The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-08
WHAT MY GARDEN HAS TAUGHT
ME.
NJ SUSAN P. OKIE.

! NJ SUSAN =. Ok1E.
walked IN an enchanted
garden. and
Gsned into the upturned faees Of . thou.
| sand rosesi"
My garden has taught me that tn,
lantana 10 q neglected but most valu.
able bedding plant: Of quickest and
most luxurious growth. profusion o,
bloom. diversity Of color!ns and de.
lightful fragrance. It's trailing ever
blooming form Ii a most precious adorn-
ment for window boxss.
There Is an unaccountable lack o
appreciation. in this country at least
Of that rare and valuable bulb coums
hardy cyclamen hedrafono. a develop.
ment Of the wild sow bread Of Italy
The oufb Grows to an enormous size
and the plant II a. hardy IN tho mid
die Atlantic States as II u in Europe
The exquisite bloom and evergreen 70.
liage are Of angular beauty. One bul,
In my garden in the District Of Colum.
bia showed over a hundred blooms dur.
ing its long Towering season. The leaves
lie fiat on the ground like q mat OF ivy
The parks Of England owe much Of their
beauty TO this plant It's method OF re.
producing itself Is interesting. The
seed vessels on the flower stems turn
sp!rally downward and return to the
soil TO form new bulbs.
, A lawn tree rarely seen but one OF
the most desirable OF the quick growing
kind IL the koelreuteria panicullata. lovely
In bloom. In foliage and In seed. tropi-
cal in ef'ect, with great masses OF yell
low wistarialike blossoms suggesting the
English laburnum. The seed pods In
| late summer hang like clusters Of hops
their pale green color forming a de-
that surrounds them.
Tho halesia tetrap 10 most lovely FOR
tho lawn. This-the silver bell tree
II wrapped in . cloud Of bloom from
which extended eolden stamens like the
abutilon In miniature We have a speci-
men over nifty feet high with a trunk
two feet IN diameter. II IL . glorious
sight in May. The bloom 10 90 profuse
that the young foliage IL quite OBJ
scured There II a dwarf typo that IL
also valuable for the lawn.
The cross vine (oienonia capreolata)
Is the most graceful of all vines II
is evergreen In the District OF Column
bia and rs bronze. lcathery foliage Il
most decorative on porch and perRola
The blooms. large crimson throated
golden trumpets. hang in clusters.
Sprays OF the vine tra!'ed along the
picture rods and across the lace cur
tains make a lovely frieze for interior
decoration in the Christmas season. The
stems arc tough and the leaves Of great
endurance.
In small gardens one 10 apt 70 give
too much space to rambler roses. There
can he substituted for them with I'D
vantage climbers OF the ever blooming
soupert and cochet varieties. From
them one has . succession Of roses
throughout the whole season without
the rank foliage Of the ramblers The
leafy branches N all climbing plants
should he light. airy and graceful. II
Ia the dense foliage 81 the ivy. FOR in
stance. that makes Il so Objectionable,
II harhors insects and darkens the house
too much.
A few roots Of the edible aspara gus
should he planted in the garden 10 serve
a. house decoration with vases Of
flowers also. the Wild sm!lax or cat
brier. and the wild grape for the
porches The fragrance of the grape
blossoms mingled with honeysuckle is
delightful.
The achiilea, q constant hloomer. II
Desirable for cut flower purposes. II is
perennial and far more useful than the
short lived glypsophila. The new va
ri.tl~s N the former are marvellous in
their clouds 81 fine white blooms, al
WAYS In flower. 4 few ~ these plants
serve the vases all summer and the
root Ia hardy. An unjustly neglected
bulb IL the colchicum. yclept the au-
tumn. crocus or saffron. In August II
loses It's foliage and then up II comes
in masses Of bloom with tho effect one
would get from a sllkcn garment care
lessly dropped In the garden.
An evergreen edglng IL lovely ad-
,unct to the garden. Round wooden
pin. eight inches long driven into tho
soil within two inches NJ their tops and
a running wire staplad into them viii
support vine ~ mvrtle or periw'nklc
or English ivy. bignonia capreolata or
cross vine. Or n you wish. some ~
the evergreen roses. wichur'ana for In
stance can be used for this purpose;
thew must however, be severely cut
hack 10 the wire and closely tied IN.
II time and money Rre un'mportont
factors lockwood Il quite worth while
Another pood plant for the horder IL
perennial white candytuft of the dwarf
type II n neat. dense and free
b'oomer. V,o,as or tufted pans'es in
one color make q very pretty edoinR
In transr'a n'ins an important factor
IA root pressure II often makes the
d~~~enc~ between success and failure
After frm'y planting shrubs or plants
Of any kind 7 place m the soil around
and above the roots a few old horse
shoes or STONES and cover them tightly
with soil When the plants start into
growth the weights can ne removed.
These weights keep the planted roots
from shifting In drying wind, conserve
the moisture and thus aid N the
nutrition Of the young plant