house-plants; it is called a fly because in one stage of its existence
it has wings. The remedies are tobacco in some form, or sulpho-tobacco
soap syringed on the foliage, or the hot-water bath.
Black or Chrysanthemum Lice require practically the same treatment.
Tobacco-dust on the leaves will usually prevent their appearance, and
should be applied early in the summer and after every rain.
The Mealy Bug is a little whitish mass, like cotton in appearance, often
found on house-plants and on the Spiræas. Syringe with whale-oil soap
solution; or, if the plant is small, work over it, touching each bug
with a brush dipped in alcohol; or use the hot-water bath.
Red Spider can only be kept at bay by fresh air and the plentiful use of
water; spray or syringe daily. Use the hot-water bath if the spiders
have gotten a foothold.
Rose Hopper, or Thrips—small yellowish insects on the under side of Rose
leaves, from which they suck the juice, causing them to turn brown;
whale-oil soap syringed on the under side of the leaves is the best
remedy.
Rose Slugs are small green caterpillars that feed on the Rose leaves and
buds, lying on the under side of the leaves, or drawing two leaves
together with a slight web. Work over the plants, pinching the leaves
between thumb and finger, or syringe with whale-oil solution, or dust
with powdered hellebore when wet.
Rose Bug—a small, dark bug striped with light yellow, which is very
destructive to the Roses, eating the flowers. Plants may be syringed, or
showered with the Paris-green solution at night or early in the morning,
but must be attended to promptly, as the bugs are very destructive,
stripping a bed of its flowers in a surprisingly short time. Roses
treated with Paris green should always be plainly and conspicuously
labelled to that effect.
Earth-worms and the like may be easily destroyed by thoroughly soaking
the soil in the pots with lime-water, which is best done by plunging a
pot to the brim (not over) in the solution, and removing the worms as
they come to the surface. It may be necessary to repeat this once or
twice.
FORMULAS
The following formulas are from the New York Agricultural Station and
are reliable:
_Normal, or 1.6 per cent. Bordeaux
Mixture_
Copper Sulphate (blue vitriol) 6 pounds
Quicklime (good stone lime) 4 pounds
Water 50 gallons
Dissolve the copper sulphate by putting it in a bag of coarse cloth, and
hanging it in a wooden or earthen vessel containing five or six gallons
of water. After the copper sulphate has dissolved, dilute with water to
twenty-five gallons; slake the lime, and add twenty-five gallons of
water; mix the two, and keep thoroughly stirred while using. If the
mixture is to be used on Carnations, or the like, it will adhere better
if a pound of hard soap be dissolved in hot water and added.
_Kerosene Emulsion_
Hard Soap ½ pound
Boiling Water 1 gallon
Kerosene 2 gallons
Dissolve the soap in the water; add the kerosene, and churn with a spray
or force-pump until they unite and have the appearance and consistency
of buttermilk. Dilute with water to twenty-five or thirty gallons before
applying.
_Paris-green Solution_
Paris green 1 pound
Water 50 gallons
Keep constantly stirred when using.
_Hot-water Bath_
The hot-water bath will, in nearly every case, take the place of
insecticides and give better results, as it thoroughly cleanses the
foliage and leaves no bad effects, if not too hot. Heat to 140° if for
spraying, and use before it cools; 136° if the plants are to be dipped.
[Illustration: FENCES MAY BE MADE ATTRACTIVE WITH VINES OR PLANTS]
Next in convenience to a pair of rubber gloves for the garden are the
duck mittens sold for household purposes. All sorts of garden work may
be done in these, even the transplanting of quite small plants. They
have also the advantage of being very cheap, or they may be manufactured
at home. Always have an extra pair on hand. Gardening without gloves is
ruinous to the hands and a needless discomfort.
For watering the window-garden, a small pot with a long spout that will
go between the plants will be a great convenience, as by its use the
farthest plants may be watered without disturbing the others. This means
a saving of time on busy mornings, and insures against neglect.
The life of the gardener who raises chickens is full of perplexities.
Certainly nothing is more vexing and discouraging than to have one’s
plants repeatedly scratched out of the ground by chickens. With netting
so cheap there is no good reason why chickens, or other farm stock,
should have the range of the yard.
Nothing is more filthy or conducive to disease than the presence of
fowls in the door-yard. There are few house-yards that cannot be
isolated from the rest of the premises by a judicious use of
wire-netting, and where the conditions call for it this should be the
first thing done. It will not be at all satisfactory to surround the
beds with netting, which is inconvenient and unsightly. The whole yard,
or at least the entire garden, should be inclosed, using netting high
enough to turn any fowl, say at least five feet; even Plymouth Rocks
will take a four-foot fence. For Brown Leghorns six feet is a safer
height than five feet. There should be no place on the top of the fence
on which the birds can alight. At the bottom a board will make all
secure, and prevent the chickens digging under; and it will be better if
set a little below the surface of the ground, which should be made hard
and firm around it.
Fences may be made attractive with vines or plants. Sweet-peas,
Nasturtiums, Morning-glories, Cobæa scandens, Wild Cucumbers, the
Scarlet-fruited Gourd, Roses, Clematis or Honeysuckles make a good
background for the lawn and beds of bright flowers.
Chapter _TWENTY-FOUR_
A Chapter of Don’ts
Don’t forget to air the hotbeds on warm, sunny days, and to protect them
on cold ones.
Don’t forget that plants need room to develop, and set them far enough
apart to make this possible.
Don’t forget to water the window-boxes every day, and to keep the sand
in the sand-box wet all the time.
Don’t forget to go over the Pansies and Sweet-peas every day, and remove
all withered flowers. Don’t let them suffer for want of water at any
period of their bloom.
Don’t try to raise more plants than you have room for, or strength and
time to cultivate. A few plants well cared for are better than a
neglected garden—a most discouraging sight. The gardener will find
enough real difficulty without inviting disaster.
Don’t try to follow all the advice that is offered you; make up your
mind what you want to do and go steadily ahead. If you fail you will
know how, and why, which is in itself a distinct gain. It is a good rule
never to take the advice of an unsuccessful person, no matter how
reasonable it sounds. Distrust garrulous advice; the gardener with real
knowledge is not inclined to force advice upon others.
Don’t be cast down by adverse criticism unless your judgment tells you
it is deserved. The person who “knows it all” is never so much at home
as in some one else’s flower-garden, where the principal labour may be
done with the tongue.
Don’t be wheedled into spoiling your plants by saving seed for one who
is perfectly able to buy; instead, give the address of the dealer from
whom you purchased, and suggest that he will be glad to fill orders.
Don’t rob your plant of cuttings that are necessary to its symmetry;
this, too, is a case for the florist. There are people who seem to feel
it an injustice for any one to possess a plant with more than one branch
so long as they are not supplied with that particular variety.
Don’t, when you have purchased a dozen Violets or Primulas, meaning to
divide them after awhile to make the border you did not feel like
purchasing outright, be imposed upon to the extent of giving half of
them away to some one who has been waiting for this very opportunity.
The experienced gardener learns to steer such people away from plants
she does not wish to part with, or have mutilated, but the amateur is
looked upon as legitimate prey. I have frequently known people to break
a branch from plants they were handling, with the expectation of being
told to keep it. The remedy for this sort of thing is to immediately
place it in the ground with some remark about having a place for it.
Don’t supply with cut flowers, plants, and the like, people who spend
more money for unnecessary luxuries than you do for your whole garden,
and then tell you how foolish you are to spend so much time and money,
and work so hard for your flowers. Don’t be too deeply impressed with
the sudden friendship at gardening time of the woman who has managed to
get along without your society all winter. Don’t be imposed upon by the
chronic plant-beggar, but suggest to her that you will be glad to lend
your catalogues; that in them she will find, at reasonable prices, all
the things you have in your garden; and that the florist will doubtless
be glad of her patronage.
Don’t, on the other hand, be lacking in generosity of the right sort.
Flowers may be given to rich and poor alike, and carry no hint of
obligation, or unfitness. To the tired worker who has neither time nor
space to cultivate them, a handful of flowers, or a potted plant, which
can be spared from your abundance, will make a bit of sunshine well
worth the trouble. For many who cannot spare the trifling amount a
single plant or packet of seed would cost, the surplus plants from flats
or hotbeds will be a great pleasure, and one should not wait for
requests. Those who really cannot afford these things are rarely guilty
of the petty meanness of the professional plant-beggars. It is a good
plan to jot down, from time to time as they occur, the names of those
you would like to benefit in this way, and then, when you have surplus
plants, send word of that fact, and of the time when it will be
convenient to take them up. This will be better than sending the plants,
which might arrive when it would be inconvenient or impossible to attend
to them.
There are so many ways of giving pleasure with flowers that one need
never be embarrassed with a surplus: the sick; the young girl who will
enjoy them for her party; the young matron, for her pretty luncheon; the
church service, the humble funeral, where the choicest and best should
go. A beautiful tact may be shown by a choice in harmony with the taste
of the recipient and the occasion for which they are intended. Do not
send all white flowers, or flowers with a heavy perfume, to the
sick-room. Bright flowers are better. Notice the cheer in a pot of
golden Daffodils or a bunch of Hepaticas. A charming thing is a handful
of Japanese Morning-glory buds picked and sent the night before, that
the invalid may watch their unfolding in the morning. I have known these
to give the greatest pleasure.
Don’t be too greatly cast down by failures; they have their uses. One
failure, if it sets you to studying out the cause and remedy, is worth a
dozen haphazard successes. We grow plants with even success for some
time, then, without any recognised change in the treatment, we meet with
failure. We look for the reason, and our education is begun. When we
have found the cause of failure, we have made a long step forward.
Don’t fail to take some good floral magazines, they are helpful in many
ways, and keep you in touch with what other workers are doing.
Don’t try to work in unsuitable clothing. Easy, broad, solid shoes—not
any old run-down pair—should be considered as essential as a spade, or
rake, and skirts that clear the instep, and hang comfortably. Waists
with easy arm-holes and collar will enable one to work with a degree of
comfort that means the accomplishment of an amount of work in a morning
quite impossible were one less comfortably clad. Skirts of blue denim,
made Princess style, and ankle length, with comfortable
shirt-waists—denim for cool days, calico for warm—make a thoroughly
comfortable outfit.
THE END
Alphabetical Index
A
=Abobra viridiflora=, fancy gourd, 96.
=Abutilons=, 63, 64, 92.
Diversity of form and colour of New California, 64.
Time for flowering, 63.
=Achimenes=, 60.
Cuttings of, how to root, 60.
=Aconite=, Winter, 191.
=Adverse criticism=, hints about, 254.
=Advice=, hints about, 253.
=Adlumia= (Mountain Fringe, Climbing Fumitory, Allegheny Vine), 46, 92,
129.
Appropriate for use at funerals, 129.
Delightful grown on north side of house, 129.
Gathering seed from, 46.
Sowing seeds and planting, 129.
=Ageratum=, Cope’s Favourite, 119.
Tom Thumb, 16.
=Ageratums=, 16, 34, 35, 46, 81, 88, 91, 92, 94, 96, 101, 119, 121.
Dwarf variety admirably adapted for carpet bedding, 119.
How to sow, 35.
Indispensable for edgings, window-boxes and vases, 101.
Little Dorrit and Swanley Blue, 102.
Princess Caroline, 102.
Season for sowing, 102.
Should be clipped frequently, 47.
Tom Thumb, useful for edgings, 101.
=Air-tight covers=, should never be used to protect plants, 205.
=Alba plena Narcissi=, 191.
=Alba superbissima Hyacinth=, 192.
=Allegheny Vine=, 129.
=Allemannia Cannas=, 15.
=Alliums=, care and treatment of, 194.
=Altheas=, 201, 202, 206.
=Alyssum=. See Sweet Alyssum.
=Amaryllis=, 75, 155, 162–165.
Evergreen, 162.
General treatment of, same as for Crinums, 162.
Johnsonii, 163.
=American Beauty Rose=, 178.
=Ammonia=, a stimulant for flowers, 25.
=Ampelopsis=, 128, 207.
=Anchusa capensis=, 119.
=Anemones=, 192, 193.
Treatment and raising of, 193.
=Annuals=, various, from seed, 98–111.
Hardy and tender, time for planting, 53.
Should not be grown in window-boxes, 96.
=Annunciation Lily=, 205.
=Anthony Waterer=, crimson Spiræa, 197.
=Antirrhinums= (Snapdragons), 46, 91, 93, 96, 98, 99.
Firefly, 98.
Giant Crimson, Giant Yellow, Giant White and Niobe, 98.
How to protect in winter, 99.
Queen of the North, 98.
Seed of, 46.
Soil suitable for, 99.
Transplanting, 98.
Useful for cut flowers, window-boxes and vases, 98.
When to start seed, 98.
=Ants=, nests of, in the Lily bulb, remedy for, 181.
=Aphides=, or green plant-lice, prevention and remedy for, 70.
=April=, shrubs and plants that bloom in, 234.
=Aquatic Plants=, 165–172.
=Aquilegia=. See Columbine.
=Arrangement of flower-beds=, 10.
=Arundo Donax=, ornamental grass, 5, 16.
=Ashes=, a good fertiliser to sweeten the soil, 25.
Should not be mixed with manure, 25.
=Asparagus=, 49, 64, 88, 94, 246.
All kinds benefited by frequent repotting, 64, 65.
Benefited by use of good fertiliser, 215.
How to raise and manage, 65.
=Asparagus plumosus nanus=, 246.
Proper time for planting, 64.
=Asparagus Sprengeri=, how to sow, 49, 50.
Successfully grown in baskets or pots, 65.
Unmanageable without fertiliser, 216.
=Asparagus tenuissimus=, 246.
=Asters=, 10, 25, 34, 43, 53, 99.
A necessity of the fall garden, 99.
Aim of the specialist, 99.
Arranging for vases, 100.
Bees do not care for, 43.
Black beetle an unpleasant pest to, 247.
Bride, 99.
Chrysanthemum flowered, 99, 100.
Cosmos borer destructive to, 247.
Early planting recommended, 100.
Frequent watering necessary, 101.
Giant White Comet, 99.
Japanese Tassel, 97.
Kerosene for killing insects on, 100.
Ostrich Feather, 99.
Paris-green in the watering-pot for killing beetles, 100.
Peony, 99.
Perfection, 99.
Proper place for planting, 10.
Transplanting, 101.
Use of seed of, 43.
When to plant seed, 100.
=Aster-beds=, ashes for fertilising, 25.
=Atmospheric moisture=, maintaining a fair degree of, 209.
=August=, shrubs and plants that bloom in, 240–242.
=Auratum Lily=, growth of the, on wooded hillsides, 184.
=Aurea Bambusa=, 171.
=Aurora Pansy=, 116.
B
=Bacon rind=, for keeping moles from Iris roots, 200.
=Balsams=, 47, 102, 103.
Benefited by transplanting, 102.
Camellia-flowered varieties best, 102.
Double white and shell pink, valuable for decorative work, 103.
Plenty of room required for branching, 102.
Starting the seed, 102.
Transplanting, 102.
=Bamboo=, 171.
Requires abundant water-supply, 171.
Varieties of, 171.
=Bambusa Arundinacea=, 171.
Aurea, 171.
Metake, 171.
=Banana plants=, 145.
Caring for, in winter, 145.
Grow more ornamental indoors, 145.
Planted in tubs or open ground, 145.
Plants should be grown by themselves, 145.
Showy and attractive, 145.
Soil and water for, 145.
Southeast angle of building an ideal location for, 145.
Storing in cellar during winter, 146.
=Baroness Van Thuyl Hyacinth=, 192.
=Baskets, hanging.= See Hanging-Baskets.
=Beetles, black.= See Black beetles.
=Begonia cuttings=, how to root, 60.
=Begonia=, Dwarf Bijou, 66.
Erfordii, 66.
Rex, how to plant and raise, 66.
Vernon, 66.
Vulcan, when to plant, 66.
=Begonias=, 39, 48, 58, 60, 66, 67, 88, 92–94, 97, 117, 150, 245.
An excellent place for, 245, 246.
Injured by use of fertilisers, 216.
Setting out, and storing during winter, 67, 68.
The best varieties of, 66.
The finest flower for bedding or pot culture, 67.
=Begonias, tuberous=—
Bedding out, 150.
Instructions for planting, bedding and setting out, 67.
Proper temperature for growing, 150.
Shading from the heat, 151.
Starting and potting, 150.
=Bermuda Oxalis=, should be grown in hanging-baskets, 195.
=Bignonia Radicans= (Trumpet Vine)—
Best method of supporting it, 140.
Blooms nearly all summer, 139.
Desirable as a climber, 140.
Grown as a lawn shrub, 140.
Hedges of, should be kept pruned for symmetrical growth, 139.
Most desirable for hedges, 139.
Not appreciated sufficiently, 139.
=Black Beauty Cannas=, 15.
=Black beetles=, a pest to Asters, 247.
How to destroy, 100.
=Black lice=, remedy for, 248.
“=Black spot=,” fungous disease of the Rose, 247.
=Black-eyed Susan=, 136.
=Blood=, from slaughter-houses, a good fertiliser, 28.
=Blooming season of various trees=, shrubs, and plants, 234–244.
=Boards for siding in making flower-beds=, 8.
=Bone-meal=, a substitute for, 27.
As a fertiliser, 28.
=Bonfire Salvia=, 121.
=Bordeaux mixture=, for fungoid disease in Pansies, 115.
As an insecticide, 244.
Formula for, 249.
=Borders=, exquisite flowers for, 197, 198.
=Borers=, destroying chrysalis of, 203.
=Bougainvillea=, 209.
=Bouquet=, an ideal, 103.
=Bracket plants=, Thunbergias valuable for, in winter, 136.
=Brackets=, use of, increases capacity of window, 208, 209.
=Bride Aster=, 99.
=Bride Rose=, 178.
=Bruant Geranium=, for south and west window-boxes, 91.
=Bryonopsis=, 96, 132.
=Bulbous and tuberous-rooted plants=, 147.
=Bulbs=, for the amateur, 192.
For winter blooming, 192.
Hardy in Middle States, may not be so in Northern States, 191, 192.
Hints on potting outdoors, 194.
Late fall or winter planting of, preferable to spring planting, 188.
Of hardy plants, caring and preserving, 195.
=Burbank Cannas=, 15.
=Burpee’s Defiance Petunia=, 84.
=Buying seeds=, 41–47.
C
=Cabbage-worm=, how to destroy, 204.
=Caladium esculentum= (Elephant’s Ears), 149.
An ideal plant for the amateur, 149.
Native of Sandwich Islands, 149.
Root of, edible, 149.
Roots should be started in pots, 149.
Winter easily and multiply rapidly, 150.
=Caladiums=, 5, 15, 18, 22, 88, 89, 93, 149, 150, 151, 185, 186, 246.
Beds of, 5.
Proper soil for, 18.
=Caladiums, fancy-leaved=—
Caring for, in fall and winter, 151.
Desirable for window-boxes and for porches, 151.
Develop their colours best in the shade, 151.
Flourish in a warm atmosphere, 151.
Gorgeousness of colour and delicacy of growth, 151.
=Calceolaria=, 63, 68, 74.
Handling and raising, instructions for, 68.
Infinite variety of, 68.
One of the most easily cultivated house-plants, 68.
Varieties and easy cultivation of, 68.
=California Sunflower=, 197.
=Callus=, formation of, in cuttings, 61.
=Camphor Geraniums=, 91.
=Candidums=, 182.
=Candytuft=, 46.
=Cannas=, 4, 5, 14, 15, 18, 22, 29, 110, 121, 141, 142, 145, 147, 148,
150, 185, 187.
Allemannia, 15.
Beds of, should be lower than the lawn, 142.
Best way of handling roots, 147.
Black Beauty, 15.
Burbank, 15.
Care of, 185–187.
Chicago, 15.
Florence Vaughan, 15.
French and orchid-flowered varieties should be started in the house,
147.
Frozen portions should be removed, 185.
Grow from seeds as easily, cheaply, and as soon as from bulbs, 141.
Hints for planting and potting, 142.
Italia, 15.
Most convenient place for starting bulbs, 148.
Orchid-flowered Cannas difficult to winter, 186.
Papa, 15.
Planting in baskets, 147.
Proper soil for, 18.
Queen Charlotte, 15.
Roots to be saved should be dried in the sun, 186.
Seeds should be filed before planting, 141.
Should be wintered in a dry cellar, 186.
Storing of tubers, 186.
Suitable soil for, 142.
Time for sowing seed, 142.
Time for starting, 147.
=Canterbury-bells=, cold-frames useful to protect, 37.
=Carnation-frames=, 72.
=Carnation support=, an easily made, 72.
=Carnations=, 39, 40, 61, 70–72, 76, 205, 250.
Giant of California, 70.
Growing winter plants, 72.
How to perpetuate any variety, 71.
Keeping for winter blooming and for second year, 71.
Keeping free from insects, 72, 73.
Layerings valuable for, 61.
Marguerite, 70.
Methods employed by florists to produce long-stemmed varieties, 71.
Most easily grown of all house-plants, 70.
Planting and varieties of, 70.
=Castor-oil Bean=, 144. See Ricinus.
=Centrosema= (Butterfly Pea), 130.
Beautiful plant when in bloom, 131.
Charming vine for north or east window, 94.
Hard to propagate from seed, 130.
Slender growth but hardy, 132.
Transplanting and watering, 131.
Treatment of seeds before sowing, 130, 131.
=Chalcedonica Lychnis=, hardy white flower, 198.
=Chameleon Nasturtium=, 111.
=Charcoal for preserving Asters=, 100.
=Chicago Cannas=, 15.
=Chicken fences=, how to make, 251, 252.
=Chicken netting=, for use in the hotbed, 37.
=Chickens should not be allowed in the garden=, 251.
=Chionodoxa=, 191.
=Christ and the Apostles=. See Crinum Scabrum.
=Chrysanthemum Flowered Aster=, 99.
=Chrysanthemum lice=, remedy for, 248.
=Chrysanthemums=, 126.
Keeping free from insects, 127.
Planting out and cultivating, 126.
Potting and boxing, 127.
Treatment of branches, 126.
=Cigar-boxes=, convenient for raising fine seeds in, 48.
=Cinder walks=, construction of, 9.
=Cinerarias=, 48, 58, 62, 63, 69, 143, 208.
Care in raising in summer and winter, 69.
Colours and varieties of, 69.
Treatment of, for preserving through winter, 69, 70.
=Clara Bedman Salvia=, 121.
=Clematis= (Virgin’s Bower), 65, 137–139, 203, 252.
Caring for and protecting in winter, 138.
Cosmos borer destructive to, 247.
Flammula, 138, 198.
Jackmanni, 138.
Leaves protect roots in winter, 207.
Mrs. Edward Andre, 138.
Most expensive vines to buy, 137.
Paniculata, 138.
Planting and raising, 137.
Potting, 137.
Raising from seed cheapest way of obtaining them, 137.
Ramona, 138.
Trimming plants, 139.
=Clothing=, suitable, necessary for comfort for working in the garden,
257.
=Clover-root=, 65.
=Coal-ash walks=, construction of, 9.
=Cobæa San Salvador=, 130.
Admirable for covering old trees, 130.
Cling to stone and brick, 130.
Foliage of, 130.
Manner of growth, 130.
Starting seed, 130.
=Cobæa scandens= (Cup-and-Saucer Vine), 129.
Desirable summer vine, 129.
Height and bloom of, 129.
Position of, in the hotbed, 35.
=Coccinea Hibiscus=, 108.
=Coccinea Indica=, foliaged fancy gourd, 96.
=Coix lachryma=, 16.
=Cold-frame=, the, 37, 38.
Drainage of, in winter, 38.
For growing Gloxinias and rooting cuttings, 37.
For sowing Pansy-seed, 37.
How made, 37.
Protection of, at night, 38.
Useful to protect beds of tender perennials, 37.
=Coleus=, 4, 5, 15, 46, 58, 59, 89, 92, 142, 143, 151.
Cuttings, treatment of, 59.
Indispensable in ornamental bedding, 142.
Must not bloom, 46.
Period of germination, 143.
Pinching and watering, 143.
Raised from seed, 142.
Sensitive to cold, 143.
Suitable soil for, 143.
=Colours=, harmony of, in flowerbeds, 11.
=Columbine=, 104, 105.
Time for sowing seed, 104.
Transplanting, 104.
=Common names of flowers=, 217–233.
=Compost=, composition of fine and rough, 51.
=Compost heap=, use for, 203.
=Cope’s Favourite Ageratum=, 119.
=Corn Fodder=, winter protection for flowers, 206.