Chapter III: Part 3

Perennial Phlox, all things considered, deserves a place very near to the head of the list of our very best hardy plants. Perhaps if a vote were taken, it would be elected as leader of its class in point of merit. It is so entirely hardy, so sturdy and self-reliant, so wonderfully floriferous, and so rich and varied in color that it is almost an ideal plant for border-use. It varies greatly in habit. Some varieties attain a height of five feet or more. Others are low growers,--almost dwarfs, in fact,--therefore well adapted to places in the very front row, and close to the path. The majority are of medium habit, fitting into the middle rows most effectively. With a little care in the selection of varieties--depending on the florists' catalogues to give us the height of each--it is an easy matter to arrange the various sorts in such a way as to form a bank which will be an almost solid mass of flowers for weeks. Some varieties have flowers of the purest white, and the colors of others range through many shades of pink, carmine, scarlet, and crimson, to lilac, mauve, and magenta. The three colors last named must never be planted alongside or near to the other colors, with the exception of white, as there can be no harmony between them. They make a color-discord so intense as to be positively painful to the eye that has keen color-sense. But combine them with the white kinds and they are among the loveliest of the lot. This Phlox ought always to be grouped, to be most effective, and white varieties should be used liberally to serve as a foil to the more brilliant colors and bring out their beauty most strikingly.

Peonies are superb flowers, and no border can afford to be without them. The varieties are almost endless, but you cannot have too many of them. Use them everywhere. The chances are that you will wish you had room for more. They bloom early, are magnificent in color and form, and are so prolific that old plants often bear a hundred or more flowers each season, and their profusion of bloom increases with age, as the plant gains in size. Many varieties are as fragrant as a Rose, and all of them are as hardy as a plant can well be. What more need be said in their favor?

In order to attain the highest degree of success with the Peony, it should be given a rather heavy soil, and manure should be used with great liberality. In fact it is hardly possible to make the soil too rich to suit it. Disturb the roots as little as possible. The plant is very sensitive to any treatment that affects the root, and taking away a "toe" for a neighbor will often result in its failure to bloom next season. Keep the grass from crowding it. Year after year it will spread its branches farther and wider, and there will be more of them, and its flowers will be larger and finer each season, if the soil is kept rich. I know of old clumps that have a spread of six feet or more, sending up hundreds of stalks from matted roots that have not been disturbed for no one knows how long, on which blossoms can be counted by the hundreds every spring.

Dicentra, better known as "Bleeding Heart," because of its pendulous, heart-shaped flowers, is a most lovely early bloomer. It is an excellent plant for the front row of the border. It sends up a great number of flowering stalks, two and three feet in length, all curving gracefully outward from the crown of the plant. These bear beautiful foliage--indeed, the plant would be well worth growing for this alone--and each stalk is terminated with a raceme of pink and white blossoms. It is difficult to imagine anything lovelier or more graceful than this plant, when in full bloom.

The Aquilegia ought to be given a place in all collections. It comes in blue, white, yellow, and red. Some varieties are single, others double, and all beautiful. This is one of our early bloomers. It should be grown in clumps, near the front row.

The Iris is to the garden what the Orchid is to the greenhouse. Its colors are of the richest--blue, purple, violet, yellow, white, and gray. It blooms in great profusion, for weeks during the early part of summer. It is a magnificent flower. It will be found most effective when grouped, but it can be scattered about the border in such a way as to produce charming results if one is careful to plant it among plants whose flowers harmonize with the different varieties in color. Color-harmony is as important in the hardy border as in any other part of the garden, and no plant should be put out until you are sure of the effect it will produce upon other plants in its immediate neighborhood. Find the proper place for it before you give it a permanent location. The term, "proper place," has as much reference to color as to size. A plant that introduces color-discord is as much out of place as is the plant whose size makes it a candidate for a position in the rear when it is given a place in the immediate foreground.

Pyrethrum _uliginosum_ is a wonderfully free bloomer, growing to a height of three or four feet, therefore well adapted to the middle rows of the border. It blooms during the latter part of summer. It is often called the "Giant Daisy," and the name is very appropriate, as it is the common Daisy, to all intents and purposes, on a large scale.

The small white Daisy, of lower growth, is equally desirable for front-row locations. It is a most excellent plant, blooming early in the season, and throughout the greater part of summer, and well into autumn if the old flower-stalks are cut away in September, to encourage new growth. It is a stand-by for cut flowers for bouquet work. Because of its compact habit it is a very desirable plant for edging the border.

It is difficult to imagine anything more daintily charming than the herbaceous Spireas. _Alba_, white, and _rosea_, soft pink, produce large, feathery tufts of bloom on stalks six and seven feet tall. The flowers of these varieties are exceedingly graceful in an airy, cloud-like way, and never fail to attract the attention of those who pass ordinary plants by without seeing them.

The florists have taken our native Asters in hand, and we now have several varieties that make themselves perfectly at home in the border. Some of them grow to a height of eight feet. Others are low growers. The rosy-violet kinds and the pale lavender-blues are indescribably lovely. Nearly all of them bloom very late in the season. Their long branches will be a mass of flowers with fringy petals and a yellow centre. These plants have captured the charm of the Indian Summer and brought it into the garden, where they keep it prisoner during the last days of the season. By all means give them a place in your collection. And it will add to the effect if you plant alongside them a few clumps of their sturdy, faithful old companion of the roadside and pasture, the Golden Rod.

It hardly seems necessary for me to give a detailed description of all the plants deserving a place in the border. The list would be too long if I were to attempt to do so. You will find all the really desirable kinds quite fully described in the catalogues of the leading dealers in plants. Information as to color, size, and time of flowering is given there, and you can select to suit your taste, feeling confident that you will be well satisfied with the result.

Just a few words of advice, in conclusion:

Don't crowd your plants.

Allow for development.

Don't try to have a little of everything.

Don't overlook the old-fashioned kinds simply because they happen to be old. That proves that they have merit.

Keep the ground between them clean and open.

Manure well each spring.

Stir the soil occasionally during the season.

Prevent the formation of seed.

Once in three or four years divide the old clumps, and discard all but the strongest, healthiest portions of the roots. Reset in rich, mellow soil. Do this while the plants are at a standstill, early in spring, or in fall, after the work of the season is over.

THE GARDEN OF ANNUALS

In preparing the garden for annuals, the first thing to do is to spade up the soil. This can be done shortly after the frost is out of the ground. This is about all that can be done to advantage, at this time, as the ground must be allowed to remain as it comes from the spade until the combined effect of sun and air has put it into a condition that will make it an easy matter to reduce it to proper mellowness with the hoe or iron rake.

Right here let me say: Most of us, in the enthusiasm which takes possession of us when spring comes, are inclined to rush matters. We spade up the soil, and immediately attempt to pulverize it, and of course fail in the attempt, because it is not in a proper condition to pulverize. We may succeed in breaking it up into little clods, but that is not what needs doing. It must be made fine, and mellow,--not a lump left in it,--and this can only be done well after the elements have had an opportunity to do their work on it. When one comes to think about it, there is no need of hurry, for it is not safe to sow seed in the ground at the north until the weather becomes warm and settled, and that will not be before the first of May, in a very favorable season, and generally not earlier than the middle of the month. This being the case, be content to leave the soil to the mellowing influences of the weather until seed-sowing time is at hand. _Then_ go to work and get your garden ready.

If the soil is not rich, apply manure from the barnyard or its substitute in the shape of some reliable fertilizer.

Do this before you set about the pulverization of the soil. Then go to work with hoe and rake, and reduce it to the last possible degree of fineness, working the fertilizer you make use of into it in such a manner that both are perfectly blended.

There is no danger of overdoing matters in this part of garden-work. The finer the soil is the surer you may be of the germination of the seed you put into it. Fine seed often fails to grow in a coarse and lumpy soil.

In sowing seed, make a distinction between the very fine and that of ordinary size. Fine seed should be scattered on the surface, and no attempt made to cover it. Simply press down the soil upon which you have scattered it with a smooth board. This will make it firm enough to retain the moisture required to bring about germination.

Larger seed can be sown on the surface, and afterward covered by sifting a slight covering of fine soil over it. Then press with the board to make it firm.

Large seed, like that of the Sweet Pea, Four-o'-Clock, and Ricinus, should be covered to the depth of half an inch.

I always advise sowing seed in the beds where the plants are to grow, instead of starting it in pots and boxes, in the house, early in the season, under the impression that by so doing you are going to "get the start of the season." In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, plants from seed sown in the house will be so weak in vital force that they cannot stand the change which comes when they are transplanted to the open ground. In the majority of cases, there will be none to transplant, for seedlings grown under living-room conditions generally die before the time comes when it is safe to put them out of doors. Should there be any to put out, they will be so weak that plants from seed sown in the beds, at that time, will invariably get the start of them, and these are sure to make the best plants. A person must be an expert in order to make a success of plant-growing from seed, in the house, in spring. There will be too much heat, too little fresh air, too great a lack of moisture in the atmosphere, and often a lack of proper attention in the way of watering, and unless these matters can be properly regulated it is useless to expect success. Knowing what the result is almost sure to be, I discourage the amateur gardener from attempting to grow his own seedlings under these conditions. If early plants are desired, buy them of the florists whose facilities for growing them are such that they can send out strong and healthy stock.

Do not sow the seeds of tender plants until you are quite sure that the danger from cold nights is over. It is hardly safe to put any kind of seed into the ground before the middle of May, at the north.

If we wait until all conditions are favorable, the young plants will get a good start and go steadily ahead, and distance those from seed sown before the soil had become warm or the weather settled. Haste often makes waste. If the soil is cold and damp seed often fails to germinate in it, and this obliges you to buy more seed, and all your labor goes for naught.

To the method and time of planting advised above, there is one exception--that of the Sweet Pea. This should go into the ground as soon as possible in spring. For this reason: This plant likes to get a good root-growth before the warm weather of summer comes. With such a growth it is ready for flowering early in the season, and no time is wasted. Dig a V-shaped trench six inches deep. Sow the seed thickly. It ought not to be more than an inch apart, and if closer no harm will be done. Cover to the depth of an inch, at time of sowing, tramping the soil down firmly. When the young plants have grown to be two or three inches tall, draw in more of the soil, and keep on doing this from time to time, as the seedlings reach up, until all the soil from the trench has been returned to it. This method gives us plants with roots deep enough in the soil to make sure of sufficient moisture in a dry season. It also insures coolness at the root, a condition quite necessary to the successful culture of this favorite flower.

Weeds will generally put in an appearance before the flowering plants do. As soon as you can tell "which is which" the work of weeding must begin. At this stage, hand-pulling will have to be depended on. But a little later, when the flowering plants have made an inch or two of growth, weeding by hand should be abandoned. Provide yourself with a weeding-hook--a little tool with claw-shaped teeth--with which you can uproot more weeds in an hour than you can in all day by hand, and the work will be done in a superior manner as the teeth of the little tool stir the surface of the soil just enough to keep it light and open--a condition that is highly favorable to the healthy development of young plants. I have never yet seen a person who liked to pull weeds by hand. Gardens are often neglected because of the dislike of their owners for this disagreeable task. The use of the weeding-hook does away with the drudgery, and makes really pleasant work of the fight with weeds.

If seedlings are to be transplanted, do it after sundown or on a cloudy day. Lift the tender plants as carefully as possible, and aim to not expose their delicate roots. Get the place in which you propose to plant them ready before you lift them, and then set them out immediately. Make a hole as deep as their roots are long, drop the plants into it, and press the soil firmly about them with thumb and finger. It may be well to water them if the season is a dry one. Shade them next day, and continue to do so until they show that they have made new feeding roots by beginning to grow. I make use of a "shader" that I have "evolved from my inner consciousness" that gives better satisfaction than anything else I have ever tried. I cut thick brown paper into circular shape, eight inches across. Then I cut out a quarter of it, and bring the edges of this cut together, and run a stick or wire through them to hold them together. This stick or wire should be about ten inches long, as the lower end of it must go into the soil. When my "shader" is ready for use it has some resemblance to a paper umbrella with a handle at one side instead of in the middle. This handle is inserted in the soil close to the plant, and the "umbrella" shades it most effectively, and does this without interfering with a free circulation of air, which is a matter of great importance.

If thorough work in the way of weeding is done at the beginning of the season, it will be an easy matter to keep the upper hand of the enemy later on. But if you allow the weeds to get the start of you, you will have to do some hard fighting to gain the supremacy which ought never to have been relinquished. After a little, the hoe can be used to advantage. If the season happens to be a dry one, do not allow the soil to become hard, and caked on the surface, under the impression that it will not be safe to stir it because of the drouth. A soil that is kept light and open will absorb all the moisture there is in the air, while one whose surface is crusted over cannot do this, therefore plants growing in it suffer far more than those do in the soil that is stirred constantly. Aim to get all possible benefit from dews and slight showers by keeping the soil in such a sponge-like condition that it can take advantage of them.

It is a good plan to use the grass-clippings from the lawn as a mulch about your plants in hot, dry weather.

Do not begin to water plants in a dry season unless you can keep up the practice. Better let them take the chances of pulling through without the application than to give it for a short time and then abandon it because of the magnitude of the task.

Furnish racks and trellises for such plants as need them as soon as they are needed. Many a good plant is spoiled by neglecting to give attention to its requirements at the proper time.

Make it a rule to go over the garden at least twice a week, after the flowering season sets in, and cut away all faded flowers. If this is done, no seed will come to development, and the strength of the plants will be expended in the production of other flowers. By keeping up this practice through the season, it is possible to keep most of them blossoming until late in the summer, as they will endeavor to perpetuate themselves by the production of seed, and the first step in this process is the production of flowers.

What flowers would you advise us to grow? many readers of this chapter will be sure to ask, after having read what I have said above about the garden of annuals.

In answering this question here, it will be necessary, in a measure, to repeat what has been, or will be, said in other chapters, where various phases of gardening are treated. But the question is one that should be answered in this connection, at the risk of repetition, in order to fully cover the subject now under consideration.

There are so many kinds of flowers offered by the seedsmen that it is a difficult matter to decide between them, when all are so good. But no one garden is large enough to contain them all. Were one to attempt the cultivation of all he would be obliged to put in all his time at the work, and the services of an assistant would be needed, besides. Even then the chances are that the work would be done in a superficial fashion. Therefore I shall mention only such kinds as I consider the very best of the lot for general use, adding this advice:

Don't attempt too much. A few good kinds, well grown, will afford a great deal more pleasure than a great many kinds only half grown.

This list is made up of such kinds as can properly be classed as "stand-bys," kinds which any amateur gardener can be reasonably sure of success with if the instructions given in this chapter are carefully followed.

_Alyssum._--Commonly called Sweet Alyssum, because of its pleasing fragrance. Of low growth. Very effective as an edging. Most profuse and constant bloomer.

_Aster._--This annual disputes popularity with the Sweet Pea. Very many persons would prefer it to any other because of its sturdy habit, ease of culture, profusion of bloom, and great variety of color. It is one of the indispensables.

_Antirrhinum_ (Snapdragon).--Plant of profuse flowering habit. Flowers of peculiar shape, mostly in rich colors. Very satisfactory for autumn.

_Balsam._--Splendid plant for summer flowering, coming in many colors, some of these exceedingly delicate and beautiful. Flowers like small Roses, very double, and set so thickly along the stalks that each branch seems like a wreath of bloom. It is often necessary to trim off many of the leaves in order to give the blossoms a chance to display themselves. Some varieties are charmingly variegated. Being quite tender it should not be sown until one is sure of warm weather.

_Calliopsis_ (Coreopsis).--A very showy plant, with rich yellow flowers, marked with brown, maroon and scarlet at the base of the petal. A most excellent plant where great masses of color are desired. Fine for combining with scarlet and other strong-toned flowers. An all-the-season bloomer.

_Candytuft._--A free and constant bloomer, of low habit. Very useful for edging beds and borders. Comes in pure white and purplish red.

_Celosia_ (Cockscomb).--A plant with most peculiar flowers. What we _call_ the flower is really a collection of hundreds of tiny individual blossoms set so close together that they seem to compose one large blossom. The prevailing color is a bright scarlet, but we have some varieties in pink and pale yellow. Sure to please.

_Cosmos._--A plant of wonderfully free flowering habit. Flowers mostly pink, white, and lilac. A tall grower, branching freely, therefore well adapted to back rows, or massing. Foliage fine and feathery. Excellent for cutting. One of our most desirable fall bloomers. We have an early Cosmos of rather dwarf habit, but the large-growing late varieties are far more satisfactory. It may be necessary to cover the plants at night when the frosts of middle and late September are due, as they will be severely injured by even the slightest touch of frost. Well worth all the care required.

_Four-o'-Clock_ (Marvel of Peru--Mirabilis).--A good, old-fashioned flower that has the peculiarity of opening its trumpet-shaped blossoms late in the afternoon. Bushy, well branched, and adapted to border use as a "filler."

_Escholtzia_ (California Poppy).--One of the showiest flowers in the entire list. A bed of it will be a sheet of richest golden yellow for many weeks.

_Gaillardia_ (Blanket-flower).--A profuse and constant bloomer, of rich and striking color-combinations. Yellow, brown, crimson, and maroon. Most effective when massed.

_Gypsophila_ (Baby's Breath).--A plant of great daintiness, both in foliage and flowers. Always in demand for cut-flower work. White and pink.

_Kochia_ (Burning Bush--Mexican Fire-plant).--A very desirable plant, of symmetrical, compact habit. Rich green throughout the summer, but turning to dark red in fall. Fine for low hedges and for scattering through the border wherever there happens to be a vacancy.

_Larkspur._--Another old-fashioned flower of decided merit.

_Marigold._--An old favorite that richly deserves a place in all gardens because of its rich colors, free blooming qualities and ease of culture.

_Nasturtium._--Too well known to need description here. Everybody ought to grow it. Unsurpassed in garden decoration and equally as valuable for cutting. Blooms throughout the entire season. Does well in a rather poor soil. In a very rich soil it makes a great growth of branches at the expense of blossoms.

_Pansy._--Not an annual, but generally treated as such. A universal favorite that almost everybody grows. If flowers of a particular color are desired I would advise buying blooming seedlings from the florist, as one can never tell what he is going to get if he depends on seed of his own sowing. The flowers will be as fine as those from selected varieties, but there will be such a medley of colors that one sometimes tires of the effect. I have always received the most pleasure from planting distinct colors, like the yellows, the blues, the whites, and the purples, and the only way in which I can make sure of getting just the colors I want is to tell the florist about them, and instruct him to send me those colors when his seedlings come into bloom.

_Petunia._--Another of the "stand-bys." A plant that can always be depended on. Very free bloomer, very profuse, and very showy. If the old plants that have blossomed through the summer begin to look ragged and unsightly, cut away the entire top. In a short time new shoots will be sent out from the stump of the old plant, and almost before you know it the plant will have renewed itself, and be blooming as freely as when it was young. Fine for massing.

_Phlox Drummondi._--One of our most satisfactory annuals. Any one can grow it. It begins to bloom when small, and improves with age. Comes in a wide range of colors, some brilliant, others delicate--all beautiful. Charming effects are easily secured by planting the pale rose, pure white, and soft yellow varieties together, either in rows or circles. The contrast will be fine, and the harmony perfect. Other colors are desirable, but they do not all combine well. It is a good plan to use white varieties freely, as these heighten the effect of the strong colors. I always buy seed in which each color is by itself, as a mixture of red, crimson, lilac, and violet in the same bed is never pleasing to me.

_Poppy._--Brilliant and beautiful. Unrivalled for midsummer show. As this plant is of little value after its early flowering period is over, other annuals can be planted in the bed with it, to take its place. Set these plants about the middle of July, and when they begin to bloom pull up the Poppies. The Shirley strain includes some of the loveliest colors imaginable. Its flowers have petals that seem cut from satin. The large-flowered varieties are quite as ornamental as Peonies, as long as they last.

_Portulacca._--Low grower, spreading until the surface of the bed is covered with the dark green carpet of its peculiar foliage. Flowers both single and double, of a great variety of colors. Does well in hot locations, and in poor soil. Of the easiest culture.

_Scabiosa._--Very fine. Especially for cutting. Colors dark purple, maroon, and white.

_Salpiglossis._--A free-blooming plant, of very brilliant coloring and striking variegation. Really freakish in its peculiar markings.

_Stock_ (Gillyflower).--A plant of great merit. Flowers of the double varieties are like miniature Roses, in spikes. Very fragrant. Fine for cutting. Blooms until frost comes. Red, pink, purple, white, and pale yellow. The single varieties are not desirable, and as soon as a seedling plant shows single flowers, pull it up.

_Sweet Pea._--This grand flower needs no description. It is one of the plants we _must_ have.

_Verbena._--Old, but none the worse for that. A free and constant bloomer, of rich and varied coloring. Habit low and spreading. One of the best plants we have for low beds, under the sitting-room windows. Keep the faded flowers cut off, and at midsummer cut away most of the old branches, and allow the plant to renew itself, as advised in the case of the Petunia.

_Wallflower._--Not as much grown as it ought to be. Delightfully fragrant. Color rich brown and tawny yellow. General habit similar to that of Stock, of which it is a near relative. Late bloomer. Give it one season's trial and you will be delighted with it. Not as showy as most flowers, but quite as beautiful, and the peer of any of them in sweetness.

_Zinnia._--A robust plant of the easiest possible culture. Any one can grow it, and it will do well anywhere. Grows to a height of three feet or more, branches freely, and close to the ground, and forms a dense, compact bush. On this account very useful for hedge purposes. Exceedingly profuse in its production of flowers. Blooms till frost comes. Comes in almost all the colors of the rainbow.

Because I have advised the amateur gardener to make his selection from the above list, it must not be understood that those of which I have not made mention, but which will be found described in the catalogues of the florist, are not desirable. Many of them might please the reader quite as well, and possibly more, than any of the kinds I have spoken of. But most of them will require a treatment which the beginner in gardening will not be able to give them, and, on that account, I do not include them in my list. After a year or two's experience in gardening, the amateur will be justified in attempting their culture--which, after all, is not difficult if one has time to give them special attention and a sufficient amount of care. The kinds I have advised are such as virtually take care of themselves, after they get well under way, if weeds are kept away from them. They are the kinds for "everybody's garden."

Let me add, in concluding this chapter, that it is wisdom on the part of the amateur to select not more than a dozen of the kinds that appeal most forcibly to him, and concentrate his attention on them. Aim to grow them to perfection by giving them the best of care. A garden of well-grown plants, though limited in variety, will afford a hundredfold more pleasure to the owner of it than a garden containing a little of everything, and nothing well grown.

In purchasing seed, patronize a dealer whose reputation for honesty and reliability is such that he would not dare to send out anything inferior if he were inclined to do so. There are many firms that advertise the best of seed at very low prices. Look out for them. I happen to know that our old and most reputable seedsmen make only a reasonable profit on the seed they sell. Other dealers who cut under in price can only afford to do so because they do not exercise the care and attention which the reliable seedsman does in growing his stock, hence their expenses are less. Cheap seed will be found cheap in all senses of the term.

I want to lay special emphasis on the advisability of purchasing seed in which each color is by itself. The objection is often urged that one person seldom cares to use as many plants of one color as can be grown from a package of seed. This difficulty is easily disposed of. Club with your neighbors, and divide the seed between you when it comes. In this way you will secure the most satisfactory results and pay no more for your seed than you would if you were to buy "mixed" packages. Grow colors separately for a season and I am quite sure you will never go back to mixed seed.

THE BULB GARDEN

Every lover of flowers should have a garden of bulbs, for three reasons: First, they bloom so early in the season that one can have flowers at least six weeks longer than it is possible to have them if only perennial and annual plants are depended on. Some bulbs come into bloom as soon as the snow is gone, at the north, to be followed by those of later habit, and a constant succession of bloom can be secured by a judicious selection of varieties, thus completely tiding over the usually flowerless period between the going of winter and the coming of the earlier spring flowers. Second, they require but little care, much less than the ordinary plant. Give them a good soil to grow in, and keep weeds and grass from encroaching on them, and they will ask no other attention from you, except when, because of a multiplication of bulbs, they need to be separated and reset, which will be about every third year. The work required in doing this is no more than that involved in spading up a bed for annual flowers. Third, they are so hardy, even at the extreme north, that one can be sure of bloom from them if they are given a good covering in fall, which is a very easy matter to do.

For richness and variety of color this class of plants stands unrivalled. The bulb garden is more brilliant than the garden of annuals which succeeds it.

September is the proper month in which to make the bulb garden.

As a general thing, persons fail to plant their bulbs until October and often November, thinking the time of planting makes very little difference so long as they are put into the ground before winter sets in. Here is where a serious mistake is made. Early planting should always be the rule,--for this reason: Bulbs make their annual growth immediately after flowering, and ripen off by midsummer. After this, they remain dormant until fall, when new root-growth takes place, and the plant gets ready for the work that will be demanded of it as soon as spring opens. It is made during the months of October and November, if cold weather does not set in earlier, and should be fully completed before the ground freezes. If incomplete--as is always the case when late planting is done--the plants are obliged to do--or attempt to do--double duty in spring. That is, the completion of the work left undone in fall and the production of flowers must go on at the same time, and this is asking too much of the plant. It cannot produce fine, perfect flowers with a poorly-developed root-system to supply the strength and nutriment needed for such a task, therefore the plants are not in a condition to do themselves justice. Often late-planted bulbs fail to produce any flowers, and, in most instances, the few flowers they do give are small and inferior in all respects.

With early-planted bulbs it is quite different, because they had all the late fall-season to complete root-growth in, and when winter closed in it found them ready for the work of spring.

Therefore, do not neglect the making of your bulb garden until winter is at hand under the impression that if the bulbs are planted any time before snow comes, all is well. This is the worst mistake you could possibly make.

The catalogues of the bulb-dealers will be sent out about the first of September. Send in your order for the kinds you decide on planting at once, and as soon as your order has gone, set about preparing the place in which you propose to plant them. Have everything in readiness for them when they arrive, and put them into the ground as soon after they are received as possible.

The soil in which bulbs should be planted cannot be too carefully prepared, as much of one's success with these plants depends upon this most important item. It must be rich, and it must be fine and mellow.

The best soil in which to set bulbs is a sandy loam.

The best fertilizer is old, thoroughly rotted cow-manure. On no account should fresh manure be used. Make use, if possible, of that which is black from decomposition, and will crumble readily under the application of the hoe, or iron rake. One-third in bulk of this material is not too much. Bulbs are great eaters, and unless they are well fed you cannot expect large crops of fine flowers from them. And they must be well supplied with nutritious food each year, because the crop of next season depends largely upon the nutriment stored up this season.

If barnyard manure is not obtainable, substitute bonemeal. Use the fine meal, in the proportion of a pound to each yard square of surface. More, if the soil happens to be a poor one. If the soil is heavy with clay, add sand enough to lighten it, if possible.

The ideal location for bulbs is one that is naturally well drained, and has a slope to the south.

Unless drainage is good success cannot be expected, as nothing injures a bulb more than water about its roots. Therefore, if you do not have a place suitable for them so far as natural drainage is concerned, see to it that artificial drainage supplies what is lacking. Spade up the bed to the depth of a foot and a half. That is--throw the soil out of it to that depth,--and put into the bottom of the excavation at least four inches of material that will not decay readily, like broken brick, pottery, clinkers from the coal-stove, coarse gravel--anything that will be permanent and allow water to run off through the cracks and crevices in it, thus securing a system of drainage that will answer all purposes perfectly. It is of the utmost importance that this should be done on all heavy soils. Unless the water from melting snows and early spring rains drains away from the bulbs readily you need not expect flowers from them.

After having arranged for drainage, work over the soil thrown out of the bed until it is as fine and mellow as it can possibly be made. Mix whatever fertilizer you make use of with it, when you do this, that the two may be thoroughly incorporated. Then return it to the bed. There will be more than enough to fill the bed, because some space is given up to drainage material, but this will be an advantage because it will enable you to so round up the surface that water will run off before it has time to soak into the soil to much depth.

I do not think it advisable to say much about plans for bulb-beds, because comparatively few persons seem inclined to follow instructions along this line. The less formal a bed of this kind is the better satisfaction it will give, as a general thing. It is the flower that is in the bed that should be depended on to give pleasure rather than the shape of the bed containing it.

I would advise locating bulb-beds near the house where they can be easily seen from the living-room windows. These beds can be utilized later on for annuals, which can be sown or planted above the bulbs without interfering with them in any respect.

I would never advise mixing bulbs. By that, I mean, planting Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, and other kinds in the same bed. They will not harmonize in color or habit. Each kind will be found vastly more pleasing when kept by itself.

I would also advise keeping each color by itself, unless you are sure that harmony will result from a mixture or combination of colors. Pink and white, blue and white, and red and white Hyacinths look well when planted together, but a jumble of pinks, blues, and reds is never as pleasing as the same colors would be separately, or where each color is relieved by white.

The same rule applies to Tulips, with equal force.

We often see pleasing effects that have been secured by planting reds and blues in rows, alternating with rows of white. This method keeps the quarrelsome colors apart, and affords sufficient contrast to heighten the general effect. Still, there is a formality about it which is not entirely satisfactory to the person who believes that the flower is of first importance, and the shape of the bed, or the arrangement of the flowers in the bed, is a matter of secondary consideration.

Bulbs should be put into the ground as soon as possible after being taken from the package in which they are sent out by the florist. If exposed to the light and air for any length of time they part rapidly with the moisture contained in their scales, and that means a loss of vitality. If it is not convenient to plant them at once, leave them in the package, or put them in some cool, dark place until you are ready to use them.

As a rule Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissus should be planted about five inches deep, and about six inches apart.

The smaller bulbs should be put from three to four inches below the surface and about the same distance apart.

In planting, make a hole with a blunt stick of the depth desired, and drop the bulb into it. Then cover, and press the soil down firmly.

Just before the ground is likely to freeze, cover the bed with a coarse litter from the barnyard, if obtainable, to a depth of eight or ten inches. If this litter is not to be had, hay or straw will answer very well, if packed down somewhat. Leaves make an excellent covering if one can get enough of them. If they are used, four inches in depth of them will be sufficient. Put evergreen boughs or wire netting over them to prevent their being blown away.

I frequently receive letters from inexperienced bulb-growers, in which the writers express considerable scepticism about the value of such a covering as I have advised above, because, they say, it is not deep enough to keep out the frost, therefore it might as well be dispensed with. Keeping out the frost is not what is aimed at. We expect the soil about the bulbs to freeze. But such a covering as has been advised will prevent the sun from thawing out the frost after it gets into the soil, and this is exactly what we desire. For if the frost can be kept in, after it has taken possession, there will not be that frequent alternation between freezing and thawing which does the harm to the plant. For it is not freezing, understand, that is responsible for the mischief, but the _alternation of conditions_. These cause a rupture of plant-cells, and that is what does the harm. Keep a comparatively tender plant frozen all winter and allow the frost to be drawn out of it gradually in spring, and it will survive a season of unusual cold. The same plant will be sure to die in a mild season if left exposed to the action of the elements, because of frequent and rapid changes between heat and cold.

Whatever covering is given should be left on the beds as long as possible in spring, because of the severely cold weather we frequently have at the north after we think all danger is over. However, as soon as the plants begin to make much growth, this covering will have to be removed. If a cold night comes along after this has been done spread blankets or carpeting over the beds. Keep them from resting on the tender growth of the plants by driving pegs into the soil a short distance apart, all over the bed. The young plants may not be killed by quite a severe freeze, but they will be injured by it, and injury of any kind should be guarded against at this season, if you want fine flowers.

Holland Hyacinths should receive first consideration, because they are less likely to disappoint than any other hardy bulb. There are single and double kinds, both desirable. Personally I prefer the single sorts, as they are less prim and formal than the double varieties, whose flowers are so thickly set along the stalk that individuality of bloom is almost wholly lost sight of. They are, in this respect, like the double Geraniums we use in summer bedding, whose trusses of bloom resemble a ball of color more than anything else, at a little distance, the suggestion of individual bloom being so slight that it seldom receives consideration. However, they do good service where color-effects are considered of more importance than anything else. Single Hyacinths have their flowers more loosely arranged along the stalk, and are therefore more graceful than the double varieties, and their colors are quite as fine. These range from pure white through pale pink and rose, red, scarlet, crimson, blue and charming yellows to dark purple.

Roman Hyacinths are too tender for outdoor culture at the north.

There are several quite distinct varieties of the Tulip. There is an early sort, a medium one, a late one, and the Parrot, which is prized more for its striking combinations of brilliant colors than for its beauty of form or habit. We have single and double varieties in all the classes, all coming in a wide range of both rich and delicate colors. Scarlets, crimsons, and yellows predominate, but the pure whites, the pale rose-colors, and the rich purples are general favorites. Some of the variegated varieties are exceedingly brilliant in their striking color-combinations.

The Narcissus is one of the loveliest flowers we have. It deserves a place very near, if not quite at, the head of the list of our best spring-blooming plants. Nothing can be richer in color than the large double sorts, like _Horsfieldii_, and _Empress_, with their petals of burnished gold. There are many other varieties equally as fine, but with a little difference in the way of color--just enough to make one want to have all of them. The good old-fashioned Daffodil is an honored member of the family that should be found in every garden. When you see the Dandelion's gleam of gold in the grass by the wayside you get a good idea of the brilliant display a fine collection of Narcissus is capable of making, for in richness of color these two flowers are almost identical.

Among the smaller bulbs that deserve special mention are the Crocus, the Snow Drop, the Scilla, and the Musk or Grape Hyacinth. These should be planted in groups, to be most effective, and set close together. They must be used in large quantities to produce much of a show. They are very cheap, and a good-sized collection can be had for a small amount of money.

Those who have a liking for special colors will do well to make their selections from the named varieties listed in the catalogues. You can depend on getting just the color you want, if you order in this way. But in no other way. Mixed collection will give you some of all colors, but there is no way of telling "which is which" until they come into bloom.

But in mixed collections you will get just as fine bulbs and just as fine colors as you will if you select from the list of named varieties. Only--you won't know what you are getting. Named sorts will cost considerable more than the mixtures.

THE ROSE: ITS GENERAL CARE AND CULTURE

The owner of every garden tries to grow roses in it, but where one succeeds, ten fail. Perhaps I would be safe in saying that ninety-nine out of every hundred fail, for a few inferior blossoms from a plant, each season, do not constitute success, but that is what the majority of amateur Rose-growers have to be satisfied with, the country over, and so great is their admiration for this most beautiful of all flowers that these few blossoms encourage them to keep on, season after season, hoping for better things, and consoling themselves with the thought that, though results fall short of expectation, they are doing about as well as their neighbors in this particular phase of gardening.

One does not have to seek far for the causes of failure. The Rose, while it is common everywhere, and has been in cultivation for centuries, is not understood by the rank and file of those who attempt to grow it, therefore it is not given the treatment it deserves, _and which it must have,_ in order to achieve success in its culture. When we come to know its requirements, and give it proper care, we can grow fine Roses, but not till then. Those who form an opinion of the possibilities of the plant from the specimens which they see growing in the average garden have yet to find out what a really fine Rose is.

The Rose is the flower of romance and sentiment throughout the lands in which it grows, but, for all that, it is not a sentimental flower in many respects. It is a vegetable epicure. It likes rich food, and great quantities of it. Unless it can be gratified in this respect it will refuse to give you the large, fine flowers which every Rose-grower, professional or amateur, is constantly striving after. But feed it according to its liking and it will give you perfect flowers in great quantities, season after season, and _then_ you will understand what this plant can do when given an opportunity to do itself justice.

The Rose will live on indefinitely in almost any soil, and under almost any conditions. I have frequently found it growing in old, deserted gardens, almost choked out of existence by weeds and other aggressive plants, but still holding to life with a persistency that seemed wonderful in a plant of its kind. I have removed some of these plants to my own garden, and given them good care, and time after time I have been as surprised as delighted at the result. The poor little bushes, that had held so tenaciously to life against great odds, seemed to have stored up more vitality in their starved roots than any others in the garden were possessors of, and as soon as they were given good soil and proper care they sent up strong, rank shoots, and thanked me for my kindness to them in wonderful crops of flowers, and really put the old residents of the place to shame. All through the years of neglect they had no doubt been yearning to bud and bloom, but were unable to do so because of unfavorable conditions, but when the opportunity to assert themselves came they made haste to take advantage of it in a way that proves how responsive flowers are to the right kind of treatment.

The Rose will only do its best in a soil that is rather heavy with clay, or a tenacious loam. It likes to feel the earth firm about its roots. In light, loose soils it never does well, though it frequently makes a vigorous growth of branches in them, but it is from a more compact soil that we get the most and finest flowers.

Some varieties do well in a soil of clay containing considerable gravel. Such a soil provides for the roots the firmness of which I have spoken, while the gravel insures perfect drainage,--a matter of great importance in Rose-culture. Success cannot be expected in a soil unduly retentive of moisture. Very heavy soils can be lightened by the addition of coarse, sharp sand, old mortar, and cinders. If the location chosen does not furnish perfect drainage, naturally, artificial drainage must be resorted to. Make an excavation at least a foot and a half in depth, and fill in, at the bottom, with bits of broken brick, crockery, coarse gravel, fine stone--anything that will not readily decay--and thus secure a stratum of porous material through which the superfluous moisture in the soil will readily drain away. This is an item in Rose-culture that one cannot afford to ignore, if he desires fine Roses.