The Practical Garden-Book Part 1

The Practical Garden-Book.

by C. E. Hunn and L. H. Bailey.

Like the love of music, books and pictures, the love of gardens comes with culture and leisure and with the ripening of the home life. The love of gardens, as of every other beautiful and refining thing, must increase to the end of time. More and more must the sympathies enlarge.

There must be more points of contact with the world. Life ever becomes richer. Gardening is more than the growing of plants: it is the expression of desire.

As there must be many gardeners, so there must be many books. There must be books for different persons and different ideals. The garden made by one's own hands is always the best garden, because it is a part of oneself. A garden made by another may interest, but it is another person's individuality. A poor garden of one's own is better than a good garden in which one may not dig. Many a poor soul has more help in a plant in the window than another has in a plantation made by a gardener.

I would emphasize the home garden, made by the members of the family. I would preach the beauty of the common plants and the familiar places.

These things are never old. Many times I have noted how intently an audience of plant-lovers will listen to the most commonplace details respecting the cultivation of plants with which they have been always familiar. There was nothing new in what they heard; but they liked to have the old story told over again, and every detail called up a memory.

The same questions are asked every year, and they always will be asked,--the questions about the simplest garden operations. Upon this desire for commonplace advice the horticultural journals live. A journal which publishes only things that are new would find little support. Some of these common questions I have tried to answer in this little book. I wish them answered in the simple and direct phrase of the gardener.

Therefore I asked my friend C. E. Hunn, gardener to the Horticultural Department of Cornell University, who lives with plants, to write advice for one who would make a garden; and this he did in a summer vacation.

These notes, edited and amplified, now make this book.

L. H. BAILEY.

HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

ITHACA, N. Y., February 22, 1900.

THE PRACTICAL GARDEN-BOOK

ABOBRA VIRIDIFLORA. A handsome tender climber with tuberous roots, that may be taken up in the fall and stored in a cellar. The foliage is dark and glossy, the flowers small and inconspicuous; but the small scarlet fruits are very effective in contrast to the leaves, making it a desirable screen plant. It is sold by seedsmen. Seeds sown as soon as warm weather comes will give plants which bloom in the open (in a warm soil and exposure), and which reach a height of 5-8 ft. It is sometimes grown as a gla.s.shouse plant. It is cucurbitaceous (allied to melons and gourds).

ABRONIA. Californian trailing perennials, but treated as hardy annuals.

They thrive in any warm, open garden soil, and are very satisfactory for the margins of beds or borders. The little flowers are borne in cl.u.s.ters. _A. latifolia_ or _arenaria_ (yellow) and _A. umbellata_ or _grandiflora_ (pink) are the leading kinds. Usually sown where they are to bloom. Peel the husk off the seed before sowing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Abutilon striatum]

ABUTILONS, or FLOWERING MAPLES as they are called by many, make fine house or bedding plants. Common kinds may be grown from seed or from cuttings of young wood. If the former, the seed should be sown in February or March in a temperature of not less than 60. The seedlings should be potted when from four to six leaves have grown, in a rich, sandy soil. Frequent pottings should be made to insure a rapid growth, making plants large enough to flower by fall. Or, the seedlings may be planted out in the border when danger of frost is over, and taken up in the fall before frost: these plants will bloom all winter. About one-half of the newer growth should be cut off when they are taken up, as they are very apt to spindle up when grown in the house. When grown from cuttings, young wood should be used, which, after being well rooted, may be treated in the same manner as the seedlings. The varieties with variegated leaves have been improved until the foliage effects are equal to the flowers of some varieties; and, these are a great addition to the conservatory or window garden. The staple spotted-leaved type is _A. Thompsoni_. A compact form, now much used for bedding and other outdoor work, is _Savitzii_, which is a horticultural variety, not a distinct species. The old-fashioned green-leaved _A.

striatum_, from which _A. Thompsoni_ has probably sprung, is one of the best. _A. megapotamic.u.m_ or _vexillarium_ is a trailing or drooping red-and-yellow-flowered species, which is excellent for baskets. It propagates readily from seed. Abutilons are most satisfactory for house plants when they are not much more than a year old. They need no special treatment.

ACONITUM. MONK'S HOOD. WOLF'S BANE. Hardy herbaceous perennials allied to larkspurs. They are showy border plants, usually flowering the first year from seed, if the seed is started early, and bearing panicles of quaint hood-shaped, rich flowers. The colors have a wide range, but are usually deep blue. The improved varieties are much superior in size and markings. Aconitums are most effective when planted in a mixed border: the flower stalks being held well up, show the blossoms to good advantage. Seed may be sown every two years, as the plants in their year-old and 2-year-old stage have the largest blossoms. Sow in gentle heat in March, transplanting to border when the weather is settled.

Roots may be divided if desired, but best results are to be expected from seedlings. _A. Napellus_ is the commonest one. The plants are very poisonous if eaten. Bloom in early summer. 2-3 ft.

ACROCLINIUM. A low-growing everlasting annual flower, white, violet, or rose in color. Seeds should preferably be started in a hotbed or window, and planted out when danger of frost is past; the flowers should be gathered when half expanded and hung in the shade to dry. Half-hardy.

Plant 1 foot apart. Grow 10-15 in. high. See _Everlastings_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Adlumia cirrhosa]

ADLUMIA. MOUNTAIN FRINGE. ALLEGHENY VINE. One of the daintiest of climbers, making a very rapid growth, and when once established seeding itself and thriving for years, growing 10 or 15 feet in a season. Give rich, rather moist soil. It is biennial, blooming the second year.

Flowers like those of the bleeding heart and other dicentras. It is native.

ADONIS. A low-growing hardy annual or perennial of the easiest culture.

It makes a fine ma.s.s effect, as the flowers are a striking dark scarlet or crimson color, and the plants are very free and continuous bloomers.

Sow early in the spring where wanted. The perennial yellow-flowered sorts sometimes bloom the first year from seed. Adonises are very neat in habit, and the foliage is fine and interesting. 10-15 in.

AGAPANTHUS. AFRICAN LILY. A tuberous-rooted, well known conservatory or window plant. It lends itself to many conditions and proves satisfactory a large part of the year, the leaves forming a green arch over the pot, covering it entirely in a well grown specimen. The flowers are borne in a large cl.u.s.ter on stems growing from 2 to 3 ft. high, as many as two or three hundred bright blue flowers often forming on a single plant. A large, well grown plant throws up a number of flower-stalks through the early season. The one essential to free growth is an abundance of water and an occasional application of manure water. Propagation is effected by division of the offsets, which may be broken from the main plant in early spring. After flowering, gradually lessen the quant.i.ty of water until they are placed in winter quarters, which should be a position free from frost and moderately dry. The Agapanthus, being a heavy feeder, should be grown in strong loam to which is added well rotted manure and a little sand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ageratum]

AGERATUM. A half-hardy annual, used as a border plant, for ribbon bedding for ma.s.s effect, or in mixed beds of geranium, coleuses and other plants. The seeds germinate readily, but as the plant is only half-hardy and is usually wanted in flower when planted out, it is usual to sow the seed in boxes placed in hotbeds or windows in March, transplanting the seedlings to small boxes or pots and growing the young plants on until the 1st of May, when they may be planted out. Pieces of young wood root very easily, and the gardener usually increases his stock by cuttings. The dwarf varieties are the most desirable, and the two colors, blue and white, may be planted together. 2-3 ft. Plants may be taken up in the fall and set in the house; cut them back severely.

ALLEGHENY VINE. See _Adlumia_.

ALMOND is about as hardy as the peach, but it blooms so early in the spring that it is little grown east of the Pacific slope. It is an interesting ornamental tree, and its early bloom is a merit when the fruit is not desired. The Almonds commonly sold by nurserymen in the east are hard-sh.e.l.l varieties, and the nuts are not good enough for commerce. The Almond fruit is a drupe, like the peach, but the flesh is thin and hard and the pit is the "Almond" of commerce. Culture the same as for peach.

Flowering Almond is a very early-flowering bush, excellent for shrub-borders. It is usually grafted on plum stock, and one must take care to keep down the plum sprouts which sometimes spring from the root.

ALOE. Succulent tropical plants, sometimes seen in window gardens. Of easy culture. See that the pots have perfect drainage. Make a soil of sandy loam, with one-third or one-fourth part of broken brick. Pot firmly. Water whenever needed, but the soil and drainage should be such that the earth does not remain soggy or become sour. Aloes thrive year after year without repotting. Usually propagated by cuttings. _A.

variegata_ is the commonest species.

ALONSOA. Tender annual. Not very well known, but a bright plant for second-row border or a low bedding plant. Planted against shrubbery or other protection after danger of frost is over, it lightens up a dark corner. 2-3 ft. Plant 10-15 in. apart, in a warm place protected from wind.

ALSTRoMERIA. The Alstromerias belong to the amaryllis family, being tuberous-rooted plants, having leafy stems and terminating in a cl.u.s.ter of from 10 to 50 small lily-shaped flowers of rich colors. Most of the kinds should be given pot culture, as they are easily grown and are not hardy in the open in the north. The culture is nearly that of the amaryllis,--a good, fibrous loam with a little sand, potting the tubers in early spring or late fall. Start the plants slowly, giving only water enough to cause root growth; but after growth has become established, a quant.i.ty of water may be given. After flowering they may be treated as are amaryllis or agapanthus. The plants grow 1-2 ft. high. The flowers often have odd colors.

ALTHaeA. See _Hollyhock_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sweet Alyssum]

ALYSSUM, SWEET. A low-growing, hardy, white-flowered, very fragrant annual which is much used for edgings, window boxes, and the like. It is of the easiest culture in any soil, but thrives best in a garden loam of moderate fertility. Seeds may be sown as early as the ground can be well prepared in spring. The plant will begin to bloom when 2 or 3 inches high, and continue to bloom, as it grows, until after the first hard frosts. It makes a mat 1 to 2 ft. across. If immediate effects are not desired, the plants should be thinned out or transplanted to stand half a foot apart. It rarely stands more than a foot high. In the fall, plants may be cut back and put into pots or boxes, and they will bloom in the window. Better results in winter blooming are secured by starting seeds in boxes in August, September or October. There are certain hardy perennial yellow-flowered Alyssums which are useful for prominent edgings and for rockwork.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Prince's Feather]