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.
* * * * *