Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-11-13

many OF tne chrySanthemumS
just attaining full develop
Il ment in out-of-door paintings
and then only in those gardens which,
by location, have been protected from
heavy frosts. AS pointed out few
weeks ago, the 1887 autumn season
has been most peculiar, with varieties
all late. No one can offer a sound
explanation of the causes but the
fact remains that varieties of chry-
santhemums ordinarily in flower in
october failed to open their buds until
November. Fortunately, such be-
havior does not occur in many years
and one should not rule out chrysan-
themum varieties on this one years
performance. =
One of the most beautiful outdoor
chrysanthemums seen this year was
hearts of gold, a beautiful yellow,
growing in the garden of H. c. Heffner
in Takoma Park The flowers are
much larger than the usual out-of-
door variety and the petals are suf-
flciently numerous to form dull heads.
Mr. Heffner is an unusually good
grower and tests each year many of
the new introductions, some of which
thrive and others which last year or
two then disappear. Manifestly. the
various varieties have distinct soil re-
quirements. At this season. after
Towering is over, Mr.. Heffner cuts
the plants back to foot or so in
heights so that the stalks may help to
hold oak leave on the soil and protect
the young production, which is al
ready emerging from the root stock.
From the first daffodils, about April
l, to the last chrysanthemums, about
November Is, local gardeners are
blessed with long season of flowers,
actually more than seven months of
bloom.
Fall Fertilizers.
THE relative value of bone meal and
superphosphate is a question of
interest to many gardeners as indi-
Gated by discussions in various garden
magazines. In a measure, the two
materials are not directly comparable
since the bone meal contains some
nitrogen as well as PHOSPHORUS If
PHOSPHORUS alone is the considera-
ton, the superphosphate is consider
ably lower priced and contains this
element in a more readily available
form. Bone meal is an excellent fer
tilizer for autumn use because of its
slow decomposition, thus providing
reserve of plant food that continues to
be available to the plant over many
months. 1t is mistake to apply the
rapidly available nitrogen materials,
such as nitrate of soda and sulphate
of ammonia in late autumn because
of the ready teaching of the nitro
gen downward into the subsoil. With
trees, some of this nitrogen is taken
into the roots but, for garden plants
with shallow root systems, the po-
tential losses are too large.
In planting bulbs there is need of
fertilizing the soil in autumn because
much of the root growth is made dur
ing the so-called dormant season. In
this case the beds should be given
liberal dressing of fertilizer, pound
Of good grade mixed material to each
40 square feet of soil. AS pointed out
by the late DR.. Griffiths, PHOSPHORUS
is probably the most important ele-
ment for bulbs in our heavy clay soils
and thus one should use a material
with high percentage content of phos-
phorous.
BiennialS.
THE terms annual and perennial
are well understood by all gar
deners, but the significance Of bien-
mails is not always so clear and many
gardeners are at a loss to realize why
plant may survive one winter and
disappear the next. Among species
OF biennial nature are the common
hollyhock, English daisy, Canterbury
bell, sweet William, foxglove, old hon.
esty, pansy, Alpine forget
and evening primrose. Some of these
reseed themselves so freely that they
become to all intents and purposes
perennial. Most of these should be
sown in July or August in a cold
frame, where the beds may be watered