants commonly employed, while the brightness
of the blossoms makes a very attractive whole.
The tall varieties make effective beds when pegged down, as the plants
root wherever they touch the ground and send up flower shoots. Usually,
however, they are grown on strings or trellises. The latter is a
troublesome method, as they must be fastened to their support with
strings. They are not climbers, but trailers, and have no tendrils or
other means of attaching themselves to their support.
The finest bed of Nasturtiums I have seen is an elevated one built
around a pipe which brings water from a distance. Some of the water—not
much—reaches them, and they are given little, if any, attention, but in
their elevated bed they grow luxuriantly, trailing over the sides of the
ground and showing a brilliant mass of flowers until cut down by frost.
Usually the Nasturtium receives too much water, and produces quantities
of rank, lush foliage instead of flowers.
The new Nasturtium, Sunlight, is one of the finest varieties brought out
in years—a pure, clear, golden yellow without any markings and of fine
size. Its companion, Moonlight, is a pale cream, almost white, showing
wine-coloured markings in the throat. For mixed varieties the hybrids of
Madame Gunther are the most desirable, and the new Chameleon shows a
variety of different coloured flowers on the same stem.
The Pansy Bed
To obtain the best results seed should be sown by the middle of August,
using fresh seed of the year if procurable. Rather than delay planting,
however, it is better to risk the lessened vitality of last year’s
seed—sowing somewhat more generously as an offset. Sow as thinly as
possible in the cold-frame or a spent hotbed, in drills two inches
apart, drawing the earth from the sides of the drills and pressing it
down with the board. The drills should run lengthwise of the bed from
east to west, and each variety should be distinctly labelled with name
and date of sowing. After sowing water well with the rubber sprinkler,
cover with newspapers, and protect the bed with lath screens. Pansy seed
germinates in from eight to ten days. When the plants have their second
leaves thin out by setting some between the rows, and encourage growth
by giving sunshine and water as needed and liquid manure once a month.
The aim should be to get a sturdy rather than a quick growth to fit them
for the winter. The soil in the frame should stand well above the soil
outside, and a trench or hole, filled with stone or broken crockery,
should be made in one corner, corresponding to the lowest level of the
earth outside, to carry off any surplus moisture that may gather in the
bed. When cold weather comes place the sash in position and, if it
remains steadily cold—below freezing—leave the bed undisturbed until
spring. The best results usually follow such a condition. If the winter
is an open one, and the ground free from frost much of the time, the
Pansies may be exposed to the sun and, on mild days, to the air. In this
way considerable winter growth will be secured. Should the temperature
fall sufficiently to freeze the ground inside the frame, the sash should
remain closed and be protected with mattings, old carpet, or the like,
and the plants allowed to thaw out in the dark. Never expose to the sun
when frozen, but thaw out under cover.
As soon as the ground can be worked in the spring prepare a bed in an
open, sunny situation by removing the soil to a depth of six or eight
inches and spading in a generous amount of old, well-rotted cow manure—a
wheel-barrow load to every fifteen square feet is not too much if it is
old and thoroughly spaded into the soil. Replace the surface soil, or,
better still, fill up the beds with leaf-mould or earth from the compost
heap. Instead of the cow manure, old, well-rotted hen manure and chip
dirt in equal quantities, with a liberal sprinkling of soot, may be
substituted. Dig it well into the subsoil and cover with fine loam or
leaf-mould, raking this fine and even and free from stones. Leave it to
settle for a few days and then transplant the Pansies, setting them nine
inches apart each way. Where several strains of Pansies are grown it is
an advantage to plant each variety by itself, marking the line of
separation by two or more rows of some distinct colour; such as pure
white, clear yellow, or black. This enables one to compare the varieties
at a glance and form a better estimate of their qualities than would be
possible in a mixed bed.
During hot, dry weather the Pansy bed should be watered twice a day—at
night and at noon. Watering the garden in the middle of the day may seem
a reckless innovation to many, especially to the professional gardener,
but years of experience have taught me the value of giving a plant water
when it most needs it—and that is when it is parched with heat. Of
course all plants will not stand water under a hot sun, but Pansies are
not injured by it in any way. Pansies do not send their roots as deeply
into the ground as most plants, but make many surface roots (hence we
place the fertilisers well below the surface to induce a deeper growth),
which even a temporary drying out of the top-soil will injure. A good
soaking of the soil at night will last until ten or eleven o’clock the
next day, according to exposure, and if another good wetting is then
given with water fresh from the hydrant or well it will remain cool and
moist throughout the twenty-four hours. The rapid evaporation caused by
the hot sun will create a moist atmosphere around the plants, producing
much finer flowers than would be possible in the dry air resulting from
withholding water until night. Always plant Pansies in an open, airy
situation, where the wind can have full sweep over them. There is no
more mistaken idea than that Pansies should be grown in the shade. The
aim should be to get stocky, upright plants with the flowers borne well
above the foliage on stiff stems. This is impossible when plants are
grown in the shade, where long, straggly branches will invariably be
produced, with flowers at the extreme end. Then, too, plants grown by
the side of the house, or in protected positions, where the wind cannot
sweep over them, are much more liable to disease than plants grown in
the open.
[Illustration: DUSTING WITH SULPHUR]
[Illustration: SPRAYING WITH BORDEAUX MIXTURE]
Fungoid disease and mildew often attack the Pansy in hot, muggy weather.
The remedy for the former is to spray with the Bordeaux mixture, and for
the latter to dust with sulphur. It will be better still—if the disease
appear in August, as is usual—to remove all the old growth, cutting or
breaking it off close to the crown, care being taken not to injure the
tender new shoots, which will have started by this time. Burn the old
tops. The new growth, being open to the air, will probably be free from
disease, and will quickly fill the bed, giving an abundance of fine
flowers throughout the cool days of fall. From a bed so treated I
gathered five hundred blossoms the day before Thanksgiving with no
apparent diminution of bloom. After removing the old growth the earth
between the plants should be thoroughly cleaned and worked over with the
trowel.
From the blooming of the first Pansy until frost the bed must be gone
over every day and all faded flowers removed. This is absolutely
necessary to insure free blooming. The formation of a single pod of seed
lessens the blooming capacity of the plant and reduces the size of
succeeding flowers.
To maintain a high standard it is best to purchase fresh seed each year,
buying the best to be obtained. Special mixtures sent out by the leading
florists are made up of the best strains of the Pansy specialists in
this country and Europe. One must not expect to purchase these
collections for the price of ordinary seed, from twenty-five cents to
fifty cents being the usual range of price. A packet of such fine
strains as Giant Cassier and Giant Trimardeau should be included; and
such special colours as may be wanted in larger quantities than the
mixed packages furnish. Snow Queen is the best pure white, and the bed
should contain a liberal number of these plants. Aurora is considerably
larger than the Snow Queen, but shows purple markings in the centre, and
is not so fine in shape and texture. With the exception of size, Snow
Queen is an ideal Pansy. If it is desired to carry the Pansy bed through
the winter it may be done by using pieces of board, half a yard long,
with notches cut in one end and the other end pointed. Put these through
the centre of the bed a few feet apart, hammering the sharp end into the
ground. Place long poles lengthwise of the bed, resting them on the
notches. This forms a support on which the evergreen boughs, corn
fodder, boards, bark, or anything that will shed water and protect from
sun and wind. Leaves and litter are not suitable protection for Pansies,
as they settle around the plants, freezing and causing them to decay.
[Illustration: SOW POPPIES IN THE PERENNIAL BORDER AMONG THE LATE
FLOWERING PLANTS]
When there is a large garden to be cared for it is not always expedient
to carry the Pansy bed through the summer, as the daily labour of
removing the withered flowers is very great. In that case it will be
better to let the Pansies go when hot weather reduces the size and
quantity of the flowers, replacing them with plants grown for the
purpose, Petunias, bedding Begonias, Heliotropes, and the like.
Sow Poppy seed freely wherever there is a corner to spare, especially if
it is a corner that would otherwise be neglected and grow up to weeds.
It is surprising how many places may be found to sow them. A barren
angle of a fence, a vacant strip behind or at the side of some
outbuilding, an exposed spot among trees where nothing else will grow, a
foot of ground here and there, in the perennial border and among late
flowering plants, where the Poppies will have danced through their brief
season of bloom and passed on before the former have discovered that
they need the room. Use all these odds and ends of room, but, if
possible, have a long, narrow bed of them—single and double, the deep
blood red, the gorgeous scarlet, the wonderful Shirleys, whose delicate
cups like crinkled silk seem to flush and pale with the tremulous colour
of an opal as you look at them. Plant Eschscholtzias as a border, but
sow Iceland and the Oriental Poppies, which are hardy perennials, by
themselves; otherwise they are easily destroyed in the clearing-up time
which comes after blossoming. There is a fine yellow Poppy, Hunnemannia
fumariæfolia, which should not be overlooked. Poppy seed sown in August
gives richer coloured flowers than spring-sown seed. Seeds of
Eschscholtzia and Hunnemannia should always be sown in May. Sow
broadcast as thinly as possible on soil that has been worked mellow and
fine, pressing it into the ground with a board. As it is difficult to
sow the seed thinly enough it is a good plan to mix it with fine sand—a
teaspoonful or less of seed to a teacup of sand—and scatter that as
thinly as possible. It will, even then, be found that the plants will
come up too thickly and will need to be thinned to stand a foot apart
each way. Poppies grown too closely will throw up one or two slender
stems with only a few blossoms, while, given plenty of room, they will
branch freely, producing dozens of flowers and remaining in bloom for
weeks. Mark the finest blossoms on the plant from which you wish to save
seed, removing all others as they fade, that they may not self-sow or
check the bloom. If self-sown they are apt to come up so quickly as to
be troublesome. Pull up the plants as soon as they have done blooming to
add to the compost heap, and prepare the ground, if not needed for other
plants, for the fresh seed. When there is sufficient shade to grow them
the blue of Myosotis and of Anchusa capensis is lovely among the
Poppies.
Phlox Drummondi
Try a border of the dwarf Phlox Drummondi, sown to make a colour scheme.
Set six to eight inches apart, in the form of scallops, the point coming
between every other plant of the tall, perennial Phlox. Make the rows
two or three plants wide at the centre, narrowing to a single plant at
the point, using scarlet or pink, and filling in the space between the
scallops and the straight edge of the bed with solid white. Or a double
scallop, one beginning in the centre of the other, may be made of
scarlet and buff, or pink and buff, filling in the large spaces between
with white and the small spaces with Cope’s Favourite Ageratum. The
dwarf Ageratums grow very evenly and are admirably adapted for carpet
bedding. Seed of the dwarf Phlox germinates very slowly. It should be
sown where it will have bottom heat and be given plenty of time,
frequently three weeks or more. The common Phlox Drummondi germinates
more freely, and may be sown where it is to remain, thinning to six
inches apart in the rows, or it may be sown and transplanted, which
insures more even rows.
Salvias (Flowering Sage)
It is surprising how seldom one sees the Salvia grown to any
considerable extent outside the public gardens and parks, though no
other flower can compare with it in richness of colour and freedom of
bloom, but there seems to be an impression that it must be purchased
from a florist or grown from cuttings. Salvia is much more desirable for
bedding than for any other purpose. In the house it is subject to
attacks of red spider, which make it more trouble to care for than it is
worth, while in the open ground it is remarkably healthy and free from
insect pests.
Seed should be started early in flats or hotbed, and plants set out
where they are to remain, when all danger of frost is past, as they are
very sensitive to cold. Muck or marsh earth seems the most congenial
soil in which to grow the Salvias, and if this is supplied they will
need little care beyond watering during the summer.
I have grown the Salvia splendens—the usual height of which is about two
and a half feet—to a uniform height of five feet in a bed of marsh
earth, with a supply of water from a pipe, keeping it constantly moist.
They will do well in the hottest situation if well supplied with water,
and even better in partial shade—the foliage being a deeper green and
the colour of the blossoms richer and more velvety than when exposed to
full sunlight. For years I have grown them around a twelve-foot bed of
Ricinus and Cannas, and notice that the plants are always much finer on
the north side.
Try them as a border to a bed of Cannas or Ricinus, edging them with
white Sweet Alyssum or dwarf Ageratum. They root readily in wet sand in
a warm situation, and if a house-plant is available it may be used for
cuttings instead of sowing seed.
Seed may be saved without injury to the plants as it ripens, and must be
gathered before the flowers entirely fade. The corolla or lip of the
flower falls out, leaving four white seeds an eighth of an inch long at
the base of the calyx, which remains fresh until the seeds have ripened,
when they may be shaken out. By going over the plants daily one soon
saves a fine lot of seed, which may be depended upon to germinate. The
Salvia seed germinates in about five days. But less vigorous seed will
continue to appear for two or three weeks after sowing, and the soil
should not be disturbed until all have had time to appear. They require
considerable heat to germinate freely, and when this is supplied will
give very satisfactory returns. Bonfire, Clara Bedman, and S. splendens
are the best of the scarlet-flowered variety. The white-flowered Salvias
would be desirable if the blossoms were more closely massed on the
spray; as it is they are too scattered to have any value. S. patens,
however, when brought to perfection is magnificent, the individual
flowers being double the size of the scarlet and of the most wonderful
shade of blue. It is seldom seen, but should have a place in every
garden, as it is a colour rare among flowers, the nearest approach to it
being the Monkshood. It is a tender perennial, but may be wintered in a
warm, dry cellar, dying down to the ground usually, but starting up from
the root in the spring.
Sweet Alyssum and Golden Saxatile are both desirable for edging or for
rockwork, and may either be sown in the open ground where they are to
remain, or in a seed-bed and transplanted.
Sweet-peas
So much has been written on this subject that the culture of Sweet-peas
might, without much exaggeration, be called a cult. Though blooming with
its head in the sun, the Sweet-pea loves to plunge its roots deep in the
cool, moist earth, and the seed should be planted as early in the spring
as the ground can be worked, or, better yet, in the fall. This late fall
planting has much to recommend it, as there is more leisure and the work
is apt to be better done than in the hurried days of spring when
everything seems to call for immediate attention.
The seed should be planted deep in two rows a foot apart, running, if
possible, north and south, that the plants may receive the maximum
amount of sunshine. Placed in this way, they receive both morning and
afternoon sun. A strip of wire netting five feet high should be
stretched between the rows and securely fastened to stout posts driven
into the ground. Six-foot netting is even better than five, as the
Sweet-pea loves to climb, and blooms better if not thwarted. Dig on each
side of the netting, as close as may be without breaking the space
between, a trench a foot or eighteen inches deep and as wide as is
necessary to work conveniently. Place in the bottom about six inches,
when trodden down, of old, well-rotted cow manure, fill in about six
inches of the removed soil, making it fine and mellow; sow the seed and
cover with two or three inches of soil and press firmly down. If planted
in the fall protect with several inches of rough manure, removing it in
the spring that the soil may get the benefit of the sun’s warmth. When
the plants are two or three inches high thin to six inches apart in the
rows, and draw up part of the soil removed from the trench. Add more as
the plants grow until it is all banked up against them, leaving a slight
trench between the ridges and the surface of the ground.