A few Water Poppies holding their bright yellow cups well above the surface of the water are always attractive, and Parrot’s Feather trailing over the sides of the tub gives a bit of tender green through the summer, but the rockwork, with ferns and plants and a tall reed or two, makes a much tidier appearance. The Papyrus—the plant from which our first paper was made—is very effective and will grow wherever a Canna thrives, though it prefers a low, damp soil. It must be wintered in greenhouse or cellar. A well-developed clump will grow to a height of ten feet. Several varieties of Bamboo, to be had from South Florida nurseries, will do well in the North in summer and stand a considerable degree of cold. Bambusa arundinacea is a magnificent quick-growing sort from forty to sixty feet tall at maturity, and will stand considerable frost. B. aurea and B. Metake are hardy with good protection at the North. B. Metake is a handsome evergreen species of considerable decorative value for indoor culture, growing six feet tall with large, handsome foliage, while A. falcata is a pretty variety with the tiniest of leaves. Bamboo requires an abundant water-supply, and is therefore most suitable for the borders of natural ponds, or low, damp spots on the grounds.
The objection raised to ponds is that they breed mosquitoes and malaria and are likely to become offensive. So will anything that is neglected, but there is not the slightest reason for the lily pond becoming a nuisance in any way. A small amount of Paris green in the water—a teaspoonful to an eight-foot pond—will keep it perfectly clear and sweet and prevent the formation of green scum and moss, so offensive in stagnant water, and the breeding of mosquitoes. Or a little charcoal and kerosene will give the same results.
NATIVE PLANTS EDGING A NATURAL WATER GARDEN
Chapter FIFTEEN
The Care of the Summer Rose-bed
The old-fashioned June Roses, with their long season of flowerless bloom, hardly repay the trouble of raising. The hardy perpetuals and hybrid Teas may now be purchased so cheaply that, even though a large proportion of them should not survive the winter, a small outlay will replace them. The thorniness of the old hardy June Rose adds greatly to the labour of caring for them, and this alone would lead some to discard them.
If, however, one clings to the old-fashioned Roses from economy or sentiment, they should be grown to their fullest possibilities by pruning, cultivation, and liberal mulching with coarse manure in the fall, and lawn clippings in the summer. Pruning should be done late in the winter or early in the spring before the sap begins to run. Remove all weak and straggly branches, cutting back the new growth to the first strong leaf-buds on the shoot. It is well to cut out the centres, as the new growth will quickly fill the space and be stronger and better in every way for the removal of the old wood. It will also leave less wood and briers to collect and hold dead leaves and grass during winter, which must be taken out, at the expense of bleeding fingers, in the spring. Bushes which grow upright with little wood at the base are more easily cared for. Only strong, new growths should be left, which will break freely and give firm new wood, producing fine flowers. Breaking means the starting of young leaf-buds at the axils of each leaf, which sprout and form new branches. It is the new wood that bears the flowers, so that its growth should be encouraged. The fewer shoots allowed to grow the finer will be the flowers.
Cultivate thoroughly in spring and fall and give a heavy mulch of lawn clippings during summer. Mulch heavily with coarse manure in the fall, digging in the best of it in the spring. It is not necessary to give winter protection, though it is best to wrap the tops with straw when exposed to cold winds.
Hardy climbers should have all weak shoots removed, and branches that are too long shortened. Thin out a part of the canes to give room for air and growth, and remove all wood that has grown too hard to break, as it will produce no new wood and is only an incumbrance.
For the summer rose-bed nothing equals the Hybrid Teas, which bloom from June until frost. If young plants are purchased in the spring they may be bedded out at once, if sent by express with the ball of earth about their roots intact. If sent by mail it will be better to pot off in three-inch pots, and set in a cool, rather shady place for a few days, bringing gradually into the sunshine until they have become established, when they may be turned out into the open ground without disturbing their roots. If planted at once in the open ground, the more delicate ones would be likely to perish.