Part 20

Bulbs for winter blooming. I have come to the conclusion that almost anything will grow and blossom if given the proper care. For the amateur, whose only field is the sitting-room window, it is better to undertake only those varieties with which one may be sure of success under ordinary care, as the Hyacinth, Narcissus, Scilla, Crocus, Anemone, Ornithogalum arabicum, and Freesia. These are absolutely sure bloomers, and much more reliable in the matter of producing flowers than a Geranium. In selecting Hyacinths the single will generally give better satisfaction than the double, and there should always be a generous proportion of white among the colours selected. Alba superbissima, Baroness Van Thuyl, and La Grandesse are among the best whites; Norma gigantea, Roi des Belges for pinks and reds; Ida is the best yellow; and Czar Peter and Grand Lilas the best blues.

Among the Narcissi nothing finer than the large trumpet varieties could be desired: Horsfieldi, with its yellow trumpet and snow-white perianth; Sir Watkin, or the Giant Welshman, as it is sometimes called; Empress and Emperor and the clustered Paper White are all exquisite; and the old double Von Sion is most effective in the window-garden.

Hyacinths and Narcissi require the same treatment: Pot as early in the fall as they can be obtained, using good compost and sufficient broken charcoal to insure good drainage; fill to within an inch of the top with the soil, using a four-inch pot for a single bulb or a six-inch one for three bulbs. Place the bulb with the tip slightly above the surface of the soil, label plainly with name and date of planting, and set away in a dark box in the cellar for six weeks or more, or until the pot is well filled with roots; this can be ascertained by turning the ball of earth out of the pot. If the earth is not well covered with roots return to the box for a few days longer. If there is sufficient root growth place in a warm, sunny window in a temperature of about 70°. When first potted they should be well watered, and thereafter kept merely moist, but on bringing to the light and heat they should have water in the saucer most of the time. When the flowers are fully expanded they may be moved into a cooler, less sunny window, where they will remain in perfection much longer.

Anemones give beautiful winter blossoms and require practically the same treatment as Hyacinths. The bulbs are placed an inch and a half below the surface. They are queer, shrivelled-up little things, with roots which fill up surprisingly after being in the damp soil. When up and growing they require abundant water and sunshine. Keep the saucer full of water all the time; failure in this respect means blasted buds. As Anemones give a succession of flowers they must be left in the window until through blooming. Tulips, Crocus, and Scillas should be potted and placed out of doors where they will not be disturbed, covered with earth and left until freezing weather, when they should be stored in the cellar like other bulbs. It is well in placing bulbs out of doors to set the pots in beds of coal-ashes to prevent the entrance of worms into the soil. They may be covered with ashes instead of earth, the object being to give them the benefit of the frost.

A half dozen Scillas planted in the centre of one of the large round gourds and surrounded with a border of white Crocus makes a very pretty show, and will come into bloom in about three months from the time of planting. The Ornithogalum is an effective flower, and quite sure to bloom, but requires a rather high temperature, as it is of slow development.

Freesia bulbs deteriorate very rapidly once they are out of the ground, and should be ordered early and potted as soon as received. Plant a dozen in a five-or six-inch pot, and set at once in a warm east window, as these do not need to go to the cellar. The leaves and stalks are very tender, and will require support, and this is the greatest objection to the Freesia. Ashes in the soil will counteract this tendency somewhat, and the wire carnation supports are very neat and satisfactory.

Alliums, which have the same defects, require the same treatment.

The varieties of Oxalis are usually started in a sunny window, as they require a strong light. Like the summer bloomers, they increase rapidly and need considerable root room. The Bermuda Oxalis is lovely in a gourd hanging-basket; indeed, a hanging-basket, or bracket, is the only suitable arrangement for it, as it loves to droop and spread itself, and requires abundant room for its wealth of golden flowers. When through blooming it should be allowed to ripen its foliage. It may then be set in the cellar, or a cool place, until September, when the bulbs should be shaken out of the pot and repotted; one bulb to a four-inch pot.

Bulbs of hardy plants may be ripened off, and in the spring planted out in the open ground, where they will bloom the following spring, but are valueless for forcing in the house.

Chapter EIGHTEEN Hardy Shrubs and Plants for Fall Planting

In some localities, especially in the South, the practice of setting out hardy plants in the fall has much to commend it. The mild winters, during which growth is never entirely checked, allow the plants to fully establish themselves; but in the Northern States, where the severe winters set in early and last long, the plants do not become sufficiently established to stand the severe cold followed by the hot summer. They sometimes live through the one only to succumb to the other.

Plants moved from one part of the grounds to another will frequently winter-kill, while those left undisturbed will be found in excellent condition in the spring. Again, a plant may come through the winter in apparently good condition, but without sufficient vitality to withstand any severe heat or drought, and failure to recognise this condition results in loss. Plants transplanted in the fall, however hardy their character, should receive particular care during the following summer in the matter of water, cultivation, and mulching. Plants transplanted at any time of year will do better if the top growth is reduced by trimming or cutting back, and all broken or injured roots removed with a sharp knife.

Spring-planted shrubs rarely fail to do well if the precaution is observed of moving them while dormant. The only exception I need to mention being the various Irises when purchased from florists. These, being dug in the fall, and kept in cold storage during winter, have their vitality much depleted by spring, and are then of doubtful value. This is especially true of the Japanese Iris; the German and English, being much more hardy, are not so easily injured. Home-grown Iris would better be moved in the spring.

Among the desirable shrubs for fall or spring planting are the various Spiræas; these are both shrubby and herbaceous. Of the shrubby variety Anthony Waterer is the only really good crimson, or red, variety, and is very fine. The catalogues give it a dwarf character rarely exceeding eighteen inches, but my own experience with the plant is, that with rich soil it much exceeds that height. Van Houttei is the finest white sort, and is especially valuable grown singly on the lawn, where it may develop its beautiful form to perfection. Of the herbaceous Spiræas the filipendula is very desirable for the border or for edging shrubbery. The fern-like foliage, which is of itself handsome enough to gain recognition, is surmounted in June with spikes of double daisy-like flowers of creamy white. It is very fine for cut flowers, and for forcing in winter. The clumps increase rapidly, and should be divided and reset every three or four years. Then there is the old-fashioned garden Spiræa, with its pinky-white, feathery blossoms, very fragrant—especially when wet with the dew.

Hypericum Moserianum is a delightful little perennial, growing from one to two feet tall; the flowers are exquisite in form and colour—a clear, golden yellow lasting well when cut. Other hardy yellow flowers are the California Sunflower and Rudbeckia, or Golden Glow, both too well known and popular to need eulogy.

The Lychnis (Rose Campion) is another of our herbaceous perennials which has not attracted the notice its good qualities deserve. L. Chalcedonica, its trusses of scarlet rivalling the most vivid Geranium, is the best known of the species, and combines beautifully with Clematis flammula and Spiræa filipendula. Planted against a wall covered with the Clematis, or contrasted in the border with S. Japonica, it is very effective. Plant L. semperflorens plenissima with Deutzia gracilis and Spiræa filipendula. Planted together in the border they are exquisite. L. semperflorens is much more delicate than the other Lychnis, and cannot be considered entirely hardy at the North. It is a very dainty little flower with soft pink, finely toothed blossoms, and worth considerable trouble to grow. Viscaria (Ragged Robin) has tall spikes of double red, deliciously scented flowers, and should find a place in every garden. Chalcedonica resembles the scarlet variety except in colour, which is pure white. It also is quite hardy and needs little care when once established.

Plant Iris (Fleur-de-lis) generously. They will grow in size and beauty from year to year, and are valuable for borders along drives or walks, for the filling of corners or low, damp spots. By planting the different varieties a succession of bloom, from May until the latter part of July, may be secured. The German Iris furnishes some magnificent colour effects in purple and bronze, yellow and lavender, blue and white. The Japanese are wonderful, both in colour and size—flowers seven inches in diameter being quite common, while twelve inches is attained in some instances. The flowers differ so materially in form from other Iris as to appear a distinct class. Unlike the German Iris, they hold their petals neither erect nor drooping, but horizontally, or flat, making a great disc of lovely colour, ranging through all the shades of blue, lilac, blue and white, and plum, to crimson-purple, magenta, and pink. They are more tender and less quickly started than the German, but do well when established. A low, damp spot suits them best, and where this is not available they should be abundantly supplied with water. German Iris will do well in any good garden soil and under ordinary cultivation. Iris should be taken up and divided every three or four years, removing all dead or exhausted growth, and setting one live toe, or point, in a place. They will not do well the first year of dividing, but the following year will be very fine, especially if there have been enough roots to make several long, parallel rows.

While not troubled with any disease or insect pest, the moles seem to have an especial liking for the roots of the Japanese Iris, and have caused me much loss. The only preventive is to shut the moles out of the bed by sinking a close wire netting around it to a depth of eighteen inches, or by making early and persistent use of good mole-traps—one at each end of the row, or at the spots where they enter and leave the bed. By this method I caught ten moles in as many days in the Iris beds, and was comparatively free from them the remainder of the season. Salt pork or bacon rinds buried in their runs will sometimes drive them away for a time, but this is not to be depended on, neither is the presence of Castor-oil plant, which, so far as I have observed, has not the slightest value. The only method is to trap them early in the spring, before they begin to breed; setting the trap in the runs from the nest and not in the shallow feeding runs they make close to the surface. These they may not visit again in days, if at all, but the main runs, which usually extend in several directions from their burrows, and are several inches below the surface, are traversed several times a day.

Peonies—what would the spring garden be without these old-time favourites? Whatever flowers are lacking in country gardens, it is rarely these; and yet, we seldom see them at their best. They like rich, well-drained soil in a sunny location, and once established should remain undisturbed for years, or until they become so crowded as to need dividing, as they require several years to recover after being moved, and only actual necessity should lead to their disturbance, certainly not the requests of friends and neighbours to dig them up and divide. Better buy a root to give away, if reluctant to refuse, than injure the plant.

Mulch the Peony bed heavily with rough manure in the fall, removing the coarsest in the spring and working the rest into the soil. A good mulch of lawn clippings during July and August will keep the soil cool and moist, and greatly benefit the plants. This should be given before they bloom, as there is usually heavy rain about that time, which beats the flowers down into the dirt and ruins them.

The Funkia (Plantain Lily), or Day Lily, as it is commonly called, is another plant impatient of disturbance; and once planted it should not be molested. It likes a good, rich, mellow soil, but is not particular as to location, so that no other plant is near it. Though perfectly hardy I prefer to give it a little protection in the winter. In the spring cut away the sod from around it the width of the spade, making the soil fine and mellow, and working in some old manure. This annual enlarging of its boundaries is all the care it needs to make it grow larger and finer, year by year, and bloom profusely.

The French Lilacs are to be recommended for liberal planting, as they are free from the vice of suckering which makes the old-fashioned sort so troublesome. They should be planted wherever they will be useful as backgrounds for lower shrubs, or perennials, or in a row along a lane or fence. As the blooming season of the different varieties varies, by judicious selection they may be had in bloom for several weeks.

Althæas (Rose of Sharon) have the happy notion of blooming when other plants do not, so they are doubly welcome. As they bloom from the bottom up they should have a place by themselves on the grounds, where they will make quite tall trees in a few years. The white and light-coloured ones are the most attractive. Young trees should be wrapped in straw during winter, and old ones well mulched with rough litter.

Chapter NINETEEN Winter protection

When the frost has cut down the flowers, and robbed the shrubs of their leaves it is time for the fall cleaning of the garden. This should be completed before the leaves begin to fall, as if left until then they will greatly complicate matters.

Pull up and consign to the compost heap all annuals, weeds, stalks of perennials, Lilies, and ornamental plants, and the litter used for mulch during summer. This last might be left on were it not for the fact that it is likely to harbour insects which would do mischief. It is therefore better to remove it and work the bed over, leaving all clean and neat.

This is the time to look out for cutworms, chrysalids, and the like, and destroy them. Much may be done in this direction. Look carefully along the edging between the curbing and the grass where the cutworm lurks. Look for the chrysalids of borers in the ground around the Clematis, Cosmos, Hollyhocks, and Dahlia beds, and when found destroy them. On the under side of boards, steps, and under the edge of the siding of the house will be found the cocoons of the hickory tussock-moth and the cabbage-worm, all of which should be destroyed. After removing the dead annuals rake over the beds, leaving them clean and neat.

Beds of perennials, Roses, bulbs, and especially of Lilies and Peonies, must be well rounded up to shed water, as all plants are injured by water standing about their roots. If not already high enough to admit of this, more earth must be added to raise them sufficiently. The earth from the window-boxes may be used to advantage, especially for the Tea-rose bed, where a foot of mellow earth, brought well up around the plants and rounded to shed water, will so protect them that, though the tops may freeze, all below the soil will be likely to live. Over this should be placed several inches of rough litter or leaves and a frame of rough boards put around the beds and covered with sash, canvas, or boards to shed rain.