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 1
II. MAKING A LAWN 5
III. THE BORDER 8
IV. ANNUALS 12
V. VINES 15
VI. SPRING WORK IN THE GARDEN 21
VII. MIDSUMMER IN THE GARDEN 26
VIII. WINDOW-BOXES 30
IX. THE USE OF GROWING PLANTS FOR TABLE DECORATION 33
X. DECORATIVE PLANTS 39
XI. THE BULB-BED 44
XII. GETTING READY FOR WINTER 48
XIII. BULBS FOR WINTER FLOWERING 54
XIV. THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN 61
XV. THE INSECT ENEMIES OF PLANTS 67
XVI. GARDENING FOR CHILDREN 72
XVII. HOME AND GARDEN CONVENIENCES 75
XVIII. GARDEN DON'TS 81
XIX. A CHAPTER OF HELPFUL HINTS 99
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