Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota Part 81

THE MINNESOTA HORTICULTURIST

Vol. 44 DECEMBER, 1916 No. 12

Perennial Garden at Carmarken, White Bear.

J. W. TAYLOR, ST. PAUL.

We have had so many inquiries about our garden as to how we make things grow, and as to the best plants to use, that we take pleasure in answering through the Horticulturist and giving the result of our experience in making an attractive perennial garden. Our soil is sandy loam, very quick and warm, except in one place where it is low and there is a heavy black soil over clay. It has been well enriched with well rotted manure and cultivated as much as possible every spring, where it could be done without disturbing plants and bulbs. The arrangement of flowers as regards the blending and careful selection so that one bloom does not kill another is the secret of a beautiful garden. Acres of flowers placed without any regard to color, no matter how expensive individual plants may be, is not pleasing to the eye. It is like a crowd of mixed people, and we know crowds are never beautiful. There is incompatibility among flowers as there is among people, and the compatible must be a.s.sociated or there is no harmony.

What do we raise and how do we do it? We will, in the s.p.a.ce allowed, answer this as best we can. It is not necessary to spend a great lot of money if one uses good judgment and knows where to buy. Take that grand flower, the peony. One can spend as much money as one pleases on these.

There is just now a fad regarding these flowers, and some rich people are paying as high as $30.00 a root for certain kinds, but it is not necessary. The most really lovely gardens I have seen in the East and West have not been filled with plants bought at fancy prices. We have some that originally cost us a good deal of money and which are now cheap, as for instance, the Henryii lily. We bought the first we heard of at one dollar and one-half each. Now they can be bought for thirty cents. In peonies, Baroness Schroeder, an ivory white, is selling for three dollars a root, while the most beautiful of all the whites according to my taste, Festiva Maxima, can be bought for fifty cents.

The Kelways are all fine. The best cost about one dollar each. In our garden, among others, the Pallas, Edulis Superba, Golden Harvest, Madame Crousse and Queen Victoria, all fine, cost us fifty cents each. We have a row all around our garden of these splendid flowers, many varieties, some very rare, and nothing could be more gorgeous in color or more effective than this border. Hundreds of people came to see this peony show this year and were extravagant in their praise. The perfect harmony of arrangement was what pleased. We made many friends happy with armfuls of them to take home. That is the pleasure of your garden, the enjoyment one gets from making others happy. We especially notice how pleased the children were, the girls more so than the boys, perhaps, as they wandered along the paths fondling this or that bloom with loving fingers. With such an amount of bloom it is easy to send bouquets to the childrens' hospitals and to sick friends. We plant the peonies with the crown just under the earth, two feet apart. In the fall we cut off the old stalks and replace them over the plants after putting a good dressing of rotted manure on the beds.

Another flower, which is very attractive, is the larkspur Belladonna, turquoise blue. It shows from a great distance as its heavenly blue meets the eye. When arranged in a vase with white flowers it makes the most beautiful, choice and refined bouquet we know of. The Formosum is a lovely dark blue and very striking. Give them plenty of water and some wood ashes to keep off the slugs. Cut off the stalks after blooming, about August first, and they will bloom again in autumn. We had this year a large clump of Madonna lilies and next to them a large bunch of larkspur. The effect was stunning. Just before the larkspur came the whole north end of the garden was aflame with Oriental poppies, hundreds of them. No other flower produces the effect upon one that this great proud, wonderful flower does. It is the queen of the show. We transplant this in September in ordinary soil. Or we sow the seeds in August and transplant the seedlings as soon as up. They need no protection, but we protect everything with straw and branches. The branches to keep the straw from packing too hard and keeping the air out. Protection of roses is necessary, of course. We had a great collection this season.

Our plan is to cut them back to within a foot of the ground then fill a box with leaves and turn over them. We never lose a rose thus protected.

Neither sun nor mice injure them.

Another grand flower is Digitalis, or foxglove. These gladden your heart as the medicine made from them strengthens it. Get the mixed plants or seed, Gloxinia flora. When in bloom, look into their little gloves and note the wonder of nature's coloring. With us they grow six feet tall in black, heavy soil. They self-sow, and the plants of the present year bloom the next. A bed of these make a most gorgeous, dignified group in your garden. They are hardy with a very slight covering. Many with us self-sow and live through the winter without any protection. We made up a bed of these self-sowed in fall of 1915. They were a glory this summer. A few years ago every one said, don't waste your time on j.a.panese Iris. They thrive with us and bear blooms fully as large as a tea plate and of most exquisite beauty. We divide them every third year and in the spring cover them with old fertilizer and water them well.

They grow in a heavy soil with some sand worked in. Our best varieties are Oriole, Distinction, Alice Kiernga, Beauty of j.a.pan and Blue Flag.

The Gladiolus is another bright and interesting addition to our floral family. The best we have are Marie de Ruyter, a pretty blue; Badenia, lavender; Golden King, a magnificent yellow; Florence, lilac blotched; Mazie, corn color; and Dawn, sh.e.l.l pink. Plant these bulbs in succession, three weeks apart, from April first, six inches deep, so they will stand up, and eighteen inches between rows. In this way you will have them until frost. For the house cut them when first bud comes out, and they will all blossom in water.

A flower which attracts much attention with us is the Canterbury Bell, cup and saucer variety, in different colors. Very showy. This is not a perennial but a biennial. We plant our seeds in July and transplant in September or October. The Persicifolia in white and blue is a hardy perennial and grows on stalks two to three feet high, a great favorite among white flowers. In some soils they do not do well, but with us grow rampant. We prefer the white. We cut over two thousand stalks this summer from one hundred fifty plants.

Of Tulips, which are so welcome in early spring, the Darwin leads all.

We love them as we do the Stars of Bethlehem, the Hyacinths, Narcissi and the darling little blue flowers, Scilla Siberica, that come with the Snowdrops and Crocuses before the snow is gone. We thus have bloom from snow to snow. Always something bright, and that is another strong reason for a perennial garden.

We have many calls from persons wis.h.i.+ng to buy plants or seeds. We do not sell either, but gladly give away our surplus. We have furnished many gardens in this way all about us and thus added to the beauty of the surrounding country and made ourselves and others happy. Our collection of Lilies, Auratums, Speciosums, Tigers, Madonnas, are all planted six to eight inches deep and, after spreading manure are covered with straw, after frost. We cover all bulb beds with manure in the fall.

Among lilies all but the Auratums last years, but these lose their vitality in two or three seasons. Plant all lilies in fall except Madonnas, which should be put in in August. Two fine flowers we would recommend to flower lovers: the Amaryllis Hallii, or, as we call it, the wonder flower, which grows a large bunch of leaves in spring and in June they all die down. In August there springs up a single stalk from the apparently dead plant, bearing a lily-like bunch of flowers of charming colors. It is as hardy as an oak. The other is the Dictamnus, or gas plant. Most beautiful and very hardy. Get one white and one pink and plant near each other. They are fine. Of course we have named but a small part of our collection, but will be glad to give any further information to our Horticulturist readers and will be glad to welcome them at our grounds any time.

CANNING FRUITS WITHOUT SIRUP.--Can the product the same day it is picked. Cull, stem, or seed, and clean the fruit by placing it in a strainer and pouring water over it until it is clean. Pack the product thoroughly in gla.s.s jars or tin cans until they are full; use the handle of a tablespoon, wooden ladle, or table knife for packing purposes. Pour over the fruit boiling water from a kettle, place rubbers and caps in position, partially seal if using gla.s.s jars, seal completely if using tin cans. Place the containers in a sterilizing vat, such as a wash boiler with false bottom, or other receptacle improvised for the purpose. If using a hot-water bath outfit, process for 30 minutes; count time after the water has reached the boiling point; the water must cover the highest jar in container. After sterilizing seal gla.s.s jars, wrap in paper to prevent bleaching, and store in a dry, cool place.

If you are canning in tin cans it will improve the product to plunge the cans quickly into cold water immediately after sterilization. When using a steam pressure canner instead of the hot-water bath, sterilize for 10 minutes with 5 pounds of steam pressure. Never allow the pressure to go over 10 pounds.

The Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm.

CHAS. HARALSON, SUPT., EXCELSIOR.

The Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm was established eight years ago, princ.i.p.ally for breeding new varieties of fruit adapted to our climate and conditions. The aim of this work is to a.s.sist the people in getting better commercial varieties of the various fruits grown in the state, so that better returns could be secured for the people engaged in the various lines of fruit growing. Some of the plant-breeding work is beginning to show results, a few varieties of fruit are being distributed in a small way for trial in different localities.

A great deal of work has been done with apples. Seedlings have been grown by the thousands every year with the idea of selecting some desirable varieties when the trees come into fruiting. Hardiness of tree, long keeping and good quality of fruit are the most desirable points we are looking for in our selections. A great deal of crossing under gla.s.s is being done with apples; a number of seedlings, the results of this crossing work, are planted every spring.

Some of the six thousand Malinda apple seedlings planted seven years ago have fruited to some extent for the last three years. These show a great variation in fruit, both in color, quality and long keeping. Some of the fruit ripens with the d.u.c.h.ess, while others will keep until spring in good condition. There is a chance for some desirable varieties out of this lot, but it will take several years to determine whether we have anything better than the Wealthy. The Wealthy is by far our best commercial variety, but we are looking for something that will keep until spring.

Gooseberries and currants are easily raised and are perfectly hardy with us, but we are working to get some improvement on these varieties. Many thousand seedlings are being grown for this purpose. Our native gooseberries are used in breeding work with the cultivated varieties to a great extent, as they are hardy, strong growers and resistant to mildew.

As to cherries, we have none that are satisfactory. Some work has been carried on for several years, but we have not obtained anything of special value so far. The most promising combinations are Compa.s.s cherry crossed with the cultivated varieties. None of these have fruited, but we have some hope for a hardy cherry from these seedlings.

Peaches and apricots are not hardy in Minnesota, and consequently n.o.body thinks of planting them. Some years ago we started crossing the sand cherry with peaches and apricots. The results were a number of seedlings, but all turned out to be worthless; the trees after several years growth were small, or grew mostly in bush form. They blossomed every spring but never set any fruit on account of some imperfection in the flowers. Four years ago we started to use the Compa.s.s cherry as the male parent, and this combination is more promising. The seedlings make a good growth and a fairly good sized tree, practically as hardy as the Compa.s.s cherry. The seedlings resemble the apricots and peaches in blossom, tree and foliage. This fruit will not be exactly an apricot or a peach, but may take the place of these fruits in a small way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 7 Hybrid Seedling Plum--from Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm, at Zumbra Heights.]

The Compa.s.s cherry crossed with Prunus p.i.s.sardi, or purple leaf plum, is a very interesting combination. We have about fifty seedlings growing.

Most of them have the purple foliage and bark, are very ornamental and can be used with effect for lawns and landscape planting where large shrubs are wanted.

The grapes. The Vitis Labrusca, such as Concord, Worden, Moore's Early and many other varieties, are not hardy unless protected during winter.

There is a demand for hardy grapes that do not need any winter protection. At the Fruit-Breeding Farm this problem has been taken up on a large scale. The Beta grape is hardy but lacks in size and quality.

This variety has been used to grow many thousands of seedlings from, and also used in cross-breeding with the better varieties. A large percent of Beta seedlings come true to seed or nearly so. This gives us several hundred varieties equal to Beta, and some of them are quite an improvement in size and quality over the parent and practically as hardy as the wild grape. Many of these are worthy of propagation where hardiness is the main object. Very few of the hybrid grape seedlings have fruited, but indications are that in a few years we will have grapes equal in size and quality to any of our commercial varieties.

Experiments are being carried on in a small way with pears, roses and nuts. Our native hazelnuts can be improved by selection and crossing with the filberts. The same is true with the Rosa Rugosa and our native roses.

In breeding strawberries we probably have had better success than with any other fruit we have attempted to improve. The breeding work was done in the greenhouse during winter and early spring and seed planted as soon as berries were ripe. The plants were transplanted to flats and later planted out in the field, where they remained until fruiting, when the selections were made. We have fruited approximately 60,000 seedlings. These have been weeded out so there are about 400 left, and these will be cut down to a few of the best varieties. At present we have one everbearing and one June-bearing variety which have proven to be very productive, of good size, good quality and good plantmakers.

These plants have been sent out as premiums to members of the State Horticultural Society for the last two years and will be distributed the same way next spring.

In raspberries we have several varieties which are promising. King x Loudan, No. 4, is a variety that has been sent out as premium the last three years. This variety is amongst the hardiest, the berries are dark red, very large and the most productive of all the varieties growing on the place. This has also been sent out as premium through the Horticultural Society.

In plums we probably have had the best success. Some of the first breeding work was with Burbank x (crossed with) Wolf and Abundance x Wolf. We have twenty-eight seedlings of Burbank x Wolf and forty-five Abundance x Wolf which have fruited several years. We have varying degrees of hardiness in these seedlings. Most of them have withstood our winters at the fruit farm without injury, as well as in most of the southern half of the state.

Among the Abundance x Wolf hybrids eight of the seedlings are only partly hardy, while of the Burbank x Wolf only one or two have shown themselves to be particularly weak in this respect.

Type of fruit. In general the Burbank type of fruit is dominant. The flesh of these hybrids runs quite uniformly yellow, varying in degrees, however, from a deep yellow to a yellowish green. Some of them have a yellow skin with a blush or a streak of red, while others are a deep red even before ripe. The fruit in size varies from both smaller and larger than the parents. Firmness characterises most of the hybrids. We are also getting good s.h.i.+pping quality, and in Burbank x Wolf No. 12 we have a plum measuring one and three-quarters inches and more in diameter and a perfect freestone. This plum will be used extensively in further plant-breeding.

In shape of tree the two hybrids differ materially. The Burbank x Wolf hybrids make spreading trees more or less, while the Abundance x Wolf grows more upright and does not need quite as much room.

TENT CATERPILLAR.--As soon as small nests are detected, they should be destroyed. When in convenient reach, the nests may be torn out with a brush, with gloved hand, or otherwise, and the larvae crushed on the ground, care being taken to destroy any caterpillars which have remained on the tree.

The use of a torch to burn out the nests will be found convenient when they occur in the higher parts of the trees. In using the torch great care is necessary that no important injury be done to the tree; it should not be used in burning out nests except in the smaller branches and twigs, the killing of which would be of no special importance. Nests in the larger limbs should be destroyed by hand, as the use of the torch may kill the bark, resulting in permanent injury.

Tent caterpillars are readily destroyed by a.r.s.enicals sprayed on the foliage of trees infested by them. Any of the a.r.s.enical insecticides may be used, as Paris green, Scheele's green, a.r.s.enate of lead, etc. The first two are used at the rate of one-half pound to 50 gallons of water.

The milk of lime made from 2 to 3 pounds of stone lime should be added to neutralize any caustic effect of the a.r.s.enical on the foliage.

a.r.s.enate of lead is used at the rate of 2 pounds to each 50 gallons of water.

On stone fruits, such as cherry, peach, and plum, a.r.s.enicals are likely to cause injury to foliage and must be used with caution if at all. On such trees the a.r.s.enate of lead is preferable, as it is less injurious to foliage, and on all trees sticks much better. In spraying for the tent caterpillar only, applications should be made while the caterpillars are yet small, as they then succ.u.mb more quickly to poisons than when more nearly full grown, and prompt treatment stops further defoliation of the trees.--U. S. Dept. Agri.