Protect the Garden against Winter Weather.

U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE.

At this season many inquiries come to the United States Department of Agriculture regarding the protection of garden plants and shrubs during the winter. Such flowers as peonies and hollyhocks will come up again the following year if they are properly protected during the winter, while others, like cannas and dahlias, which are more accustomed to warm climes, must have their roots or bulbs dug up and stored in a cellar. The department's specialists give the following suggestions for "putting the garden to bed":

Hardy Perennials.—Cover hardy perennials, such as peonies, larkspur, hollyhocks, columbines, iris, platycodons and perennial poppies, with a good coating of manure or other litter to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. In more southern localities this will hold the frost in the ground and keep the plant from alternately freezing and thawing; in more northern regions the manure will protect the plant from freezing to a depth that will cut off its water supply.

Cannas and Dahlias.—As soon as the tops of cannas, dahlias, gladiolus, caladiums and similar plants are killed by frost, dig up the roots or bulbs and store them in a cellar where the temperature will remain at 55 degrees, and should never go below 50 or above 60 degrees. Do not shake any more earth from the clumps of cannas and dahlias than is necessary in removing them from the ground. Place the plants on racks or in slat boxes so the air may circulate freely through them. No frost must reach the roots nor must they become too warm or dry.

Shrubs.—As a rule shrubs should not be trimmed in the fall. This process is timely immediately after the blooming period, if this is in the spring, as in the case of the snowball. If the shrubs bloom in the fall, as do some hydrangeas, the rose of Sharon, and some lilacs, they should not be cut directly after blooming but in the spring of the following year. Lilacs, snowballs and mock orange should be let alone during the winter, being neither trimmed nor covered with straw and manure.

Roses.—Almost all kinds of roses are hardy in the vicinities of Washington, D. C., and St. Louis and to the south of a line drawn between these points. From Washington northward local conditions influence the successful cultivation of certain varieties. Some roses, as the brier and rugosa, need no protection, but other varieties, such as the hybrid perpetuals, teas and hybrid-teas, need special care, particularly north of the fortieth parallel. Teas and hybrid teas hardly succeed in Chicago, although the hybrid-perpetuals grow as far north as Canada. All these classes do well on Long Island and in Boston near the sea when proper care is given them. These varieties in the vicinity of Washington need merely a little manure on the ground to prevent alternate freezing and thawing. Farther north, however, they should be treated as follows:

Cut the tops to within 30 inches of the ground. Cover the roots with coarse manure or leaves or similar litter. Hold this in place by evergreen boughs which also acts as a protection. Brush from deciduous trees or shrubs may be substituted for the evergreen boughs except in the most northern regions.

Mounds of earth about six or eight inches in height should be drawn about the base of the rose bushes to keep them from mice. As an added protection against mice, permit the ground to freeze slightly before winter protection is supplied. In fact, roses should not be protected until after the first light freeze, which may be expected in Washington, D. C., about the first of December, but earlier farther north. (Tops must be protected in Minnesota.—Sec.)

Climbing Roses.—In the latitude of Philadelphia and farther south climbing roses usually need no protection during the winter unless they are a particularly tender variety. Farther north these roses need protection similar to that given to the tea and hybrid tea roses.

Where it is possible to do so, remove climbing roses from their supports, and cover the branches with a little dirt. A little fall trimming might be desirable to lessen the space occupied by the branches on the ground. Such side branches as are not to be needed for next season's blooming may be cut off. Such cutting off and shortening of the ends as would otherwise be done in the spring may be done in the fall before covering, merely for convenience.