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HARPER'S A-B-C SERIES
A-B-C OF HOUSEKEEPING.
By Christine Terhune Herrick
A-B-C OF ELECTRICITY.
By William M. Meadowcroft
A-B-C OF GARDENING. By Eben E. Rexford
A-B-C OF MANNERS. By Anne Seymour
16mo, Cloth
HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK
A-B-C
OF
GARDENING
BY
EBEN E. REXFORD
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK & LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY HARPER & BROTHERS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PUBLISHED MARCH, 1915
CONTENTS
CHAP.
PAGE
I.
Making the Garden
II.
Making a Lawn
III.
The Border
IV.
Annuals
V.
Vines
VI.
Spring Work in the Garden
VII.
Midsummer in the Garden
VIII.
Window-boxes
IX.
The Use of Growing Plants for Table Decoration
X.
Decorative Plants
XI.
The Bulb-bed
XII.
Getting Ready for Winter
XIII.
Bulbs for Winter Flowering
XIV.
The Winter Window-garden
XV.
The Insect Enemies of Plants
XVI.
Gardening for Children
XVII.
Home and Garden Conveniences
XVIII.
Garden Don'ts
XIX.
A Chapter of Helpful Hints
A-B-C OF GARDENING
A-B-C OF GARDENING
I
MAKING THE GARDEN
The first thing to do in making a garden
is to spade up the soil to the depth of a
foot.
The second thing to do is to work this
spaded-up soil over and over until it is
thoroughly pulverized.
The third thing to do is to add to it whatever
fertilizer you decide on using. This may
be old, well-rotted manure from the cow-yard,
if you can get it, for it is the ideal fertilizer
for nearly all kinds of plants. But if you
live in city or village the probabilities are that
you will be obliged to make use of a substitute.
Bone meal—the finely ground article—is
about as good as anything I know of
for amateur use. The amount to use will
depend on the condition of the soil to which
you apply it. If of simply ordinary richness,
I would advise a teacupful of the meal to a
yard square of ground. If the soil happens
to be poor, a large quantity should be used.
It is not possible to say just how much or how
little, because no two soils are exactly alike.
One can decide about this when he sees the
effect of what has been used on the plants
whose cultivation he has undertaken. I
speak of using it by measure rather than by
weight because the gardener will find it easier
to use a cup than a set of scales.
When the soil has been thoroughly pulverized
and the fertilizer has been well worked
into it you are ready for sowing seed—that
is, if the weather conditions are favorable.
It is always advisable to wait until all danger
from frost is over and the ground is warm
enough to facilitate prompt germination.
At the North the seed of our hardier
plants can safely be put into the ground
about the middle of May, but the tenderer
kinds can well afford to wait until the first of
June.
In sowing seed don't follow the old way of
making a furrow an inch deep in the soil,
by drawing the hoe-handle along it, and then
covering the seed deeply. Fine seed often
fail to germinate when given this treatment.
Simply scatter the seed on the surface, and
then sift a little fine soil over it, or press the
ground down firmly with a smooth board,
thus imbedding the seed in the ground to a
depth that is sufficient to insure enough
moisture to facilitate the process of germination.
Large seed, like that of the sweet-pea,
nasturtium, mirabilis, and morning-glory can
be covered with half an inch of soil.
Weeding should begin as soon as you can
tell the weeds and the flowering plants apart.
It is absolutely necessary to keep the beds
clean if you would have good flowers. Allow
weeds to remain, and in an incredibly short
time they will get such a start of the other
plants in the bed that these will have received
a check from which it will take them a long
time to recover, when given an opportunity to
do so by the removal of the enemy. There
can be no compromise between weeds and
flowering plants. One must give way to the
other, and weeds will have it all their own
way if given the ghost of a chance.
Every gardener should be the owner of a
wheelbarrow, a hoe, a spade, an iron rake, a
watering-pot, and a weeding-hook. The
last, which will cost ten or fifteen cents, will
enable you to destroy as many weeds in half
an hour as you could pull in half a day by
hand, and it will leave the soil in as light and
porous a condition as would result from
going over it with rake or hoe.
II
MAKING A LAWN
Most home-makers labor under the
impression that it would be useless for
them to undertake the making of a lawn,
thinking it requires the knowledge and experience
of the professional gardener to make
such an undertaking successful. This is
where they make a mistake. Anybody can
make a lawn that will afford a great deal of
pleasure if he sets about it, provided he is
willing to do some hard work.
The first thing to do is to make the surface
of the ground level. This can be done by the
use of spade and hoe. Take off the tops of
the hillocks, if there happens to be any, and
fill the hollows with the soil thus obtained.
When you have a fairly even surface, go
over it with an iron-toothed rake and make
it fine and mellow. It is very important that
all stones and rubbish of every kind should be
removed if you want a good sward.
After reducing the soil to the necessary
degree of fineness, add whatever fertilizer to it
you propose to make use of, and then go over
the ground again with the rake and work this
fertilizer in thoroughly. It is necessary to
have it evenly distributed. If it is not, there
will be patches where the grass will be thick
and luxuriant, and others where it will be
scanty and poor. Such a result should be
guarded against by working the fertilizer into
the soil so evenly that no part of it will be
without its proper share.
Then you are ready for sowing the seed.
The seed to sow is the very best kind in
the market. This will cost you a little more
than the inferior kind that is offered each
season, but it is worth a good deal more,
and it is what you must have if you would
make your lawn a thing of beauty. Procure
it from some reliable dealer who makes a
specialty of "lawn-grass mixtures."
If you tell the dealer the size of your lawn
and ask how much seed you will need, he will
give you what he considers a fair estimate.
I would advise you to double the amount,
for this reason: a thickly seeded lawn will
have the appearance, by the middle of the
first season, of a lawn a year or two old. And
because of the thickness of the grass it will be
better able to stand the effect of drought and
heat. You will find that the extra money
invested in seed was a wise investment, and
you will never have cause to regret making it.
Sowing seems, to the amateur gardener, a
matter of so little importance that it requires
no special attention. All there is to do is to
scatter the seed over the ground. But nine
out of ten amateurs who do the work with
this idea in mind will speedily discover their
mistake. When the grass comes up thickly
here and there, with vacant places between,
they will come to the conclusion that sowing
grass seed evenly isn't the easiest thing in the
world, for the seed is so light that the slightest
puff of air will blow it away, and some will
settle where you want it to, and some will
lodge where other seed has already lodged,
and the result will be very unsatisfactory.
In order to prevent such a condition of things
as far as possible, I would advise sowing from
north to south, and then from east to west.
Do this on a still, damp day, if possible, and
hold your hand close to the ground as you
scatter the seed. Don't attempt to broadcast
it, as you may have seen some gardener
do, but be content to scatter it over a small
portion of soil each time you sow a handful
of it. By doing this you will prevent most
of it from being blown away.
III
THE BORDER
The owner of a small lot is often puzzled
to know what to do with it. Of course
there must be flowers, but where shall they
be put? As a general thing, they are set out
here and there, indiscriminately, and the result
of such haphazard planting is far from
pleasing. There ought always to be at least
a suggestion of system in all garden arrangements.
To scatter shrubs all over the lawn
breaks up the sense of breadth and dignity
which should characterize it, however small
it may be. This being the case, the best
place for shrubs and perennials is at the sides
of the lot, leaving the rear for the vegetable
garden.
A border extending along the sides of the
lot will serve as a frame for the home picture,
and will be found the most satisfactory
arrangement possible for small places. It
ought to be at least four feet wide—six or
eight will be found much better if ground can
be spared for it—and a pleasing effect can be
secured by letting it increase in width as it
approaches the rear of the lot. It will be
far more attractive if its inner edge curves a
little here and there than if it is confined to
straight lines.
I would advise a "mixed border." By
that is meant one in which shrubs and
perennials are grown together and where
annuals and spring-flowering bulbs can be
used effectively to "fill in."
The soil for such a border must be made
and kept quite rich, for almost always we put
so many plants into it that great demands
are made upon the nutriment contained in it,
and in order to have fine plants they must get
all the food they can make good use of.
You can't grow plants to perfection unless
you feed them well. Every season—preferably
in spring—manure should be applied
liberally.
In setting out shrubs one should take a
look ahead and endeavor to see, with the
mind's eye, what they will be likely to be
when fully developed. If this is not done
we are pretty sure to plant them so close
that by and by we have a thicket of them,
in which none of them can properly display
their charms.
Between the shrubs plant perennials and
such summer-flowering plants as dahlias and
gladioli.
Plant the taller perennials at the rear, and
those of medium height in the center, of the
row, with low-growing kinds in front.
By doing this we secure a sort of banklike
effect which will be very pleasing. In order
to plant intelligently, study the catalogues
of the florists, for most of them give the
height of each plant listed in them.
If I were asked to name the best shrubs
for amateur use, I would choose these: spiræa
(especially the Van Houttei variety), weigelia
deutzia, lilacs in variety, flowering currant,
and golden elder—the last a shrub with rich
yellow foliage, capable of producing a most
delightful effect when planted among richly
colored flowering plants like the hollyhock
and delphinium. From the perennial list I
would select peonies, phlox, delphinium, iris,
and hollyhocks.
My selection would include the kinds
named above because of their hardiness and
ease of culture as well as their beauty.
There are many other kinds which richly
deserve a place in all gardens that are large
enough to allow of free selection, but the
owner of the average home lot will be obliged
to draw a line somewhere, and he will be safe
in confining his choice to the kinds I have
mentioned. They are among the very best
plants we have in their respective classes.
IV
ANNUALS
The owner of a garden that is so small
that but few plants can be grown in it
naturally desires to confine her selection to
such kinds as will be likely to give the greatest
amount of bloom and require the least
amount of care.
At the head of the list it is quite safe to
place the sweet-pea. This old and universal
favorite blooms profusely and throughout the
entire season if prevented from ripening
seed. It is beautiful, wonderfully varied as
to coloring, and so fragrant that it is almost
a rival of the rose in this respect. It requires
a treatment so unlike that of ordinary plants
that it is really in a class by itself, if one
would secure the best results from it. It
likes to get a start early in the season and to
have its roots deep in the soil, where they
will be cool and moist when the hot, dry,
midsummer season comes. To gratify this
desire on the part of the plant we sow its
seed in trenches four or five inches deep,
about the middle of April, at the North, or as
soon as the ground is free from frost. These
trenches are V-shaped, and can easily be
made by drawing the corner of a hoe through
the soil. Sow the seed quite thickly, and
cover with an inch of soil, trampling it down
firmly. When the young plants are about
three inches tall draw in about them some of
the soil thrown out from the trench, and
continue to do this from time to time as the
plants reach up, until the trench is full. In
this way we succeed in getting the roots of
the plant deep enough to prevent them from
drying out if the season happens to be one of
drought. The best support for the sweet-pea
is brush. The next best is woven-wire netting
with a large mesh.
Another plant that the amateur gardener
cannot afford to overlook is the nasturtium.
It is a most profuse and constant bloomer.
Its colors run through all shades of yellow,
orange, and red. It has a delicious spicy fragrance
quite unlike that of any other flower
I have any knowledge of. Fine for cutting.
The aster must also be given a place in all
gardens, large or small, because of its beauty,
its wide range of color, and its ease of culture.
There are several quite distinct varieties,
all good, but none better than the long-stalked
"branching" kind. This is the ideal
sort for cutting. Its flowers rival those of
the chrysanthemum in general effect and
lasting quality.
Phlox Drummondii is an old favorite that
holds its own against any of the new-comers.
So is the verbena, and the calliopsis, and the
good old "bachelor's-button," which you will
find masquerading in the florists' catalogues
as centaurea. It must not be blamed for
this, as it has no reason to be ashamed of its
old-fashioned name. The seedsmen alone are
responsible for the change in nomenclature.
Other stand-bys among the annuals are
poppies, larkspur, petunias, ten-week stock,
marigolds, scabiosa, mignonette, eschscholtzia
(better known as California poppy).
Of course the list of really desirable kinds
could be extended almost indefinitely, but I
do not think it advisable to make mention of
other kinds here, because it is not the part of
wisdom for the amateur gardener to attempt
growing "a little of everything." It is better
to confine one's attention to a few of the kinds
with which success is reasonably sure until
experience justifies one in undertaking the
culture of those which are not so self-reliant
and unexacting as the kinds mentioned.
V
VINES
If any one were to ask me to tell him
what vine I considered best adapted to
amateur culture in all respects, I would decide
in favor of the ampelopsis—better known in
many localities as Virginia creeper. My decision
would be based on the beauty of the
vine, its rapid growth, its hardiness, and its
ability to furnish its own support on walls of
wood, brick, or stone. Its foliage is very
pleasing in summer, but it is doubly so in
autumn, when its green gives place to a brilliant
crimson and a rich maroon. At that
season of the year all our flowering vines
are eclipsed by its magnificent coloring. It
grows well in all kinds of soil—better, of
course, in a good one than a poor one—and it
will go to the eaves of a three-story house if
given an opportunity to do so, and cover
every inch of the wall unless special efforts
are made to prevent it from doing this. If
you do not want your windows hidden under
its luxuriance it will be necessary for you to
cut away a good many of its branches during
the summer.
The Dorothy Perkins rose—one of the
rambler class—is a most charming vine when
in full bloom, and it has the merit of being
quite attractive at other periods, as its foliage
is a rich, dark, shining green—something that
cannot truthfully be said of some of the other
members of this class of roses. It is the only
rambler I would advise for use about porches
and verandas. It blooms in wonderful profusion.
Its flowers are a soft pink, borne in
large, loose clusters or sprays. The general
habit of the plant is all that could be desired.
It is the only member of the rambler class
that is really vinelike.
There are two varieties of clematis that I
am always glad to speak a good word for.
One is the native variety, catalogued as
C. flammula. This is a very rampant grower,
and well adapted for use wherever a dense
shade is desired. It blooms in August. Its
flowers are white. They are succeeded by
seed with a feathery tail which makes the
plant look as if covered with gray smoke.
This variety is always greatly admired because
of this peculiarity. The other variety
that I have a special fondness for is C. paniculata.
This is a late bloomer, being in the
prime of its flowering period long after the
plants in the garden have completed the work
of the season. Its flowers are of the purest
white. They are small, individually, but they
are borne in such profusion that the upper
portion of the vine will be completely covered
with them. It will look as if a fall of
snow had tried to hide it. I consider this one
of our very best flowering vines. Unlike the
hybrid members of the clematis family, with
their enormous flowers of rich colors and
scanty foliage, it is perfectly healthy, and it
has ample foliage to make a charming background
for its blossoms.
The trumpet honeysuckle is a favorite
wherever grown. It is one of our best vines
for porch use, as it does not climb to a great
height. It bears its scarlet-and-orange flowers
throughout the entire season. It is an
especial favorite because its foliage is always
clean and seldom attacked by insects.
The good old morning-glory is, all things
considered, our best annual flowering vine.
It grows rapidly, reaching to the windows of
the second story by midsummer. It is a free
and constant bloomer. It is excelled by no
other vine in richness and variety of color—white,
pink, purple, blue, violet, and crimson
flowers will make a veritable "morning glory"
of it. Care should be taken to provide it
with stout cord to climb by. A light twine
is not strong enough to support the weight
of its heavy vines.
Another good flowering vine is the hyacinth
bean. Why it should be given this name I
do not know, as there is nothing about it
suggestive in the remotest degree of the
hyacinth. Its flowers are a brilliant scarlet.
It seldom grows to a greater height than seven
or eight feet, and is therefore well adapted to
use about porches where a rampant grower is
not wanted.
The wild cucumber, catalogued as echynocystis,
is a good vine for covering tall buildings
and screens. It will make a growth of
twenty-five or thirty feet in a season. Its
foliage is pretty, as are its white flowers,
which make the vines look as if covered with
foam. These give place to prickly fruit,
somewhat resembling some varieties of cucumber,
hence its popular name.
The wild grape that is found growing along
creeks and rivers in almost all parts of the
country is a most excellent vine for covering
summer-houses and for planting where it can
have trees to clamber over. Its flowers are
so small and so pale in color as to be scarcely
distinguishable, but they are so delightfully
fragrant that every one knows when the vine
is in bloom without looking at it. Its fragrance
has much of the pervading quality
that characterizes mignonette, and is quite
unlike that of any other plants I can call to
mind. It seems to have the very spirit of the
spring in it—vague, elusive, and sweet beyond
description.
I would not class the crimson-rambler rose
among the vines, though the majority of our
florists have done so. I treat it as a shrub,
and find it most satisfactory when grown in
that manner. I allow the young canes to
reach a length of seven or eight feet. Then
I nip off the tops of them. This causes side
branches to develop. A central support is
provided for these branches. In this way I
succeed in getting flowers all over the plant—in
other words, of making it a shrub instead
of a vine. If it is used to cover
summer-houses, the canes can be allowed
to grow to suit themselves.
Celastrus scandens, more commonly known
as bittersweet, is a native vine that can
easily be domesticated. It is well worth a
place about every home. Its foliage is bright
and clean, its flowers inconspicuous, but its
fruit makes the vine a favorite wherever
grown. This is a bright crimson, each berry
being inclosed in an orange shell which splits
apart in three pieces, revealing the fruit inside.
As this fruit remains on the plant until
late in the season, it makes the vine quite as
attractive as if it were covered with flowers
at a time of the year when bits of brightness
are greatly appreciated in the garden.
VI
SPRING WORK IN THE GARDEN
There will be a good deal of work to do
in the garden, no matter how small it is.
A good deal of this work will consist in
cleaning up and removing rubbish, unless attention
was given to this in the fall. The tops
of last year's perennials should be cut away
close to the ground, and dead annuals should
be pulled up and added to the refuse-heap.
If a covering was provided for your plants,
it should be removed altogether or dug into
the soil about the roots of the plants it protected.
Never allow it to remain upon the
ground about the plants unless it is of a
kind that is not particularly noticeable.
This should not be done, however, until
the season is so far advanced that all danger
of severe freezing is over. A plant that has
had winter protection will not be in as good
condition to resist the effect of severe cold as
it would have been if that protection had not
been given it. Therefore do not be in that
haste which may result in waste. Rome
wasn't built in a day, and spring isn't confined
to a week. There will be plenty of time
for uncovering plants when the weather will
justify it.
The bulb-bed should not have its covering
taken off until you are quite sure that the
weather will not be severe enough to injure
the tender plants just peeping through the
soil. Of course one cannot be quite sure
when it is safe to do this, as our Northern
seasons are subject to frequent and sometimes
severe relapses. But if we keep an eye
on the weather we can generally tell when
uncovering is advisable. If, after the beds
have been uncovered, a cold spell happens
along and there seems to be danger in the air,
spread blankets, old carpeting, or something
of a similar nature over them. But before
doing this drive pegs into the ground for the
covering to rest on. Its weight should not
be allowed to fall upon the young shoots,
which will be so tender at this period as to be
easily broken.
Go through the garden with a view to
finding what changes can be made advantageously.
We often make sad mistakes in
the location of our plants, and do not discover
them until it is too late to unmake them that
season. Sometimes a plant that has got into
the wrong place so disappoints us that we
think of throwing it out, but if we give it a
place where its merits have an opportunity to
assert themselves properly it turns out to be
extremely satisfactory. The aim should be
to get every plant into the place just suited
to its peculiarities. It may take several
seasons to bring about so desirable a result,
but something along this line should be part
of every season's work.
Old clumps of perennials will be greatly
benefited by a division of their roots about
once in three years. Take them up, cut their
roots apart, discard all but the youngest and
strongest ones, and reset in a soil that has
been made rich and mellow.
Shrubs should be looked over with a view to
doing whatever pruning may seem necessary.
I do not advise much pruning, however. A
shrub knows better than I do what shape to
grow in to be most effective, and I prefer to
let it train itself. About all the pruning I
do is to cut away weak wood and to thin out
the branches if there seems too many of them.
Early-flowering shrubs should never be
pruned until after their flowering period is
over.
Manure should be applied to all plants
each spring. The older it is the better if you
procure it from the barn-yard. On no account
should fresh manure be used. Spread your
fertilizer out about the plants, and then work
it into the soil with spade or hoe.
You will doubtless find many seedling
plants in the beds where they germinated
last fall. These should be transplanted to
places where they are to bloom as early in the
spring as possible. All perennials that got a
start last year will bloom this season, but
those grown from seed sown this spring will
not bloom until next year. Therefore make
liberal use of self-sown plants.
We are generally in such a hurry to do
garden work in spring that we begin it before
the ground is in proper condition to make
good work possible. If it is spaded up before
the surplus water from early rains and melting
snows has had a chance to drain out of it,
no attempt should be made to pulverize it
then. It simply will not pulverize, but the result
of your attempt to make it do so will be
a lot of lumps and chunks. But if left exposed
to the disintegrating action of wind and
sunshine and possible showers for a few days,
it will be in a condition that will make it an
easy matter to reduce it to fineness under the
application of hoe or rake.
Plan your garden. Never trust to "the
inspiration of the moment" in making it.
Go over the ground and decide where you
think this or that plant would be most effective.
Make a diagram of it, locating each
plant that you propose to make use of, and
when seeding-time comes you will have something
definite to work to. Haphazard gardening
is never satisfactory.
VII
MIDSUMMER IN THE GARDEN
We somehow get the impression that
when our garden is made in spring
that's about all there will be for us to do.
Our share of the work has been done, and if
Nature does her share, well and good. But
in our endeavor to shirk further responsibility
on to Nature we lose sight of the fact that
gardening isn't a thing of periods. It is, on
the contrary, a thing of one period, and that
period covers the entire season.
We soon discover that weeds will need attention
every day. It really seems, sometimes,
as if the pulling of one weed gave a
score of others an opportunity to take its
place, and that these were waiting impatiently
to step into the shoes of their predecessors,
if such a figure of speech is allowable
in this connection. Neglect weeding for
a week and you will be pretty sure to find that
your seedlings of flowering plants are "out
of sight" in more senses of the term than
one.
But weeding is not all that needs to be done.
There will be more or less transplanting to
do in the early part of the season. This
should be done on a cloudy day, if possible.
If no such day happens along at the time
when it is absolutely necessary that this
phase of gardening should be attended to,
do it after sundown.
Before lifting the young plants, water
them well to make the soil adhere to their
roots. As little exposure to the air as possible
is desirable. Also have the ground in
which they are to be set ready to receive
them, that the work of transplanting may be
completed with the least possible delay.
Every gardener ought to provide herself
with a little trowel that will enable her to lift
a plant without breaking apart the soil about
its roots.
Drop the seedling into the place prepared
for it, and press the soil about it firmly but
gently. Then water well.
If the next day is a warm and sunshiny
one, some shade should be given the newly
set plants. By tacking pieces of pasteboard
six inches wide and eight or ten inches long
to sticks a foot in length a very practical
shade can easily be made. The stick to
which the pasteboard is fastened by carpet-tacks
is to be inserted in the ground by each
plant. The pasteboard is to be bent over
in such a manner as to prevent the sun's rays
from striking the plant. By this method
the plant gets all the protection it needs and
the air is allowed free circulation about it.
The hoe ought to be used daily in all gardens.
If the season happens to be a dry one,
don't forego its use under the impression that
stirring the soil will result in its drying out.
If you want to keep moisture out of the soil,
there is no way of doing it more effectually
than by allowing it to become crusted over.
But if you want to get all possible moisture
into it, keep it light and porous. Such a condition
will make it possible for it to absorb
whatever moisture there may be in the air.
Make it a rule to go over your plants when
they come into bloom and cut off every faded
flower, to prevent the formation of seed.
Most plants will give but one general flowering
period if left to manage their own affairs.
All their energies will be expended in the production
of seed. As a natural consequence
they will give you few or no flowers after the
early part of summer. But, thwart them in
their seed-producing intent and they will at
once set about getting the start of you by
making another effort to carry forward to
completion their original plan. The result
will be satisfactory to you, if it isn't to them.
See that all plants needing support are
provided with it. Never allow plants of
slender habit to sprawl all over the ground.
They give the garden an untidy, "mussy"
look, and constantly accuse you of neglect.
A bit of brush inserted by the side of such
plants will furnish all the support required by
them.
In watering the garden in a dry season
make the application after sundown. This
will allow the plants to get the benefit of
the water before the sun has a chance to draw
the moisture out of the soil, as it will rapidly
do if watering is done in the morning.
What every gardener needs is a watering-pot
with a long spout. This will make it an
easy matter to apply the water close to the
plant, where none will be wasted.
Never use a nozzle on your pot when
watering plants in the garden. That will
scatter the water over a wide surface, and so
thinly that but little good will result from the
application.
VIII
WINDOW-BOXES
Blessed be window boxes! They are
excellent substitutes, on a small scale,
for a garden, and almost any woman can
have them, while a real garden is out of the
question for a majority of the women who
love flowers. A garden on the ground is one
of the impossibilities for most women in the
city who could well afford one, so far as
financial ability is concerned, but she can
make her windows so attractive with flowers
and "green things growing" that she will not
greatly miss the garden in a crowded city
whose every foot of land is worth thousands
of dollars and therefore cannot be given up to
anything as unprofitable, from a pecuniary
standpoint, as flower-growing.
The culture of plants in a window-box
seems an easy thing to the person who sees
plants growing luxuriantly in it. But it is
not as easy as it looks, because the beginner
in this phase of gardening seldom studies
conditions before undertaking it. It generally
takes one or two seasons of mistakes and
consequent failures to make one a successful
grower of plants in window-boxes. But after
repeated failures the amateur generally discovers
what was wrong in her treatment,
and after that the probabilities of failure are
slight.
The cause of failure nine times out of ten is
lack of sufficient moisture in the soil. A box
exposed to air on all sides, as most window-boxes
are, parts rapidly with the water that
has been applied to it, and before one suspects
the actual condition of things the soil
in the box becomes so dry that the plants wilt.
Then a little more water is applied, and the
plants revive temporarily, but next day they
wilt again, and shortly this alternation of a
good deal of drought and a small amount of
moisture results in the death of the plants.
A box a foot wide and a foot deep and four
or five feet long will require a large pailful of
water daily. If you want to grow good
plants in boxes don't form the habit which
prevails to a great extent among amateur
gardeners—that of applying a small quantity
of water whenever you happen to think of it.
A small amount makes the soil look wet on its
surface and deceives one into thinking that
because it looks wet there it must be in proper
condition below. Examination will convince
you of this mistake. Always apply enough
water each time to saturate all the soil in
the box, and make it a rule to do this
every morning or evening. If you go on
the "every-time-you-think-of-it" plan the
chances are that you will not think of it at
the right time or as frequently as you ought
to. Be regular in caring for your plants.
If those who complain of failure with
window-boxes will use more water and use it
frequently, they will have no trouble in growing
plants in them, and growing them as well
as they can be grown in pots. And they can
grow almost any kind of plant. The soil used
should be rich, to begin with, and later on in
the season fertilizers should be applied to keep
the plants well supplied with nutriment.
IX
THE USE OF GROWING PLANTS FOR TABLE DECORATION
The woman who takes pride in making
the family table attractive at all times
finds nothing quite so effective for this purpose
as flowers, and these she cannot always
afford.
But she need not be without material for
beautifying the home table if she has windows
in which plants can be grown, for there
are many plants that are quite as attractive
as flowers. But a good many persons have
not yet learned that they can be made
satisfactory substitutes for cut flowers, because
they have not taken the trouble to
study the thing out. They have heretofore
depended on cut flowers for table decoration,
as have their friends, and it has not occurred
to them to get out of the rut they are in and
think out new ways and means for making
home pleasant.
A well-shaped, medium-sized plant with
fine foliage will add quite as much to the
appearance of any table as a vaseful of flowers
that would cost several times as much.
True, it may lack the brilliant coloring of the
flowers whose place it takes, but that does
not prevent it from being beautiful, and
beauty is what we aim at when we supplement
the attractions of fine table-linen, sparkling
cut glass, silver, and dainty china of the well-arranged
table with the added attraction of
plants and flowers.
One of the best plants for this purpose is
the variety of asparagus catalogued as plumosus
nanus. It is more commonly known as
asparagus fern, though it is not even a most
distant relative of the fern family. It has
foliage so fine that it has all the delicacy
of lace, and is more like a mist of green than
like ordinary foliage. It sends up frondlike
growth that spreads out symmetrically on all
sides of the pot. Pruning is seldom required
to bring it into or keep it in proper shape. A
plant of it, with its pot hidden by a pretty
jardinière or wrapped in tissue-paper will be
in perfect harmony with any table fittings.
If a bit of bright color is desired, three or four
roses or half a dozen carnations with their
stems thrust into the soil in the pot will
furnish it. If the housewife provides herself
with three or four plants of this asparagus,
she will at all times have something at hand
with which to make her table attractive.
In this way she will become independent of
the florist and his fancy prices. These plants
are of the easiest culture, and succeed wherever
geraniums can be grown.
At holiday-time several plants that make
excellent table decorations are on the market.
One is ardisia, with rich, dark-green foliage,
and scarlet berries that are quite as brilliant
as flowers. Another is the Jerusalem cherry,
with pretty foliage and a profusion of crimson
fruit. These plants remain in attractive condition
for weeks, and the woman who invests
in them has something with which to make
her table as attractive as it would be if two or
three dollars had been expended in flowers
that would last for only a few days. It will
be seen that it is economy to buy plants of
this kind. Where there are several there is
opportunity for variety, thus ruling monotony
out of the question.
Cocos Weddelliana is a small-growing palm
with delicate, feathery foliage. One might
call it a "baby" palm because of its small
size. A plant of it always adds distinction
to the table on which it is used. This, like
the asparagus, the ardisia, and the Jerusalem
cherry, readily adapts itself to ordinary window
culture.
Begonia Gloire de Lorraine is a most beautiful
flowering plant. It bears its dainty pink
blossoms so profusely and in such wide-spreading
panicles that the pot in which it
grows is often entirely hidden by it. Its
color is charming by daylight, and under artificial
light it is lovely beyond description. I
know of no other pink flower that is as satisfactory
by lamplight. When an especially
dainty and out-of-the-common decoration is
wanted for the table, nothing superior to it
can be found. This begonia can be obtained
from most florists in fall. If care is taken
to remove it from the table to the window
after it has done decorative duty, it will remain
in bloom during the greater part of
winter. But it must not be left on the table
long at a time. Neither should any of the
other plants named, for they will suffer if
kept away from good light very long.
Primula obconica is a most satisfactory
plant for table use when in full bloom. Its
trusses of pale lilac, soft pink, or pure white
have such a wild-woodsy air about them that
they are always sure of such attention as
American Beauties seldom get. The baby
primrose is a miniature edition of P. obconica,
and it is one of the most lovable flowers imaginable.
Like its larger relative, it is a free
and constant bloomer, and on this account
will be found very useful as a table ornament.
Small specimens of auricaria, with heavy,
dark-green foliage much like that of our native
hemlocks and balsam, make a novel
decoration. This is the plant that the children
delight in calling the Christmas-tree
plant, because of its shape and its evergreen
foliage.
During fall and winter, when fruit and
vegetables are plentiful, very pleasing table
decorations can be made from them. On
Thanksgiving Day such an arrangement will
be found very appropriate.
A friend of mine who has no windows at
which flowers can be grown well, but who, in
spite of that, is determined to make her table
attractive, lays in a supply of bittersweet
berries during the fall, and "everlasting
flowers," like gomphrena, helichrysum, cockscomb,
and others whose petals are strawlike
in texture, and from these she contrives some
really charming decorations for her table.
Where there is a will there is always a way,
you know.
It will be seen from what I have said above
that many plants can be grown in the windows
of the living-room that can be used
with fine effect in table decoration. I would
advise making a collection of such varieties
as I have named for this especial purpose.
With such a collection to draw from no
woman need be at loss for decorative material,
and while her plants are not doing duty
on the table they will be making her windows
attractive, thus serving a double purpose.
X
DECORATIVE PLANTS
There are few homes nowadays in which
at least one plant of ornamental foliage
cannot be found. I know of many in which
some have had place so long that they have
come to be considered as members of the
family. Especially is this true among German
people, who have an especial fondness
for bride's myrtle and English ivy. In many
of these homes I have found finer plants
than I have seen in any greenhouse. I am
not sure that they do not get more care than
the children of the family.
The myrtle to which I refer has small, fine
foliage, evergreen in character, of a rich,
glossy green. It branches freely, and in two
or three years becomes a good-sized shrub.
It does not bloom very freely, but this does
not detract much from the value of the plant,
as its flowers are small and not at all showy,
though really quite pretty in their snow-white
purity. The real value of the plant is in its
foliage. It can be kept growing the year
round, or it can be wintered in the cellar. In
summer a plant of this kind will be found
very effective for porch decoration.
The English ivy is our best evergreen vine.
It is one of the few plants that can be grown
successfully in rooms where there is not much
direct light. Indeed, I have seen it trained
across the ceiling, in German homes, where
the light seemed insufficient to meet the requirements
of any plant, and there its leaves
were as dark in color as those of most other
plants are when standing close to the glass,
and seemed to be quite as healthy. Two or
three times a year, the owners told me, the
vine was taken down, coiled up for convenience
in transit, and taken out of doors.
There it was spread out upon the grass and
left until the rain had washed it clean. Because
of the thick, firm, leathery texture of
its foliage it seemed immune from the bad
effects of dust, hot, dry air, and the absence of
direct light. When well grown it is a plant
that any one might well be proud of. For
training up about the ceiling of the bay-window
it stands at the head of the list of
vines adapted to house culture.
Sometimes scale attacks both myrtle and
ivy. When this happens heroic measures
must be resorted to in order to head off permanent
injury. In the chapter on "The
Insect Enemies of Plants" a remedy is suggested
that seldom fails to produce most satisfactory
results.
Palms are universal favorites. There are
but three varieties that I feel justified in
recommending for amateur culture. These
are the arecas, especially A. lutescens, Latania
borbonica, better known as the "fan palm,"
and the kentias, belmoreana and fosteriana.
Of these three varieties I would advise the
kentias for beginners in palm-culture, as they
are more robust than any of the others and
quite as ornamental. They are of somewhat
coarser habit than Areca lutescens, which is an
almost ideal sort for general use. Latania
borbonica has large, almost circular leaves
borne on short, stout stalks, thrown out from
the center of the plants. It does not grow
tall like the kentias or the arecas. It is the
variety from which our palm-leaf fans are
made. One who has never seen this plant
can get a fairly good idea of the shape of its
foliage by looking at one of these fans. The
three varieties mentioned are all of comparatively
easy culture. Give them a loamy
soil, well drained, and enough water to keep
the soil always moist. Keep them out of
strong sunshine. Don't experiment with
them, hoping to hasten development. As
long as they keep on producing three or four
new leaves during the year, let them alone.
If they lift the crown of the plant out of or
above the soil, and the roots give them the
appearance of a plant on stilts, don't be
frightened, and repot them, setting them low
in the soil to cover the roots. It's natural
for them to grow in that way. Wash the
foliage at least once a week. Add a little
sweet milk to the water. This will give a
gloss to the foliage that will add much to its
attractiveness.
Next to the palm in popularity is the
Boston fern. This is a favorite with every
one who succeeds in growing it well, because
of its great profusion of fronds, three or four
feet long, which droop over the pot gracefully
and make the plant a veritable fountain of
foliage. Another reason for its great popularity
is its ease of culture. Give it a light,
spongy soil and a moderate amount of water
and it will make quite a rapid growth. It is
not an exacting plant in any respect, and will
do well in almost any kind of soil except those
which contain a large amount of clay. But it
does best in a soil that is light and porous.
Never give enough water to make the soil
muddy.
The third place on the list ought to be
given to the ficus, more commonly known as
rubber-plant. This is also of easy culture.
It never fails to attract attention by its
large, thick, glossy, dark-green foliage.
The aspidistra ought not to be overlooked.
Because it does not grow to a considerable
height, like the ficus, it has not attained the
popularity of that plant, as yet, but it will be
a universal favorite as soon as its merits
become fully known. Its great masses of
dark-green foliage are extremely ornamental,
and the fact that it is the one plant in the list
of decorative plants suitable for amateur use
that can be said to almost take care of itself
will appeal to those who want something that
can always be depended on to look well.
Give it enough water to keep the soil in its pot
moist at all times, and that is about all it will
ask of you. It is not at all particular as to
the soil given it, and it seems to care very
little for direct light. It will stand more
abuse and neglect, and flourish under it, than
any other plant I have any knowledge of.
XI
THE BULB-BED
The bulb-bed should be located in some
part of the yard where there is good,
natural drainage or where it will be an easy
matter to secure an artificial one by excavating
the soil to the depth of a foot and a half
and filling the bottom of it with material that
will not readily decay, such as broken brick,
crockery, or crushed stone. The object is to
provide escape for surplus water from the soil
above in spring. No bulb can be grown successfully
in a soil that is unduly retentive of
water about its roots.
In arranging for artificial drainage, after
filling the bottom of the excavation with
five or six inches of drainage material, the
soil that was thrown out should be returned
to it, working into it, as this is done, a
liberal amount of good manure. The best of
all fertilizers for all bulbs is old, well-rotted
barn-yard soil. If this cannot be obtained
make use of some good commercial fertilizer.
As soils differ greatly, and not all commercial
fertilizers are adapted to all soils, I would suggest
that some person in the community who
understands the nature of its soil and the kind
of fertilizer which suits it best should be consulted,
and that the maker of a bulb-bed
should be governed by his advice as to what
kind to make use of. It is not well to let
guesswork govern in the matter.
If possible, choose a location that slopes
toward the south. This will give the bed the
benefit of sun warmth early in the season, and
the plants in it will be greatly helped by it.
It is quite important that the soil for bulbs
should be made fine and mellow and that
whatever fertilizer is used should be thoroughly
incorporated with it. While it is true
that most bulbs will do fairly well in soils of
only moderate richness, it is impossible for
them to do themselves anything like justice
in it. Keep this fact in mind, and be generous
in your supply of plant food.
The proper time to plant bulbs is in late
September and early October. This enables
them to make a strong root-growth before
winter sets in. Such a growth puts them in
proper condition for flowering in spring.
Late planting does not admit of the completion
of root-growth in fall, consequently some
of it has to be made in spring. This obliges
the plants to divide their work at that season
between root-growth and flower production,
and as these processes ought not to go on at
the same time the result is an inferior crop
of flowers and unsatisfactory bulb-development.
I cannot urge too strongly the advantages
of early planting.
The best bulbs for the amateur gardener are
Holland hyacinths, tulips, and the narcissus.
These are very hardy and floriferous, and succeed
in almost all soils. And they are so
beautiful that they deserve a place in all collections.
They should be set about four
inches below the surface, and about that
distance apart.
Before winter sets in the bed should be
covered with leaves, straw, or coarse litter
from the barn-yard. Let the covering be
about six inches deep. It will not prevent
the ground from freezing, but it will prevent
it from freezing and thawing alternately.
If this takes place the bulbs are pretty sure to
be torn from their places, and their tender,
recently formed roots broken off.
Of course there are other bulbs than those
of which I have made mention that are well
worth growing, but they are not as well
adapted to amateur culture as those are,
therefore I would advise the beginner in bulb-growing
to confine her attention to the hardiest
and least particular kinds until she feels
that her success with them justifies her in
"branching out" and making an attempt to
grow those which require greater care and a
good deal more of it.
XII
GETTING READY FOR WINTER
A supply of good potting-soil should be
put into the cellar for use during the
winter if needed. Often a plant will have
outgrown its pot, thus making immediate
repotting necessary in order to continue the
healthy condition of it, but if there is no good
soil at hand it will be obliged to do the best it
can until spring comes, and by that time it
will have received a check from which it will
be a long time in recovering, and quite often
it will die as the result of failure to give it
proper attention when it was in most need of
it. If you have a supply of potting-soil in
stock there will be no excuse for not caring
for your plants promptly when the advisability
of repotting is indicated.
A very satisfactory potting-soil is composed
of garden loam, two parts; leaf-mold
or its substitute, one part; and clean, coarse
sand, one part. To this should be added
some well-rotted cow manure, if obtainable.
Work the compost over until all its ingredients
are thoroughly mixed. The quantity
of manure required to make the compost sufficiently
rich to suit all kinds of plants will
depend on the quality of the loam used. If
that is quite rich, do not add much manure
to it. If only of moderate richness, more can
be used. This is a matter which will have to
be decided largely by results. If the plants
you put into the compost make a strong,
healthy growth, the soil is rich enough. If
the growth does not seem strong, more plant
food is required.
A good substitute for cow manure is fine
bone-meal in the proportion of a pound to a
bushel of soil. A good substitute for leaf-mold
will be found in that portion of old
sward from pasture or roadside which contains
fine grass roots. Turn the sward over
and cut away this part of it, to mix with the
loam and sand. These roots will be found
almost as rich in vegetable matter as pure
leaf-mold.
Some persons may wonder why I advise the
liberal use of sand, which is not supposed to
contain much nutriment. I do it because I
have found from long experience in growing
plants that sand not only facilitates good
drainage, but enables air to get to the roots of
the plants as it never can do when the soil is
not light and porous. And sand is a sweetener
of soil, as is charcoal. Of course not all
plants are alike in their requirements. Roses,
for instance, like a rather heavy, compact
soil. In growing them use the loam without
sand. If I had to choose between sand and
manure in making potting-soil for nearly all
plants adapted to window culture, I would
take the sand.
It is not too late to set out seedling plants of
such perennials as phlox and hollyhock if care
is taken to lift enough soil with them to insure
against disturbance of their roots. Work of
this kind can be done to better advantage now
than in spring.
Now is a good time to go over the shrubs
and give such pruning as may seem necessary.
As a general thing, the less pruning given a
shrub the better, for if left to itself it will do
a much better job of training than we are
capable of doing for it. But it is advisable
that all shrubs should have the old, weak wood
cut away each season. This is pruning for
health—not for symmetry. Nature has a
keener eye for the symmetrical than we have,
therefore we are justified in leaving the training
of our shrubs to her, or to the shrubs, acting
under her advice.
Oleanders, fuchsias, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums—in
fact, all hard-wooded plants
that are summer and autumn bloomers—should
be wintered in the cellar. Here, if the
temperature is kept low, they will be practically
dormant for several months, thus getting
the same kind of a resting-spell that comes to
deciduous plants out of doors during winter.
Give just enough water to prevent the soil
from becoming dust-dry. Do not be frightened
if some of them shed their foliage while
in cold storage; outdoor plants do that. If
the place in which they are kept can be
made dark, all the better.
Dahlia roots should be spread out on
swinging-shelves of wire netting when stored
away. Never heap them together, and never
put them on the cellar-bottom, for it is likely
to be too damp there. Mold, which is largely
the result of dampness, must be guarded
against, hence the advantage of hanging-shelves
which will allow a free circulation of
air about the roots spread out on them.
Look them over at least every week. If you
find any that show signs of mold or decay,
separate them immediately from the healthy
ones. If allowed to remain, the diseased
condition will surely be communicated to the
entire mass of roots.
All plants that seem to need repotting
should be attended to before winter sets in.
This will give them plenty of time to become
thoroughly re-established before the winter
campaign is on, and it will not be necessary
to disturb them in the middle of the busy
season.
All the windows at which plants are kept
should be looked over before cold weather
comes, and made proof against cracks and
crevices that will let in cold air. It is a good
plan to provide these windows with storm-sash.
If this is done, the plants can be allowed
to stand with their leaves against the
glass, as the air space between window and
storm-sash will prevent frost from forming on
the inner panes.
Gladiolus roots should be stored in boxes
of perfectly dry sawdust or buckwheat hulls
and kept in a dry and rather cool place.
Never put them in the cellar. Be careful
to see that no frost gets to them. Or they
can be wrapped in paper and put into paper
bags and hung in a closet. If kept in a very
warm place over winter they frequently become
so dry that there is little vitality left in
them by spring.
Tuberous begonias and gloxinias will most
likely have ended their flowering season by
this time. Allow the soil in their pots to
become dry. Then set them away in a dark
closet without in any way disturbing the
tubers. Treated in this manner, they winter
much more satisfactorily than when the roots
are taken out of the soil. In spring, when the
plants are brought to the light and water is
given, they will soon send up new sprouts.
Then the roots should be shaken out of the
old soil and supplied with fresh earth.
In covering roses do not make use of leaves
if there happens to be anything else at hand
that will afford the necessary protection.
Leaves would make an ideal covering were it
not for the fact that it is almost impossible to
keep mice from working in them. Last season
I lost every rose-bush that was covered
with leaves. The mice had gnawed all the
bark from them. Covering the bushes with
dry earth is preferable.
XIII
BULBS FOR WINTER FLOWERING
Whenever any one writes me that
she is fond of flowers, and would be
delighted if she could have some in winter,
but that she fails to get satisfaction from the
ordinary house-plant, I always advise her to
try bulbs. For I know that one is reasonably
sure of getting fine flowers from this class of
plants, provided we are willing to give them
the right kind of treatment. One will get
more flowers from them than she can expect
from the ordinary collection found in the
average window garden—we can have them
through the entire winter if we plan for a
succession—and we have few flowers that
equal those of the bulbs in beauty. And,
last but not least, they require really less
care than is demanded by the majority of
house-plants.
Three things are essential to success in the
culture of bulbs in the house:
First—Good stock.
Second—Good soil.
Third—Root development before top
growth takes place.
The first essential is readily met if you
order your bulbs from reliable dealers—dealers
who have established a reputation for
honesty and the handling of bulbs of the best
quality only. Each season we see advertisements
in which large collections of bulbs are
offered at very low prices. Beware of them.
As a general thing the wonderfully cheap
ones are as cheap in quality as they are in
price, and from such a grade of bulbs you
cannot expect fine flowers. The best bulbs
are imported ones, grown largely in Holland,
where both soil and climate are admirably
adapted to the production of first-class stock,
and where the matter of bulb-growing has
been reduced to almost a science. These
will cost a little more than American-grown
ones, but they are well worth the difference
in price. Inferior stock will give inferior
flowers every time, and what one wants in
forcing bulbs in winter is the best flowers
possible.
The item of good soil is a most important
one. Bulbs can be grown, after a fashion, in
almost any kind of soil, but they can only be
grown to perfection in a soil whose basis is
a sandy loam made quite rich with some good
fertilizer. Heavy soils can be made lighter
by mixing sharp, coarse sand with them until
the mixture, after being squeezed tightly in
the hand, will readily fall apart after pressure
is relaxed.
The ideal fertilizer for all bulbs is old,
thoroughly rotted cow manure. On no account
should fresh manure of any kind be
used. But it is not always possible to procure
manure from the cow-yard, and those
who are unable to do so will find fine bone
meal a good substitute. Use this in the proportion
of a pound to a half-bushel of soil.
Whatever fertilizer is used should be thoroughly
mixed with the soil. Be very sure that
the latter is free from lumps.
In potting bulbs for winter use I would
advise putting several in the same pot. Fill
the pot loosely with soil, then press such
bulbs as those of the hyacinth, tulip, and
narcissus down into it just their depth. As
many can be used in a pot as can be set on
the surface of the soil in it so that they just
touch one another. Do not attempt to make
the soil firm about them or beneath them. If
this is done their tender roots will often fail to
penetrate it, and the consequence will be that
the bulbs are hoisted upward as the roots
develop. This should be guarded against by
having the soil so light that the young roots
will find no difficulty in making their way
into it. I advise the use of several bulbs in
the same pot because it gives a greater
amount of bloom in a limited space, and
greatly economizes in soil, pots, and labor.
When you have put your bulbs into the
soil, water them well, and then set the pots
away in a place that is cool and dark. Some
persons consider this unnecessary, and put
their plants in the window as soon as potted.
This is all wrong. Storage in a cool, dark
room until roots have formed is absolutely
necessary to success. The reason for it is
plain if we stop to think that the bulbs must
have roots before they can make a satisfactory
growth of top. Roots first, flowers afterward.
As a general thing bulbs will have to remain
in cold storage at least six weeks before
it will be safe to bring them to the windows
in which they are to bloom. But no definite
time can be assigned. One must examine the
plants from time to time, and on no account
should they be taken to the light until the
pot is filled with roots and indications of top
growth are seen.
It may sometimes be necessary to water
them while in the dark room, but as a general
thing one watering—the one given at potting-time—will
be sufficient. Too much water
while in the dark may cause serious trouble.
But this, like the length of time allowed for
root formation, is a matter that must be left
largely to the good judgment of the grower.
When plants have been brought from the
cellar, or wherever they have been placed
while roots were forming, they should not be
put into very warm rooms. Too much heat,
combined with the effects of light and water,
will result in rapid growth, which is not a
healthy one. In warm rooms the flowers will
be short-lived.
I have spoken of planting for a succession
of bloom. This is important if you want
flowers throughout the winter. Pot a few at
intervals of ten days or two weeks, beginning
the middle of September or first of October.
If this is done it is an easy matter to keep
the window supplied with flowers from the
holidays to the advent of spring. A little
calculation will enable one to plant enough
to meet the demand and to regulate the
planting intervals in such a manner as to
bring about the succession necessary to cover
the season.
What has been said above may seem so
elaborate to the person who has never grown
bulbs for winter flowering that it may give
the impression that what is really a simple
matter is too difficult for the amateur. But
if what I have written is read over carefully
and given a little thought you will
readily see, I think, that most of what I
have said has been devoted to giving reasons
for the treatment outlined, so that the "whys
and wherefores" may be understood. And
it will be seen that it all resolves itself into
a very simple proposition—viz., good stock,
good soil, and cold storage until roots have
formed—the three essentials spoken of at the
beginning of this chapter. Nothing is required
that the beginner in floriculture is
not equal to. Potting the bulbs is a much
simpler matter than potting a plant, and the
preparation of soil for them involves no more
labor or skill than the preparation of a soil
for a geranium to grow in.
Now as to kinds to grow. I advise the
Holland hyacinth, preferably the single varieties;
the Roman hyacinth, the white variety
only; early tulips; and five varieties of the
narcissus—Van Sion, Horsfeildii, empress,
trumpet-major, and paper-white—and the
Bermuda, or, as it is more commonly called,
Easter lily.
The double Holland hyacinths are too
double to be pleasing to a person who likes
individuality in a flower. The Roman hyacinth
is more graceful than any other member
of the family. The early tulip is much
surer to bloom well than any of the others
described in the florist's catalogue.
The Easter lily requires a treatment somewhat
different from that advised for the other
bulbs. It sends forth two sets of roots, one
from the base of the bulb and one from
the stalk sent up from the bulb. In order to
give each set of roots a chance we have to
set the bulb deep down in the soil. Let the
pot be only half filled with earth when the
lily is put into it, press it down as directed for
the other bulbs, and add no more soil until
growth begins. Then, as the stalk reaches
up, put more soil into the pot, and continue
to do this until it is full. In this way give
the two sets of roots the support they need.
If bone meal is used as a fertilizer, be sure
to get the finely ground article. Coarse bone
meal is not what you need, as it does not
give an immediate effect.
XIV
THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN
In fall, when we bring in the plants that
have been growing out of doors during
the summer, they usually look healthy, and
we congratulate ourselves that we are likely
to have a fine crop of flowers from them later
on. But soon we see some of their leaves
turning yellow and falling off, and though
they may make considerable growth, it is
unsatisfactory because it is spindling and
weak. If buds form, they are pretty sure to
blight before reaching maturity, and, instead
of having the fine, floriferous plants we
had counted on, we have a window-garden
that is more noticeable for its discouraged
look than for anything else.
The owner of such a garden too often
aims to remedy the unfavorable conditions
which exist in it by applying some kind of
fertilizer to her plants. By doing this she
simply makes a bad matter worse, for the
application of any kind of plant food to weak
and debilitated plants is on a par with giving
rich food to a person whose stomach is not
in a condition to make proper use of it. No
fertilizer should ever be given to a plant that
is not in healthy condition; neither should it
be given to dormant plants. When active
growth begins, then, and then only, should
they be stimulated to stronger growth by
feeding them well. But care must be taken
to not overfeed them. Give only enough to
bring about a vigorous growth, but not a
rapid one, for that is pretty sure to be a weak
one from which there will be a reaction by
and by, from which your over-stimulated
plants will suffer severely. Most growers of
house plants are too kind to them. In this
respect they are like a good many mothers
who injure their children by over-indulgence
through mistaken ideas of kindness.
In applying fertilizers, begin by giving
them in small quantities. Watch their effect
upon the plants. If their leaves increase in
size and take on a rich color, be satisfied that
you are feeding your plants quite enough for
their good.
The impression prevails to a considerable
extent that by fertilizing plants we secure
more flowers from them than we would be
likely to do if no fertilizer was used. Such
is not the case. Feed a plant rich food and
it will be likely to make a vigorous growth of
branches and foliage at the expense of flowers.
The aim should be to simply keep the plants
growing well. If this is done, whatever flowers
they produce will share in the general benefit
of the application, but they will not be increased
in quantity by it.
One reason why the plants in the winter
window-garden fail at the time when we think
they ought to be doing their best is lack of
fresh air. If one stops to think about it one
will not wonder that her plants have a sickly
look. We keep our windows closed tightly,
thus keeping out the air that the plants need,
and we put storm-doors on every entrance.
In fact, we do everything in our power,
seemingly, to prevent fresh air from getting
to them, and then we wonder why our plants
do not flourish. We lose sight of the fact that
plants breathe, the same as human beings do.
A little intelligent consideration of the conditions
under which we undertake to grow
them ought to convince us of the mistake we
make in expecting them to do well without a
regular supply of fresh air. While it is well
to make the windows at which plants are
kept tight enough to prevent draughts of cold
air from coming in upon them, it is not only
advisable but absolutely necessary, if we
would grow healthy plants, to give them a
liberal supply of fresh air every day, and
preferably several times a day. This can be
done by opening a door or a window at some
distance from them, and letting fresh, pure
air rush into and fill the room. If possible,
let down a window a few inches from the top
on the side of the room opposite from where
the air comes in, to allow the vitiated air of
the room to readily escape before the onrush
of outdoor air. In this way it is an easy matter
to completely change the character of the
air in a room in a few minutes, and in doing
it we benefit the human occupants of the
room quite as much as we do the plants in it.
If the owner of every window-garden would
make it a daily practice to give her plants an
air-bath she would be surprised at the speedy
improvement that would be noticeable in
them.
We weaken our plants, as we do ourselves,
by keeping the temperature of our rooms too
high. We are not satisfied with a comfortable
warmth. We want heat enough to
keep us constantly conscious of it by its
intensity. This is all wrong from the health
point of view. What ought to be done is to
install a thermometer in every room, and so
regulate the amount of heat that all are kept
at summer warmth by arranging for a system
of ventilation that will act automatically
when the thermometer goes above a certain
point. This system is speedily coming into
general use, and gives most excellent satisfaction.
Where it is not in use, the temperature
can be kept somewhere near where it
ought to be by opening doors or windows
from time to time, as already spoken of.
Keep in mind that too much heat and too little
fresh air will kill almost any plant in time,
and the two, working together, will, nine
times out of ten, make any window-garden
a comparative failure.
Care must be taken in watering plants in
winter. Those which are dormant, or are
making but little growth, will require very
little water. Those in active growth will
need more. The only way to tell how much
to give is to watch your plants closely, and
observe the effect of the applications given.
When the surface of the soil takes on a dry
look it is safe to conclude that the roots of
the plant in the pot have made use of most of
the moisture in it, and that more water
should be given. Then give enough to make
the soil moist all through, and withhold
further applications until the dry look appears
again. Never form the habit of watering
your plants every time you happen to
think about it, and then apply just enough to
make the soil look wet on its surface. If this
is done you will never grow good plants, for
only the surface roots will get the moisture
they need. Have a stated time for watering,
and let the appearance of the soil govern the
amount used.
XV
THE INSECT ENEMIES OF PLANTS
Every woman who attempts to grow
flowers in the house will sooner or later
have to wage warfare against insects.
Perhaps the first battle will have to be
fought with the aphis, or plant-louse. This
insect sucks the sap—the life-blood of the
plant—from stalk and leaf, and soon, if let
alone, it will exhaust the vitality of the plant
to a degree that is wholly incompatible with
health. In fact, if allowed to have its way, it
will kill your plants, for it propagates its
species with such rapidity that a plant will
soon be literally covered with them. We
used to kill off these insects by fumigating
the plants infested with them with tobacco
smoke, and in doing it we made ourselves
about as sick as the insects were, and the
nauseating fumes of it clung to everything in
and about the house for days. Nowadays we
make use of the nicotine principle of tobacco
in our warfare against the aphis, but in a manner
that leaves out the objectionable features
of fumigation. Tobacco manufacturers have
prepared an extract of the nicotine in the
plant, and put it on the market under the
name of nicoticide. All we have to do
when we want to make use of it is to put a
small quantity in water, and spray our plants
with the mixture. Every aphis that it
touches will die, and those that it fails to
reach will take the hint that they are not
wanted and that their presence will not long
be tolerated, and the first you know they will
have disappeared.
Instead of waiting for the attack of the
enemy I consider it good policy to anticipate
it by frequent applications of the tobacco-bath.
It will be found easier to keep the
enemy away than to rout it after it has
established itself on your plants.
The red spider is another insect that does
deadly work in the window-garden, especially
in rooms where the temperature is high and
there is little moisture in the air—a condition
that generally prevails in the ordinary living-room.
This pest is so small that its presence
is seldom suspected until considerable injury
has been done to the plants it works on. If
you notice that leaves are turning yellow and
dropping off, and that more and more of them
fall each day, you had better look into the
matter. Examine some of the fallen leaves.
If you find tiny webs on the under side of them
you may be quite sure that the spider is responsible
for the condition your plants are in.
Look at some of the leaves that are yellowing,
but have not yet let go their hold, and you
will be quite likely to find little red specks
on them. These specks resemble grains of
fine Cayenne pepper more than anything else.
Watch them for a while and you will find
that they are living organisms. It seems
hardly possible that such tiny creatures can
do much harm to a strong plant, but the
fact is that there is no more voracious enemy
of plant life in existence. Here the tobacco-bath
does not come in play. Cold water is
all the insecticide we need. Spray it over
every portion of the infested plants daily,
until they again take on a healthy look and
begin to grow. The spider will not stay long
in a moist atmosphere. Make it moist and
keep it so by the liberal use of water sprayed
upon your plants, and you will have very
little trouble with this dangerous pest. But
if you neglect to use water regularly and
freely the probabilities are that your window-garden
will look rather sickly by spring.
Scale is an insect that often attacks plants
having thick, firm-textured foliage, like the
oleander, lemon, ivy, ficus, and palm. It is a
flat creature, looking more like a fish-scale
than anything else, hence its name. It attaches
itself to the leaf and sucks the life out
of it. The best weapon to fight this enemy
with is an emulsion made as follows: shave
thinly half a pound of white soap; pour a
little water over it and set it on the stove to
liquefy. When the soap is melted, add to it a
pint of water and bring to a boil. When
boiling, add a teacupful of kerosene and three
tablespoonfuls of the tobacco extract. These
ingredients, under the effect of heat, will form
an emulsion that will unite readily with water.
Use in the proportion of one part emulsion to
fifteen parts water. Apply to the infested
plants with a soft cloth or a camel's-hair
brush. Be sure that some of it gets to all
parts of the plant. Two or three applications
may be necessary. Prepare a quantity
of it and keep it on hand for use when
needed.
The emulsion spoken of above is an excellent
remedy for the ills the rose is heir to
during the early part of the season. If
Paris green is sprayed onto the plants the
foliage is frequently burned by it. If kerosene
is mixed with water and applied, the oil
will seldom emulsify perfectly with the water,
and wherever a drop of it falls on leaf or bud
it will do quite as much damage as would the
bug or worm you are fighting. Hellebore
is never to be depended on. The kerosene-tobacco-soap
emulsion will be found safe and
effective.
Worms in the soil of pot plants can be got
rid of by the use of lime-water. Put a
piece of perfectly fresh lime as large as the
ordinary coffee-cup in ten quarts of water.
If fresh, as it must be to be of any benefit, the
water will seem to boil for a little while. By
and by a white sediment will settle to the bottom
of the vessel, and the water above will be
clear. Pour this off and apply enough of it
to each plant to saturate all the soil in the
pot. Plug up the drainage hole in the bottom
of the pot before the application is made,
that the water may be retained long enough
to do its work. Repeat the application if
necessary.
XVI
GARDENING FOR CHILDREN
If you want to keep children out of mischief
give them a little garden. One that they
can call their own will afford them far more
pleasure than they get out of working in your
garden. Of course they will not be expected
to go ahead with garden work at first and
make much success at it without assistance
from some one, and by object-lessons, but
they will soon master the fundamental points
of it, and when they have done that they will
surprise you by the facility with which they
pick up the information that grows out of
their early experience and the amount of
work that they will accomplish all by themselves.
And you will be pleased to see how interested
they are in the new undertaking. It
will not seem like work to them. It will be
play, and play of such a healthy character
that you can well afford to ignore soiled
clothes, and hands that have caught the grime
of the soil, and faces on which sweat and soil
have met on common ground and formed an
intimate partnership. The healthy color of
the faces of the children who work out of
doors, and the excellent appetites that they
bring to the table, will convince you that
gardening is the best of all tonics for them.
And you will be gratified to know that
they are learning more from the great book
of Nature than they would ever learn in the
schools. They are learning things at first
hand, for Nature will take charge of the little
pupils and not trust her kindergarten work
to an assistant. Nine children out of ten
who have a garden to work in will become
more interested in it than in all the fairy-books
that were ever written. For are not the
processes of germination and growth going on
before their eyes akin to magic? The miracle
of life is being performed before them every
day, and they are taking part in it. That
is what will make it so delightful to them.
They have formed a partnership with Nature
in miracle-making.
Parents who have only a hazy notion of
garden-work may think themselves incompetent
to teach their children. But if they
set out to do so they will soon find that
they are daily learning enough to make them
safe teachers for the little folks. And the
best of it will be that they themselves are
getting quite as much good and pleasure out
of it as the children are.
Give the boys and girls good tools to work
with. Never ask them to make use of those
you have worn out or found worthless.
Something quite as good as you would provide
for yourself is what should be provided
for them. They will appreciate a good
thing, be very sure, and the fact that they
have it will be one of the best possible incentives
to work. Supply them with good seed.
And do not fail to encourage them by giving
all the credit justly due them for what they
accomplish. Children like to know that their
efforts are properly appreciated. We grownups
and the children are very much alike in
that respect.
XVII
HOME AND GARDEN CONVENIENCES
There are many ways in which work in
the garden and about the home can be
varied in such a manner as to give a variety
of comparatively new and pleasing effects
with so little trouble and expense that the
amateur gardener and home-maker who
would like "something new" will, I feel sure,
be delighted to undertake some of them.
One is a floral awning for the windows
which are exposed to strong sunshine. A
frame is made of lath, the width of the window
and half its depth, by nailing four of the
strips together in a square and then fastening
other strips across it in a diamond or lattice
fashion. Attach this frame to the top of the
window-casing by door-butts. Then push
the lower part of it away from the window
until you have it at the angle at which a cloth
awning would hang when dropped, and support
it in that position by running strips of
wood from each corner to the sides of the
window-frame.
If such vines as morning-glory, flowering
bean, and cypress are trained up each side of
the window until they reach these supports,
it will be an easy matter to coax them up
them and from them to the awning's framework,
which they will soon cover with foliage
and flowers. Such an awning will be found
quite as satisfactory as one of cloth, so far as
shade is concerned, and, as for beauty, there
is no comparison between them, for the ordinary
awning of striped cloth is never
ornamental. A floral awning is to the upper
part of the window what the window-box of
plants is to the lower portion of it, and the
two can be used in combination with most
delightful results. Indeed, they belong together,
and one without the other only half
carries out the scheme of window decoration.
Such awnings will be found as satisfactory
for exposed doors as for windows. The boys
of the family—or the women of it—can make
them and put them in place, and the cost of
them will be so small, compared with their
ornamental and practical value, that one
season's trial of them will make them permanent
features of home-beautifying thereafter.
I would advise planing the strips of
lath and giving the frames a coat of green or
white paint before putting them in place.
Green paint will make them unobtrusive, and
white will give a pleasing color contrast.
If they are taken down in fall and stored in a
dry place over winter they will last for a good
many seasons.
As a general thing the front gate, if there is
one, is not particularly ornamental. But it
can easily be made so by setting posts ten or
twelve feet tall at either side, and attaching to
the top of them a double awning-frame similar
to that advised for windows. Let these
frames meet at the top and slope outward and
downward, roof fashion, and have supports
running to each outer corner from the posts.
When vines are trained up the posts and over
the frames, and are allowed to droop in graceful
festoons of foliage and flower from them,
the effect will be charming. Here is where the
wild cucumber—the most rapid climber of all
our annuals—will be able to do most effective
work. I would advise the use of hardy vines
for positions of this kind, as they will be attractive
from the beginning of the season,
while an annual has to be given considerable
time to grow before it becomes equal to the
task assigned it.
Garden-seats ought to be a feature of all
home grounds large enough to admit of them.
And these seats can be made as ornamental
as the gateway just described by providing
them with awnings large enough to afford
complete shade. Of course, where there are
trees to furnish shade such awnings will not
be needed—and the logical place for a garden-seat
is under a tree, if there is one—but on
grounds where there are no trees to furnish
shade, such protection from the heat of summer
sunshine as these awnings will afford becomes
more a necessity than a luxury. As it
is, they are both ornamental and useful, and
the ease and cheapness with which they are
made commends them to all who believe in
the value of "little things" in making home
attractive and pleasant.
Often it is desirable to furnish certain portions
of the home grounds with screens large
enough to shut off the public view. These
should have frames of a size that guarantees
strength. Lath put on in lattice fashion will
make a good covering for them, but it will
not be strong enough to insure durability in
itself, hence the necessity of a more substantial
framework. It is always advisable
to paint them before covering them with
vines. As screens of this kind are generally
built with a view to permanence, I would
advise covering them with hardy vines, like
ampelopsis, Clematis flammula and C. paniculata,
aristolochia, or trumpet honeysuckle.
If low screens are wanted anywhere about
the place, as a dividing factor between the
flower and vegetable gardens, for instance,
sweet-peas will make a charming covering
for them.
Large screens that are intended to separate
the ornamental portions of the home grounds
from the not generally attractive yards at
the rear can be made extremely effective by
training rambler roses over them.
One of the most attractive features about
the home of the author of this book is the
fence which divides it from the property of
his next-door neighbor. When the lawn was
made, cedar posts were set along one side of
it, and on these woven-wire netting was
stretched. This netting was about four feet
wide and of a rather heavy grade of wire.
Small plants of ampelopsis were set out along
it, about twenty feet apart. As fast as
branches were thrown out they were trained
out and in through the meshes of the netting.
In one season the plants made enough growth
to meet one another, and the second season
the netting was completely covered.
The result has been extremely satisfactory.
Throughout the summer this fence has the
appearance of a closely clipped hedge of
luxuriant green. In fall it is a mass of scarlet
and crimson, quite as brilliant as the bed of
geraniums near by. It is vastly more ornamental
than a fence of wood or iron, and
makes an entirely satisfactory substitute for
a hedge that it would take years to grow. In
some respects it is more satisfactory than
such a hedge would be, as it requires no annual
shearing to keep it in proper shape and
condition.
XVIII
GARDEN DON'TS
Don't let your springtime enthusiasm
lead you to undertake more than you
feel quite sure of being able to carry out.
Keep in mind the fact that there will be work
to do all through the season in order to make
your garden a success, and think over what
the result will be if you fail to give your plants
all the care they need after you have got them
well under way. Don't give them a chance
to say that you haven't given them fair
treatment because your enthusiasm waned
with the season.
*
*
*
Don't attempt to grow all the plants that
the florists describe so attractively in their
catalogues. Concentrate your efforts on the
best ones—that is, the ones best adapted to
amateur gardening. Give these the best possible
care. This advice applies with equal
pertinence to all phases of gardening, outdoors
or indoors.
*
*
*
Don't pattern your garden after your
neighbor's. Think out original features for
the garden you propose to make, if you choose
to do so, but don't aim to be so extremely
original that the originality of it will attract
more attention than the flowers in it. These
should receive first consideration always.
*
*
*
Don't waste your time on "carpet-bedding"
unless you make use of plants with
colored foliage in carrying out your designs.
Flowering plants are practically worthless for
this purpose, as they have such a tendency to
reach out beyond the limits assigned them
that all distinctness in the outline of your
pattern will soon be lost sight of. About all
that seems worth while for the amateur gardener
to do in the arrangement of her plant
is to so use them that strong masses of color
can be produced. If care is taken to choose
those of harmonious colors, these can be so
arranged as to heighten the general effect by
contrast.
*
*
*
Don't set out to have a garden or to grow
house plants unless you have the true gardening
instinct. By that I mean a love
for plants and flowers that would make you
attempt to grow them under circumstances
which your own judgment tells you make
success impossible. The woman who tries
to grow a geranium in a tin can in a window
four or five stories up in the air because of her
love for flowers would be almost sure to make
a splendid success of a garden on the ground
if she had one. But the woman who attempts
to grow a plant because her neighbors do so,
and who is honest enough to say to herself
that "it's more bother than it's worth," will
fail because she lacks the true incentive.
Such persons ought not to undertake the
cultivation of flowers. They cannot grow
them with any degree of success, for flowers
know who loves them, and will absolutely
refuse to flourish under the care of those who
do not want them for their own sweet sakes.
*
*
*
Don't fill your windows to overflowing.
Give each plant enough elbow-room to admit
of its displaying its charms effectively. A
crowded plant is never a symmetrical one,
and one really symmetrical is worth a score
of poorly shaped ones. The fact is, a window
of ordinary size cannot satisfactorily accommodate
more than eight or ten plants of ordinary
size without crowding. There should
be space enough between them to allow the
sunshine to get to all portions of them. A
free circulation of air among them is quite
important.
*
*
*
Don't be a plant-beggar. By that I do not
mean that you are not to "swap" plants
with your neighbors if it is mutually agreeable
to do so. When I speak of a "plant-beggar"
I have in mind the person who depends
upon her plant-growing friends for
enough plants to keep her window well
stocked, and her garden also. As soon as she
discovers that you have a plant that she
would like she does not hesitate to ask for a
root or a cutting of it. She never stops to
think that you are trying to grow the plant
for your own pleasure. It doesn't matter to
her how much it interferes with its satisfactory
development in complying with her
request. If she gets what she wants she is
satisfied. The probabilities are that when
her plant gets to be as large as yours was
when she asked you to divide it with her
she'll not hesitate to refuse the woman who
suggests that she'd "like one just like it—won't
you let me have a slip?" That there
are persons quite as selfish as this cannot be
denied. But they ought not to be encouraged.
Don't gratify them in their unreasonable
demands simply because you
are afraid of being considered "small" and
"stingy."
*
*
*
Don't fail to have a corner in your garden
devoted expressly to plants from which to cut
for friends and the sick and shut-ins. Perhaps
it is more a fancy of mine than anything
else, but it has always seemed to me that
plants grown for this purpose know what use
they are to be put to and do their best in
order to help carry out the plan of the person
who grows them. If we who have all the
flowers of our own that we care for could only
know what a vast amount of pleasure we can
give our less fortunate neighbors by dividing
our supply with them, we would be more
liberal than we are.
*
*
*
Don't keep fuchsias in the window in
winter, for they are not winter-flowering
plants, and the space they will occupy might
better be given up to plants from which we
can reasonably expect blossoms. They should
go into the cellar in November, along with
oleanders, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and
plants of similar habit, there to remain until
March. Then they can be brought to the
light, watered, and again started into growth.
It is well to cut most plants that have been
wintered in the cellar back at least half, and
allow them to renew most of their branches.
While in cold storage they should be given
just enough water to prevent the soil from
becoming really dry, and no more. Keep
them in the dark, if possible, and in a cool
place. Do not allow the temperature to go
below the frost-point, however.
*
*
*
Don't think because you have only a little
bit of ground that it isn't worth while to
attempt having a garden. Some of the most
delightful gardens I have ever seen were
small ones. You will be surprised to find
how many plants can be grown in a very
small space. Utilize all the nooks and corners
about the place for plants.
*
*
*
Don't depend on home-grown seed if you
want the best in flowers. The seedsman
knows just what to do to secure the best results
in seed, and just how to do it. He also
knows what not to do in raising seed for the
market, and this the amateur gardener really
knows nothing about. While we often grow
fine flowers from seed of our saving, the fact
remains that home-grown seed seldom gives
entire satisfaction to the person who wants
the best.
*
*
*
Don't invest your money in new plants
until you are satisfied that they have all the
merit claimed for them. As a general thing,
the "novelties" sent out every spring at a
high price are greatly inferior to the good old
stand-bys. We seldom hear anything about
them after the second season. Put your
money into plants that you know can be
depended on.
*
*
*
Don't attempt the culture of hanging-plants
unless you are willing to give them the
care they must have in order to be satisfactory.
Plants suspended in the window, where
the temperature is considerably higher than
at the sill, speedily dry out, and after this has
happened a few times they become diseased
and finally die. It will be necessary to apply
water daily and in sufficient quantity to
saturate all the soil in the pot or basket.
Because it requires special effort on the part
of the owner to get to suspended plants, they
are generally neglected. It is a most excellent
plan to have them arranged in such a
manner that they can be let down into a tub
of water and left there until the soil has
absorbed all the water it can retain. This
can be done by cords running over pulleys in
the ceiling. Try it. Hanging-plants are always
pleasing when healthily grown, and the
window-garden that is without them is not
living up to its privileges.
*
*
*
Don't "fuss" with your plants too much.
See that they get all the water they need, as
much sunshine as possible, plenty of fresh
air, an occasional application of some good
fertilizer, and shower them frequently to
keep them clean, and be satisfied with this
treatment. They object to being treated as
some mothers treat their children, who
would be much better off if they were let
alone after actual wants were provided for.
Don't coddle your plants.
*
*
*
Don't start dahlias into growth in the
house early in the season, thinking that you
are going to "get the start of the season" by
so doing. We used to think that, because the
dahlia came from a country where the summer
was long, we must get it to growing
in March or April, and we set the tubers out
in pots and boxes and forced them to make a
rapid and weak growth so early in the season
that long before it was safe to put them out
in the garden they were poor, spindling things,
with just enough vitality in them to make it
possible to say that they were alive. When
they were planted out the change from indoors
to outdoors had such a debilitating effect
on them that for weeks they were undecided
whether to live or die. If they lived we considered
ourselves fortunate if we got a dozen
flowers from each plant. Nowadays we understand
the plant better. We don't attempt
to start it in the house. We wait until the
weather and the ground are warm and then we
plant the tubers in the garden where they are
to grow and bloom. We make the soil very
rich. The plants begin to grow shortly after
being planted, and in late August they come
into bloom, and all through September they
yield such a profusion of flowers as we never
thought of getting from the plants when
grown after the old method. The dahlia is
one of our very best late-summer flowering
plants when well grown. It must have a rich
soil—it must not be allowed to get dry at the
roots at any time—and it must be given substantial
support, as its stalks are extremely
brittle and easily broken down by hard winds
and heavy rains. Dahlias are very effective
when planted in the border among shrubs and
perennials. There are few plants with a
wider range of rich and brilliant color. By
all means give them a place in your garden.
*
*
*
Don't sow hollyhock seed in the spring
expecting to get flowers from your plants the
same season. They will not bloom the first
year from seed.
*
*
*
Don't allow your pansies to bloom—or try
to bloom—during the hot, dry, midsummer
season. They may produce some flowers, but
they will be so inferior in quality that you will
get no pleasure from them. I would advise
cutting away all the old branches the latter
part of July and encouraging the plants to
renew themselves preparatory to fall flowering.
If this is done, and strong, healthy
growth results from the liberal application of
a good fertilizer during August, you may expect
a generous crop of large, fine flowers all
through the autumn. If it is not done, and
the plants are allowed to keep on trying to
grow through the trying period of late summer,
you will get few flowers and no really
good ones.
*
*
*
Don't allow any plant to develop seed if
you want it to keep on blooming after its
first flowering period. The aim of all plants
is to reproduce themselves, and this can only
be done by seed development. If we interfere
with the ordinary process of seed production
by cutting away all flowers as soon as they
begin to fade, the plants will at once make another
effort to perpetuate their kind, and, as
the first step in this direction is the production
of flowers, it will be readily seen that it is
possible to make many of them bloom all
through the season.
*
*
*
Don't expect good flowers of any kind
unless you are willing to give them the care
and attention they require. If you are not
willing to do this, or if, for any reason, you
cannot do it, don't attempt gardening. Have
enough regard for the flowers to not undertake
their culture unless you can do them
justice.
*
*
*
Don't throw away plants of any kind.
Somebody will always be glad to get those
you have no use for.
*
*
*
Don't neglect a plant to-day and think you
can make up for that neglect by being very
good to it to-morrow. Plants must receive
care when it is needed, and this care should be
given regularly, instead of spasmodically, to
be effective.
*
*
*
Don't begin to water your plants in your
garden in a dry season unless you can keep
on doing so as long as the dry spell lasts.
*
*
*
Don't fail to keep close watch of your
asters. Of late years many failures have resulted
from the attack of a black beetle,
which comes from no one knows where—comes
so suddenly and does such deadly work
in so short a time that the plants are often
ruined before the presence of the pest is suspected.
There is but one way of getting rid
of this pest, and that is to make use of
nicoticide, the standard remedy for all plant
troubles of this kind. A small quantity of
this extract of tobacco, diluted with water
and sprayed over all portions of each plant,
will effectually rout the enemy if applied
promptly and thoroughly. Unless something
is done as soon as the beetle is discovered, it
will destroy every plant. Be on the lookout
for it constantly, acting on the supposition
that it will be sure to put in an appearance
some time during the summer. Get ready
in advance for prompt action against it by
laying in a supply of the insecticide at the
beginning of the summer.
*
*
*
Don't think that your house plants need
repotting two or three times a year if they are
growing in good-sized pots. Once a year is
quite often enough if you apply fertilizers at
intervals of four or five months. Plants in
small pots may outgrow their quarters, and
these should be shifted to those of larger size
when they have filled the old ones with roots.
*
*
*
Don't make the mistake of putting small
plants in large pots, thinking that they will be
benefited by it. Wait for them to signify
a desire for more room by filling all the soil of
a small pot with roots. A plant with a small,
weak root-system is often seriously injured
by giving it a large pot to grow in, as it is not
in a condition to make use of all the nutriment
in a large amount of soil. A plant treated in
this manner will often develop a sort of
vegetable dyspepsia as a result of giving it
more food than it can digest properly.
*
*
*
Don't be in too great a hurry to obtain
results. Some persons think to accomplish
this by frequent applications of strong fertilizers
in large quantities. This will force
plants to a rapid and always unhealthy
growth, from which, later on, there is sure to
be a most discouraging reaction. Be content
with a healthy growth, and give your plants a
chance to make that naturally. More plants
are injured by overfeeding than from any
other cause.
*
*
*
Don't think that you can learn all there is
to know about gardening from books. Books
will furnish the theory. You must contribute
experience in order to attain success.
*
*
*
Don't neglect your plants while they are
growing. Then is just the time to give them
the training that is necessary to make them
shapely. The fact is, plants are very much
like children in the family. Let them have
their own way about everything while they
are growing up and you will find that when
they have grown up they are not at all like
what you would like to have them, in many
respects, and you don't see how you are going
to make them conform to your ideas of what
they ought to be, since it is impossible to
make children of them again and give you
another chance at their development. Begin
with the training of your plants while they
are small, and train them as they grow.
*
*
*
Don't treat all your plants alike. Study
their peculiarities and give them such treatment
as will fit those peculiarities. To illustrate
this idea: a calla likes a good deal of
water; a geranium is satisfied with a moderately
moist soil; a cactus does best when
allowed to get really dry at certain seasons.
If we were to treat these three plants alike,
what do you suppose the result would be?
Don't ignore the peculiarities of your plants
if you want them to do well.
*
*
*
Don't neglect to prepare for an annual invasion
of your roses by bugs, worms, and
insects. You can safely count on their coming,
but if you are prepared for it you can
speedily put the enemy to rout. The best
plan is to act on the offensive. Head off the
pests by making applications of nicoticide
before they make their appearance. You
can do this, for, if their advance-agent arrives
and finds the tang of tobacco all over
the plants, he will go back and advise the
others to seek more agreeable quarters. Begin
to spray your bushes early in the season,
and keep on doing so until after the flowering
period is over. There will be no likelihood of
an invasion after that, as the enemies of the
rose do their deadly work early in the season.
*
*
*
Don't get the idea for a moment, as so
many do, that all you need to do to have a
fine lot of plants is to put some soil—any
kind that happens to be handiest—in a pot,
set out a plant in it, and, presto! you will have
just as fine a lot of plants as your neighbor
who searches here and there and everywhere
until she finds just the kind of soil that experience
tells her the plants must have if she
would have good ones. She gives some of her
time daily to caring for them, while you expect
your plants to take care of themselves.
That will never answer. If you do your share
of the work the plants will do theirs, but you
must not expect them to do all, any more than
you must expect them to make a strong,
healthy growth in a soil that is unsuited to
their requirements or sadly lacking in nutriment.
*
*
*
Don't build up a great fire in stove or furnace
if you discover that your plants have
been nipped by frost, thinking to save them
by "thawing them out." Heat at such a
time is the very thing needed to complete
the misfortune. Put them at once in a room
where the temperature can be kept just a little
above the frost-point, and shower them
thoroughly with cold water. This will extract
the frost from them so gradually that
it will be possible to save many of them
unless they are badly frozen. Keep them
in a cool room for three or four days. It
may be necessary to cut away most, or all, of
the branches of some of them. Unless the
degree of cold to which they were subjected
was sufficient to freeze the soil in the pot,
many of them will throw up new shoots from
their roots after a little; therefore don't throw
out a plant that has been obliged to part
with all its top until it has been given a
chance to make a new start in life.
*
*
*
Don't put your house plants out of doors
for the summer until the weather has become
warm and can be depended on to remain so.
The first of June will be quite early enough.
*
*
*
Don't plant them out in the garden-beds,
thinking thereby to save yourself the work
of taking care of them during the summer
and of benefiting them at the same time.
Of course they will take care of themselves
there, and very likely make a much more
luxuriant growth than they would in pots, but
when fall comes and you have to lift and repot
them you will find that more hard work is
required of you than you would have expended
on them throughout the summer if you
had kept them in pots. As for the benefit to
the plants—where will it come in? They will
have made such a rampant growth of roots
that most of them will have to be sacrificed
in reducing the earth containing them to the
size of the pots you put them into, and this at
the very time when the poor plants ought to
be at their best in order to successfully withstand
the unfavorable conditions resulting
from the change from outdoors to indoors.
Plants treated in this manner receive a check
that they seldom fully recover from during
the entire winter. Instead of saving yourself
work and doing a kindness to your plants,
you have done just the contrary.
XIX
A CHAPTER OF HELPFUL HINTS
In some of the foregoing chapters I have
had something to say about the advisability
of using seed in which each color is
kept by itself in order to secure the greatest
possible degree of color-harmony in the garden.
Many persons tell us that they cannot
afford to pay the extra prices which the
seedsmen put on unmixed seed. It is true
that it costs more than the seed in which all
colors are jumbled together, and it is also
true that plants grown from it are really no
better than those grown from mixed seed, but
the fact remains that it gives so much more
satisfactory results, from an artistic standpoint,
that it is not throwing money away, as
some claim, to make use of it. Of course if
one gets as much pleasure from a mass of
color without regard to harmony as from fewer
colors all in perfect harmony with one another,
it would hardly be worth while to invest more
money in such seed. But where the finest
possible effects are desired I contend that
unmixed seed is cheapest, in that sense of the
term that means the greatest satisfaction.
There is a way by which unmixed seed can
be obtained without its really costing each
person more than mixed seed. Every amateur
gardener knows that more plants of a
kind can be grown from one package of seed
than a person cares for in the average-sized
garden. Nine times out of ten only part of
the seed in the package is sown and the rest
is either discarded or given away to friends.
Now if those who would like to secure the
best results in gardening will get up a seed
club among their flower-loving friends, and
confine their selection to packages in which
each color is by itself, the seed in those
packages can be divided among the various
members of the club, and each person will
have enough to meet her requirements, and
this at a less price than she would have to pay
for ordinary mixed seed if she were to order
alone, because none of the seed would be
wasted.
Try the seed-club plan for a season and see
if it doesn't work out to your satisfaction.
If you are likely to have more plants of a
kind than you care for, don't throw any of the
seedlings away when you thin them out.
There are poor children in every neighborhood
that would be delighted to get them.
Never waste any plants that are worth
growing.
If a plant is wanted for low beds under the
windows of the dwelling or near the paths,
portulacca is about as satisfactory as anything
I know of. It blooms with great profusion
throughout the entire season. Its colors
range from pure white through pink, yellow,
and violet to dark crimson. It is a plant
that seems to delight in locations exposed to
the hottest sunshine, and in soils so lacking
in moisture that ordinary plants would live
but a short time in it. It is enabled to do this
because of the succulent nature of its foliage.
Indeed, the portulacca is a vegetable salamander
so far as its ability to stand heat and
drought is concerned. Those who have had
experience with purslane in the vegetable
garden will understand something about the
nature of this plant, for the two are closely
related.
In furnishing support for vines that clamber
over the walls of the house, do not use
strips of cloth, as so many do. The cloth is
good for a season only. After the vines have
become large and heavy their weight will be
sufficient to tear the cloth loose from the
tacks that held it in place, especially after a
heavy rain or in strong winds, and down will
come the plant. It will be found impossible
to put it back in place in anything like a
satisfactory manner. For supporting large,
stiff vines I make use of screw-hooks, which
are easily inserted in wooden walls. Turn
the hooks in until there is just enough room
between their points and the wall to admit of
slipping the vine in. Not one vine in fifty
will work loose from the grip of the hooks.
Some vines are not adapted to this treatment.
These I support by using strips of
leather instead of cloth. The leather should
be soaked in oil for twenty-four hours before
using, to make it pliable and water-resisting.
Do not use small tacks, as these do not have
sufficient hold on the wood to make them
dependable. Use nails at least an inch long,
with good-sized heads.
Some persons object to the use of vines
about the house, especially if it is of wood,
claiming that they retain moisture to such
an extent as to soon injure the walls. I have
convinced myself that facts are directly contrary
to this theory. The overlapping leaves
act as shingles—shedding rain and preventing
it from getting to the walls against which the
vines are trained.
Try to interest the children in the making
of a fern-garden and a collection of native
plants. A little encouragement at the beginning
will do this, and after the project is
well under way it will not need encouraging,
for the little folks will be so fascinated by it
that there will be little likelihood of their
abandoning the undertaking. Take half a
dozen or more children to the woods with
you, with baskets in which to bring home
their specimens. Show them how to take up
the plants in such a manner that a considerable
amount of soil will adhere to their roots.
Help them pack them snugly into the baskets
to prevent their being shaken about in transit,
thereby losing the soil taken up with
them. If the day happens to be a warm and
sunny one, have them sprinkle the plants and
pack some wet moss about them to keep them
as fresh as possible until they can be planted
in the home garden. Discourage them from
taking large plants in preference to small
ones, as they will most likely be eager to do.
Explain that the small ones stand the best
chance of living, and that nothing is gained
by choosing large ones, because these will be
sure to lose their foliage, and that, even if
they live, which nine out of ten will not, they
will receive such a check by removal that the
small plants will soon get the start of them.
It will greatly add to the pleasure of plant-collecting
if you make a kind of picnic excursion
of it. Take along something good to
eat, and spend half a day in the woods, if
possible. You will enjoy it as much as the
children will. Don't dig your plants, however,
until you are about ready to start for
home, for it is quite important that they
should be planted as soon as possible after
being taken up. When they are set out,
water them well and shade them for several
days.
Give all plants taken from shady places a
location as nearly like that from which they
were taken as possible. A fern that grew
in shade will be pretty sure to die if planted
in a place fully exposed to the sun.
It helps matters very much if you can have
a load of woods earth drawn to the home
garden to plant these children of the forest in.
They do not take kindly to loam, after having
been grown in loose, porous soil, though many
of them are strong enough to adapt themselves
to ordinary garden conditions.
I know of many neighborhoods in which
clubs for collecting native plants have been
formed, and the children who are in these
clubs have become intensely interested in
their gardens of native plants. This is as it
should be, for we have many beautiful wild
flowers that are better worth growing than
foreign kinds for which large prices are asked.
Pride in our home plants ought to be encouraged,
and there is no better way of doing
this than by interesting the boys and girls in
the making of a wild garden.
The tuberose is a plant which everybody
admires, but which is seldom seen in amateur
gardeners' collections. I think the general
impression is that it is not an easy plant to
grow. Such is not the case, however. It
can be grown successfully by any one who is
willing to give it a little attention. Tubers
should be obtained in March or April. They
should be planted in pots containing sandy
garden loam into which a liberal amount of
good fertilizer has been thoroughly worked.
If the tubers are small, two or three can be
put into each seven-inch pot used. Before
planting them the mass of dried roots which
will generally be found adhering to the base of
the tuber should be cut away with a thin,
sharp-bladed knife. If this is not done,
these roots often decay and the diseased
condition will be communicated to the tuber
and cause it to die, or, if death does not result,
to become so unhealthy that it will fail
to bloom.
The plants can be turned out of their pots
when the weather becomes warm, and grown
on in the garden through the summer, but
I would not advise this, for it will be necessary
to lift and pot them before frosty nights come,
as they are very tender, and a little disturbance
of their roots at this time may cause
their buds to blast. I would urge keeping
them in pots throughout the season, as, if this
is done, you always have them under control.
The flowers of the tuberose are ivory-white
in color. They are of thick, waxen texture,
and have that heavy, rich fragrance that
characterizes the magnolia and the cape jasmine
of the South. They are borne in a
spike at the extremity of tall stalks, thus being
very effective for cutting. Because of
their thick texture they last for a long time
after cutting. Plants in pots remain in
bloom for a month or six weeks. Every
lover of deliciously fragrant flowers will do
well to grow at least half a dozen of them
to do duty in the window-garden in fall.
A second crop of flowers need not be expected
from a tuber that has borne one crop.
In order to make sure of bloom it will be
necessary to purchase fresh tubers each
spring.
The abutilon is an old favorite among
house plants, and its popularity is well deserved.
It is of as easy culture as a geranium.
Give it a good soil—preferably loam—drain
its pot well, keep the soil evenly moist but
never wet, and that is about all the care it will
require. It may be necessary to prune it
now and then during its early stages of growth
in order to secure symmetrical shape, but
this is easily done by pinching off the ends of
such branches as seem inclined to get the
start of others, and keeping them from making
more growth until the others have caught
up with them. Pinching back branches that
do not develop side shoots will generally result
in their branching freely. In this way
you secure a bushy, compact plant. In order
to make a little tree of the abutilon—and it
is most satisfactory when grown in that manner—train
it to one straight stalk until it
reaches the height where you want the head
to form. Allow no side branches to grow
during this period of the plant's development.
When three or four feet tall, nip off
the top and keep it nipped off until as many
branches as you think necessary have started
at the top of the stalk. Allow none to grow
below. By persevering in this treatment you
will succeed in getting a number of branches
with which to form a treelike head.
There are several varieties of abutilon.
Some have orange flowers, some red, some
yellow, some pink, and some pure white.
These flowers are bell-shaped and pendent.
One name for the plant is the Chinese bell-flower
because of its bell-like blossoms.
Another is flowering maple, because of the
resemblance in shape of its foliage to our
native maple. There are two or three varieties
with beautifully variegated foliage in
which green and white and yellow are about
equally distributed. I am always glad to
speak a good word for this plant because of
its beauty, its ease of culture, its constancy
of bloom, and the fact that it is seldom attacked
by insects.
Another most deserving old plant is the
rose geranium. This used to be found in
nearly all collections of house plants. It is
as easily grown as the flowering geranium.
Its foliage is very pleasing, being as finely cut
as some varieties of fern. It is delightfully
fragrant. A leaf or two will be found a most
desirable addition to a buttonhole or corsage
bouquet. It can be grown in tree form by
giving it the pinching-back treatment advised
for the abutilon, or it can be grown as
a bush by beginning the pinching process
when it is only three or four inches high, thus
obliging it to throw out several stalks near
the base of the plant.
Old plants of oleander may easily be renewed
when they have become so large as to
be unwieldy, or have outgrown the space that
can be given up to them. Cut away all the
branches to within four or five inches of the
main stalk, leaving nothing but a mass of
stubs. In a very short time new branches
will be sent out. There will be so many of
them that it will be necessary to remove
the larger share of them. If this pruning is
done in early spring, when the plant is
brought from cold storage, the new growth
ought to bear a crop of flowers in late summer.
The following season the plant should
be literally covered with bloom during the
greater part of summer, these blossoms being
as large and fine in all respects as those borne
by the plant when young. I know of no
plant that is more tractable than this one,
and certainly we have few that are more
beautiful. Large specimens are magnificent
for porch and veranda decoration in summer.
In December they should go into the cellar, to
remain there until March.
Plants with variegated foliage are becoming
more in demand yearly. Japanese maize,
with long leaves striped with white and
cream, is very effective when grown in a mass
in the center of a bed. The Japanese hop,
with foliage heavily marbled with creamy
white, is quite as attractive without flowers as
many of our flowering vines are. Ricinus,
with enormous foliage of a lustrous coppery
bronze, will be found far more "tropical" in
effect then the cannas and caladiums we see
so much of nowadays. The leaves of this
plant often measure a yard across. If you
want it to be most effective, plant it in some
exposed place where it will have plenty of
room to spread its branches.
From what I have said in a preceding
chapter it will be readily understood that I
am not an admirer of "carpet-bedding"
except where plants with small, richly colored
foliage are made use of. These can be
pruned in such a manner as to keep each
color inside its proper limit, but flowering
plants will straggle across the lines assigned
them, and all clearness of outline in
the "pattern" will soon be lost. But when
plants are located with a view to securing
color contrast, very fine effects can be obtained
from them. A circular bed filled with
pink, white, and pale-yellow phlox drummondii
in rows of each color will be found
pleasing, and it has the merit of being easily
made.
If a round bed has scarlet salvia for its
center, surrounded with yellow calliopsis, or
California poppy, it will afford a mass of
most intense color that will produce a most
brilliant effect. A bed of pink flowering
geraniums—pink, mind you, not scarlet or
any shade of red—bordered with lavender
ageratum, will be found extremely attractive
if care is taken to cut away all trusses of
bloom from the geraniums as soon as they
have begun to fade. If this is not done
the bed will have a draggled, slovenly
effect.
Scarlet salvia combined with euphorbia,
better known as "snow-on-the-mountain,"
will be found very effective, the white and
green of the euphorbia bringing out the scarlet
of the salvia most vividly, and affording such
a strong contrast that a bed of these two
plants will always challenge admiration.
The euphorbia will be found a very useful
plant for almost any place in beds or
borders where something seems needed to
relieve the prevailing color. It deserves
more attention than it gets.
The impression seems to prevail that many
plants ought to retain their old leaves indefinitely.
They will not do this, however.
Leaves ripen after a time, and the plant will
shed them, as all deciduous plants shed theirs
in fall. Therefore if you find the lower
leaves on your ficus turning, yellow and
dropping, don't be frightened. The plant is
simply going through one of the processes
of nature.
But if a good many of the leaves fall all at
once it will be well to look for some other
explanation of the plant's action. The loss
of foliage may come from lack of moisture in
the soil, or the roots of the plant may be
pot-bound. Examination will show if either
is the case. If the soil is found to be dry,
more water should be given. If the pot is
filled with roots, repot the plant, giving it
more root room. The owners of plants
should take all these things into consideration
before coming to any conclusion as to
what the cause of trouble is. Unless they do
so there will have to be "guesswork" relative
to it, and that is never safe or satisfactory.
Trouble may come from overwatering, or
from lack of good drainage, or a soil deficient
in nutrition. You see, it is necessary to study
these matters from several angles, so to speak,
as the trouble complained of may have its
origin in any one of the conditions mentioned,
and not much can be done to remedy
matters until one has made an examination
that brings to light the facts in the case.
These known, it will be a comparatively easy
matter to determine the treatment required,
for the conditions that are found to exist will,
to a great extent, indicate in almost every
instance the remedy needed.
Some good vines for window-box culture
are:
Madeira vine.—Heart-shaped foliage of a
rich, glossy green. Very rapid grower.
Tradescantia.—Green, green striped with
white, and olive striped with Indian red.
Quick grower.
Vinca Harrisonii.—Dark-green foliage,
edged with yellow.
Senecio.—More commonly known as German
ivy. Pretty, ivy-shaped foliage of a
clear, bright green. Very rapid grower.
Needs frequent pinching back to make it
branch freely.
Glechoma.—Green, variegated with bright
yellow.
Othonna.—Better known as "pickle-plant"
because of its cylindrical foliage, which resembles
a miniature cucumber. Has pretty
yellow flowers.
Saxifraga.—Leaves of graying olive sprinkled
with white.
Ivy-leaved geraniums.—There are many
varieties, some with pink, some with white,
and others with red flowers. These are excellent
where flowering plants of drooping
habit are desired. A box edged with these
plants, especially the pink variety, with
white Marguerites—better known as Paris
daisies—in the center, will be found especially
pleasing.
In window-boxes having a northern exposure
such plants as Boston and Whitman
fern, asparagus plumosus, asparagus Sprengerii,
and any of the fibrous-rooted begonias
will be found very effective. These plants
can be turned out of their pots and planted
in the earth in the box, or the pots in which
they grow can be sunk in the soil. This is
in several respects the best way, as in fall,
when the window-box has to be discontinued,
the plants will not have to be repotted.
Petunias are excellent plants for window-box
culture. They can be made to grow in
upright form by giving them a little support,
or they can be allowed to droop over the sides
of the box. A combination of purple and
white varieties will be found pleasing. This
plant comes into bloom early in the season,
when grown from seed, and it continues to
bloom until cold weather comes.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
—Plain print and punctuation errors fixed.