different varieties. This prevents mixing and running together when
watered. It is impossible to distinguish between different varieties of
Asters, Ageratums and Pansies once they have become mixed. Where one
lives within reach of a box factory narrow strips of wood—admirable for
this purpose—of uniform width and very thin, may be readily obtained. It
is best to begin at the upper right-hand corner with seeds that require
the most time to germinate, labelling each section plainly with name,
date and the period of germination.
Flowers that make the tallest growth may be placed against the back with
advantage—as Cobæa scandens, Ricinus, the Dolichos, Cosmos, and the
like; giving them the advantage of the extra light and keeping them from
withholding the light from the plants in front of them.
Coarse seeds should be planted in drills and covered to twice their
depth. A furrow may be scratched with a sharp stick from an eighth to a
half-inch deep, and the seed sown thinly in it, the earth being replaced
and pressed firmly down with a piece of wood. This is important, as it
brings the seed in close contact with the earth, and the tiny sprout can
lay hold of it at once when germination takes place. Many seeds of weak
germinating power are lost when sown in loose, coarse soil by failure to
obtain immediate contact with the nourishment contained in it.
Fine seeds like Petunias, Nicotianas and Ageratums must be sown
broadcast in little squares reserved for them. Sow on the surface, press
into the soil with a piece of board and merely sift fine sand over.
A piece of thin wood eight or ten inches long and four or five inches
wide, with a handle on one side, will be found very useful to press the
soil down quickly and firmly. This should be an adjunct to every
well-regulated hotbed. So should a thermometer, hung on the back wall of
the hotbed, the bulb level with the soil. After the seeds are all sown,
if the soil is at all dry, sprinkle carefully with a rubber sprinkler,
or a whisk-broom dipped in water and shaken over the bed. Do not use the
watering-pot, as it will wash the seed out of the ground. When the
plants are up and of some size the watering-pot may be resorted to, but
not before. When all the seeds are sown as directed cover with
newspapers and close the sash.
The most careful attention must now be given the hotbed. If the
temperature rises above 75 degrees in the warmest part of the day the
sash must be raised an inch or two. In doing this, if the wind is cold,
it will be best to slip a strip of wood between the sash and frame on
the windward side, or protect the opening on the windward side with a
bit of carpet.
When the seeds in any particular plot show a single pair of leaves,
remove the paper over that much of the bed, still shading from the sun
during the hottest part of the day by a bit of paper on the glass
directly over the plants. When the plants appear too thickly in the row,
transplant them as soon as they have their second leaves into other rows
between the first, or into another hotbed or cold-frame. Encourage
vigorous growth by giving room to develop and as much air and light as
possible.
As soon as the plants are of sufficient size and the weather is warm
enough, remove the sash during the day, replacing it with screens made
of lath. These screens are easily made by nailing strips of lath, the
width of the hotbed, to strips of wood the length of the bed. The lath
should be set its own width apart, and the nails, of which there should
be two in each end, clinched on the under side. Such screens are a
necessary part of the hotbed, and will last for years.
Before transplanting to the open ground these screens should be removed
entirely and the plants left exposed to the weather for a few days to
harden. Screens of chicken netting may be substituted, if protection
from cats, dogs or chickens is needed. If, in the early stages of the
hotbed, drops of moisture gather on the glass, the soil is too wet and
the sash must be raised to allow the surplus moisture to pass off,
avoiding always a cold draught across the bed.
The cold-frame is simply a frame of boards fitted with sash and placed
over a prepared bed of earth. As the bed will be raised slightly above
the surface of the soil, the frame should be set over it, shutting out
the cold from the sides as well as the top. A covered bed, prepared
without heating material, is a cold-frame; and one in which the heating
material is spent is often used as a cold-frame after it has served its
purpose as a hotbed earlier in the season, for growing Gloxinias and
rooting cuttings during the summer, and in August for sowing Pansy seed
for the next summer’s blooming. Cold-frames are useful to protect beds
of such tender perennials as Tea-roses, Pansies, Canterbury-bells,
Foxgloves and Violets. Violets may, by this means, be kept in bloom
during the winter. They are also useful for bringing forward, early in
spring, beds of Hyacinths and Narcissi. They should be protected by
carpets or mattings at night and during the colder days, and exposed to
the heat of the sun on bright days when the soil is not frozen. When it
is, they must remain covered and thaw out in the dark, to be aired when
the weather is above freezing, but draughts across the bed must be
avoided, as they will certainly blast any buds there may be.
The cold-frame in winter must have good drainage, or much damage will
ensue from water standing around the roots of plants. The surface of the
bed must be above the level of the land outside and a trifle lower at
one corner. From this corner a trench should be dug having an outlet, or
a deep hole may be dug and filled with broken crockery and stones to
carry off all surplus water.
The sand-box is a receptacle for the summer storage of plants which are
not to be bedded out. It is also used to prepare plants for winter
blooming, and for experiments with novelties in house-plants. It is,
finally, the ideal place for rooting cuttings. I have never known a
plant capable of being started from cuttings that would not take root in
the sand-box. Any shallow box that may be reached across easily is
suitable for this purpose; or a deep box may be cut down to six or eight
inches and rendered available, the length depending on the plants to be
accommodated and the room at disposal. The sand-box should be placed, if
possible, in a convenient place on the east side of the house. Elevate
on saw-horses, blocks, posts or a regular frame to a height easy to
reach when sitting in a chair. Fill nearly full with clean white sand;
in this bury the pots nearly to the brims and keep the sand constantly
wet.
Plants that can stand full sunshine—as Geraniums, Crotons, Heliotropes,
etc.—should be placed in front; those requiring more shade may be in the
second row, and those needing the most against the wall. Vines, also,
may be trained against the wall, and over the sides of the box, if it is
desired to make it beautiful as well as useful. A wooden chair should be
placed conveniently near, and the space underneath may be utilised for
ferns, or the storage of tools and pots.
Once established, the sand-box will be found one of the most fascinating
of spots. Cuttings of all kinds may be thrust into the sand between the
pots—Geraniums, Carnations and Roses in front. Gloxinias and
Begonias—with the leaves laid flat on the sand in the rear—will quickly
take root in it. No one who cultivates a garden, or house-plants, should
try to get along without a work table or bench, and this should be
situated in some cool, shady spot out of doors. It may be either a large
kitchen table or a large packing box, the latter being preferable,
perhaps, as affording shelter for the various tools used in working. It
should be high enough to work at conveniently when standing up, and a
tall stool should be provided for sitting on when desired, to be pushed
under the top of table when not in use. There should be a shelf
underneath, sufficiently roomy to hold a supply of pots and flats, and,
below it, a box of potting soil and one of fine white sand should be
kept ready for use. If the potting soil lies on the ground it will keep
moist in the dryest weather. A tin pail of pebbles, broken crockery and
charcoal for drainage, and a supply of sphagnum moss should also be kept
handy. A trowel, knife, shears, pencils and a stick—or, better still, a
piece of a broken carving-steel—for pushing a plant out of the pot by
inserting it in the drainage hole when, for any reason, it is not
readily removed by tapping, will greatly lessen the labour of repotting
and shifting house-plants in summer.
A shallow tray, with a bail of wood, large enough to hold a number of
pots, will be useful to carry plants from the potting table to the
sand-box, and will save many steps. With a well-equipped table to depend
on and no litter around the house, one is much more likely to give
plants necessary attention promptly. The work then becomes a pleasure
instead of a labour to be dreaded. There, too, may be kept the supply
for staking plants. The nicest stakes for house-plants are made of
Cat-tail stems, any quantity of which may be gathered in the fall and
stored away for future use, each stalk furnishing two or three stakes.
Being round and smooth they are sightly and just what is needed for
Carnations, Freesias and the like.
Chapter _FIVE_
Purchasing of Seeds
Buying seeds is largely a matter of experience. So glowing are the
descriptions in the numerous catalogues sent out that one may easily be
led into ordering many worthless novelties, and many desirable ones for
which there is neither room nor sufficient knowledge of their wants to
grow them successfully. Cheap collections, where one is requested to
send ten cents for a catalogue and twelve packages of seeds, are worst
of all.
In buying flower-seeds, as in everything else, one never gets “something
for nothing”—not even experience, and cheap seeds usually prove a very
poor investment; the only safeguard is to buy of trustworthy dealers
whose seeds are offered at fair prices. Take, for instance, Pansy seed:
one ought not to expect to buy a fine mixture in a full-size packet—two
hundred and fifty seeds—for less than twenty-five cents, while such
varieties as Giant Trimardeau and Giant Cassier should be fifteen cents
or more, according to the place of purchase. A few of the old
favourites—like the Snow Queen—may be bought in packets costing from
three to five cents and prove good value. But generally speaking,
packets selling for less than five cents are to be looked upon with
suspicion. Seeds bought at the grocer’s or other local dealer’s are
likely to be old or inferior stock—the better class of seedsmen selling
direct to the consumer only. At the end of every season seedsmen have a
large stock left over. The best concerns destroy these, but the less
scrupulous put them up as prizes for advertising purposes, or sell them
to the local dealers.
Some varieties of seeds retain vitality for years, like the
Morning-glory, while others lose vitality in a few months or weeks, like
the perennial Phlox, which must be sown as soon as ripe. From this it
can be readily seen how worthless some of the seed carried over from
year to year must be. As an experiment, I planted under glass in the
house, with more than usual care, a part of one of these trial packages
of twelve for a quarter. From five of the packages I got just one
plant—a Lantana, while from the sixth I grew a number of inferior
Petunias. In striking contrast to this I planted, under the same
conditions, a packet of Bush Hill Pioneer Cyclamen containing twelve
seeds, for which I paid fifty cents, and secured eleven plants, every
one of which lived, making four and a half cents apiece for a very
choice variety of Cyclamen, while the one little common Lantana cost me
ten cents.
The prices of one firm will frequently be much higher than those of
another equally trustworthy, the difference being caused, in most cases,
by the number of seeds in the packets. A few firms now state the number
of seeds in their price-lists. This should become the general practice.
There is manifest injustice in selling packets containing a quantity
which is entirely problematical, and often much below what the purchaser
has a right to expect. To advertise seeds much under the usual price and
reduce the number accordingly is a common practice.
It is better to buy a few good seeds, and by careful cultivation bring
the plants as near perfection as possible, than to buy a quantity of
cheap seeds. One can join with a friend or neighbour and thus secure a
larger variety at less cost than would otherwise be possible. Generally
speaking I think it a great mistake to save one’s own seed. Few choice
varieties are fixed and so tend to run out in two or three seasons. From
fine strains of Asters you may save seed that will give good results the
first year, but flowers grown from seed saved from these will show more
or less centre, so that fresh seed should be purchased every other year
at least. As the bees do not visit the Asters so assiduously as other
flowers, they are less given to hybridisation and come quite true from
seed; the trouble with them being deterioration. The first flower on the
plant is usually the best, and should be reserved for seed by tying a
string around it and labelling it, if it is desired to keep the
varieties separate. Remove all other blooms on the plant, as they fade,
allowing only the one selected to ripen.
Pansy seed should never be saved, as the ripening of it weakens the
plant and checks its blooming. Pansies growing in a mixed bed never come
true from seed and deteriorate rapidly. Growing Pansy seed is work for
the Pansy specialist, but if it must be saved a few plants should be
grown in a bed by themselves and covered with a netting to keep off the
bees, which work incessantly over the Pansy bed. Not more than two or
three of the finest flowers on a plant should be allowed to seed, all
other buds being removed as they form, and the plants kept in a high
state of cultivation and supplied with liquid manure at least once a
week during the season of seeding.
Seed may be saved freely from Poppies, as they do not deteriorate
appreciably, and the hybridisation constantly going on results in a
wonderful variety of form and colouring. The ripening of one or two
capsules of seed does not materially affect the period of bloom; but it
is well to mark one blossom on each plant, giving a preference to the
terminal blossom on the main stalk, as being usually the finest. Remove
all other blossoms as they fade. Perennial Poppies will do better,
however, if no seeds are allowed to form. Morning-glories, Cosmos and
Verbenas sow themselves better than the gardener can, the plants being
much more vigorous than from the hand-sown seeds. Verbenas mix badly,
and are apt to hark back to the original purple strain, or come striped.
The seeds of the pink variety come true, I find, and some of the finest
pinks I have seen were from self-sown seed. They range in colour through
all the shades from pink to deep rose. A fair proportion of white may
also be expected, but scarlet and red with a white eye are shy and
rarely appear.
Nasturtiums rarely come true from seed, and if one desires a particular
colour or shade, she must either buy fresh seed or grow that particular
variety alone. If, however, one simply desires an abundance of bright
flowers with a preponderance of yellow, orange and scarlet, it is worth
while to save seed, as its vitality is remarkable and every seed may be
expected to germinate.
No variety of Petunia can be depended upon when grown in a mixed bed. A
particularly fine variety may be lifted and planted on the opposite side
of the house, either in the ground or in a window-box, or in a pot in
the house. From one exceedingly fine specimen of the large ruffled
variety, lifted and grown in a window-box on the opposite side of the
house from the Petunia bed, I saved a single pod of seed from which I
grew, the following year, sufficient plants for a large bed. No two of
these were alike in colour, but they retained the immense size, ruffled
edges, velvety texture and beautifully marked throats of the parent
strain; some were a velvety crimson, nearly black, some white with
crimson blotches, and some showed rare shades of grey.
Sweet Alyssum sows itself, and the trouble is usually not to save but to
get rid of it. Candytuft may be saved, but the fewer flowers allowed to
seed the better for the continuation of bloom. Where one does not
actually need the seed all flowers should be removed as fast as they
fade. No one thing will add so much to the appearance of the garden as
this, as nothing is more untidy than flowers gone to seed.
Perennials are greatly benefited by having the withered flowers removed;
indeed so noticeable is the advantage that some, like the Monkshood,
will give a second crop of flowers, and those that will not respond in
this way will be more robust and bloom more freely the next year.
Vincas, too, and Hibiscus bloom more freely if not allowed to seed,
while Coleus should not even be allowed to bloom. Sweet-peas must on no
account be permitted to seed unless grown for the purpose. Seed may be
gathered from the Thunbergia, Maurandya, Adlumia, common Morning-glory
and Hollyhock without risk of deterioration or harm to the vine.
Antirrhinums suffer severely from seed-bearing, while the Ricinus,
Lantanas and Salvias may be allowed to seed freely. Ageratums look rusty
when ripening seed, and it pays to go over them frequently with the
shears; this will keep them fresh and full of bloom until frost. One
flower-head will furnish all the seed one is likely to want.
All seeds should be gathered when ripe and the foliage dry. They should
be exposed to the air in any convenient receptacle, except in the case
of the Thunbergias, Balsams, and others having pods which snap open and
expel the seeds to a distance. These should be saved in paper bags until
perfectly dry, when they may be freed from their husks by sifting or
winnowing, and stored in paper bags, envelopes, or boxes. It pays to
save the florists’ envelopes for this purpose, as they are already
labelled. Never put seeds away unlabelled, and it is a good idea to add
to the label the date, period of germination, with the colour of the
bloom, height, and other data of interest. It is still better to keep a
book of such information to which one may refer from year to year. There
are frequent doubts concerning some operation—the season of starting the
hotbed, the time it took a certain class of bulbs to bloom after
potting, and the like. In all such cases the note-book offers
unimpeachable evidence.
Chapter _SIX_
Starting Seeds in Flats
There are many choice seeds, especially in the greenhouse varieties,
that cannot be handled successfully in the hotbed—Begonias, Gloxinias,
Cinerarias, and Primulas among them. All seeds too fine to be covered do
better with house treatment. For starting these the shallow boxes or
flats, as they are called, are used. Shallow cigar-boxes, or the larger
ones sawed in two and the lid nailed on for the extra bottom, make
convenient sizes for the finest seeds. They may be used from year to
year if care is taken to store them away, at the end of the season,
where they will keep dry and ready for use.
Holes for drainage should be bored in the bottom and covered with bits
of glass or broken crockery. Fill with finely sifted leaf-mould to
within an inch of the top and shake the earth smooth and even. A smooth
piece of board, three inches wide and as long as the inside width of the
flat, with a handle that can be easily grasped, is indispensable for
pressing down the soil, both before and after sowing the seeds. It
should be stored away with the flats at the end of the season.
Sow very fine seed broadcast, scattering it thinly and evenly over the
surface and pressing it into the soil with the wood. It will be better
to sow only part of a packet at a time. This will usually give all the
plants of a kind wanted at one time, and if success does not follow this
first trial there will be seed left for another sowing. Label plainly
with the name and date of sowing, and, when known, the date of
germination. Give the soil a thorough watering by setting the flat in
lukewarm water until the water rises to the surface, but not above it.
When the entire surface is wet, remove the box, draining off all surplus
water by tipping on one corner, until the water ceases to run off. Cover
the flat with a glass and sheet of white paper and place in a warm
place—a shelf above a coal-stove or radiator is an excellent location,
as it affords the bottom heat so essential in starting tender seeds.
Seeds while germinating need but little light, and a box on a shelf in a
living-room may be so screened as not to be unsightly. A shelf under
another, having a light valance, is an ideal place, as the heat strikes
more on the bottom of the box, leaving the top cool. Coarse seeds may be
sown in rows and lightly covered, or enough fine white sand to merely
cover may be sifted over them. Large seed, like the Asparagus Sprengeri
may be pressed into the soil to twice their depth. Or the soil may first
be covered with a thin layer of fine white sand, and the seeds sown on
this and covered according to need. Sand counteracts the troublesome
tendency to damping off caused by the presence of a minute fungus in the
form of a fine moss or thread-like filaments covering the ground. Since
this is the result of too much moisture, the remedy is to remove the
glass, allowing the surplus moisture to pass off and the dry air to
strike the soil for a short time. Care must be taken that the dryness
does not extend below the surface. Drops of water on the glass indicate
too much humidity. The glass should be removed, wiped, and aired. Where
the plants are not too close together a crochet-hook or hat-pin may be
used to scrape the moss or filament from the earth. This slight
disturbance of the soil often serves to destroy the fungus. If the soil
threatens to become dry, water carefully with a rubber sprinkler. If the
dryness begins in the bottom, water as before by setting the flat in a
pan of water.
When the plants have their second leaves give more air and remove the
paper; in a day or two set in a light, warm window, screening from the
hot sun by placing a piece of white paper between the box and the window
glass. Leave the glass partly off the flat to admit air, and when the
plants have their first true leaves remove it entirely for a part of the
time.
[Illustration: STARTING SEEDS IN FLATS]
When large enough to handle, transplant the seedlings into other flats,
setting them one or two inches apart according to their growth. When the
leaves again touch prick them out in two-inch pots of leaf-mould,
placing a piece of crockery over the drainage hole and filling with
earth to within half an inch of the top. Plunge the pots into a box of
sand in a sunny window until large enough to go out of doors. As soon as
the roots fill the pots shift to a size larger, using compost of two
parts fibrous loam, four parts leaf-mould, one part old, well-rotted
manure, and one part sharp white sand, all thoroughly sifted together.
This is called fine compost, while soils that have not been sifted are
known as rough compost. To remove sticks, stones, or hard bits of root
put through a sand or coal-ash screen. A piece of wire netting slightly
gathered up in the hand makes a convenient screen for a small quantity
and a box with a netting bottom for larger quantities of earth.
By the time the plants again need shifting it should be warm enough to
bed out all those that are to grow in the open ground, while those
intended for the house must be shifted from pot to pot as they outgrow
their quarters and be given such special treatment as the individual
plants may require, always aiming at as thrifty a growth as possible.
Plants intended for winter blooming must have all their buds removed and
their branches pinched back according to their summer development.
Weak liquid manure may be given once a week during summer. Keep the sand
in the sand-box wet at all times, but do not over-water. Water
thoroughly and then allow the earth to become nearly dry before watering
again; this alternate moisture and dryness allows the wood to ripen and
make a stockier growth and one that will stand frequent changes of
temperature better than the tender growth induced by over-watering.
Chapter _SEVEN_
Transplanting and Repotting