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GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
PRACTICAL ARTS FOR LITTLE GIRLS
A Series Uniform with this Volume
_Each book, illustrated, 75 cents net_
COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS
SEWING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
WORK AND PLAY FOR LITTLE GIRLS
HOUSEKEEPING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
[Illustration: PUZZLE PICTURE,--FIND THE LITTLE GIRL]
GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
BY
OLIVE HYDE FOSTER
AUTHOR OF
"COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS"
"SEWING FOR LITTLE GIRLS"
"HOUSEKEEPING FOR LITTLE GIRLS"
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
1917
Copyright, 1916 by
HOUSE AND GARDEN
Copyright, 1916, by
HOUSEWIVES MAGAZINE
Copyright, 1917, by
ST. NICHOLAS
The Century Co.
Copyright, 1917, by
COUNTRYSIDE MAGAZINE
The Independent Co.
Copyright, 1917, by
OLIVE HYDE FOSTER
_DEDICATED TO
Junior and Allan,
Two of the dearest children that ever showed
love for the soil._
Preface
Children take naturally to gardening, and few occupations count so much
for their development,--mental, moral and physical.
Where children's garden clubs and community gardens have been tried, the
little folks have shown an aptitude surprising to their elders, and
under exactly the same natural, climatic conditions, the children have
often obtained astonishingly greater results. Moreover, in the poor
districts many a family table, previously unattractive and lacking in
nourishment, has been made attractive as well as nutritious, with their
fresh green vegetables and flowers.
Ideas of industry and thrift, too, are at the same time inculcated
without words, and habits formed that affect their character for life. A
well-known New York City Public School superintendent once said to me
that she had a flower bed every year in the children's gardens, where a
troublesome boy could always be controlled by giving to him the honor of
its care and keeping.
The love of nature, whether inborn or acquired, is one of the greatest
sources of pleasure, and any scientific knowledge connected with it of
inestimable satisfaction. Carlyle's lament was, "Would that some one had
taught me in childhood the names of the stars and the grasses."
It is with the hope of helping both mothers and children that this
little book has been most lovingly prepared.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I FIRST STEPS TOWARD A GARDEN 1
II PLANNING AND PLANTING THE FLOWER BEDS 9
III FLOWERS THAT MUST BE RENEWED EVERY YEAR (ANNUALS) 19
IV FLOWERS THAT LIVE THROUGH TWO YEARS 30
V FLOWERS THAT COME UP EVERY YEAR BY THEMSELVES (PERENNIALS) 37
VI FLOWERS THAT SPRING FROM A STOREHOUSE (BULBS AND TUBERS) 48
VII THAT QUEEN--THE ROSE 58
VIII VINES, TENDER AND HARDY 71
IX SHRUBS WE LOVE TO SEE 78
X VEGETABLE GROWING FOR THE HOME TABLE 82
XI YOUR GARDEN'S FRIENDS AND FOES 94
XII A MORNING-GLORY PLAYHOUSE 102
XIII THE WORK OF A CHILDREN'S GARDEN CLUB 107
XIV THE CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS 115
XV GIFTS THAT WILL PLEASE A FLOWER LOVER 130
XVI THE GENTLEWOMAN'S ART--ARRANGING FLOWERS 137
ILLUSTRATIONS
PUZZLE PICTURE,--FIND THE LITTLE GIRL, _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
FIRST WORK IN THE SPRING 14
KIM AND COLUMBINE 40
TAKING CARE OF TABLE FERNS 56
CLEANING UP AROUND THE SHRUBS 78
ALL READY TO HOE 90
AN OUTGROWN PLAYHOUSE 112
SPRING BEAUTIES 126
LINE DRAWINGS IN TEXT
PAGE
PLAN FOR A SMALL BACK YARD 12
AN ARTISTIC ARRANGEMENT OF A NARROW CITY LOT 14
FLOWERS THAT WILL BLOOM FROM EARLY SUMMER UNTIL FROST 16
BLOSSOMS IN JAPANESE ARRANGEMENT 138
NOTE
As the desire is to give the widest possible range of information about
the plants and flowers mentioned herein, and space forbids going into
details in each case, the writer has endeavored to mention all the
colors, extremes of height, and entire season of bloom of each kind. But
the grower must find out the particular variety obtained, and NOT expect
a shrubby clematis to climb, or a fall rose to blossom in the spring!
GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Fern'd grot--
The veriest school
Of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not--
Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay but I have a sign:
'Tis very sure God walks in mine.
--_Thomas Edward Brown._
GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS
CHAPTER I
First Steps Toward a Garden
And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in
the air (where it comes and goes, like the warbling of
music) than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit
for that delight than to know what be the flowers and
plants that do best perfume the air.
--_Bacon._
IF you want a flower garden, you can begin work as early as March. Does
that sound strange,--with cold winds and occasional snow? Ah, but the
plans should all be laid then, and many things started in the house.
Four steps must be taken before starting actual work:
_First._--Find out what space you can have for your garden.
_Second._--Consider the soil, situation, surroundings.
_Third._--Make a list of seeds, bulbs, etc., desired.
_Fourth._--Decide on planting with view to height and color.
As to the first step, find out positively where you can have your
garden. It makes considerable difference whether you can have the whole
back yard, a plot along the walk, a round bed in the center of the lawn
(only worse than none at all!), or a window-box. You can not very well
decide on a single plant until this is settled.
As to the second step, learn all you can about the soil, situation,
surroundings. Is your ground rich or poor? If light and sandy, you can
grow such flowers as nasturtiums and mignonette. By adding fertilizer
you can have poppies, roses, and dahlias. If the ground is heavy and
stiff with clay, you can still have your roses and dahlias if you will
add both manure and sand. So find out what kind of earth you are going
to work with. Quite poor soil will grow sweet alyssum, California
poppies, coreopsis and geraniums, while rich soil is needed for asters,
larkspur, zinnias and marigolds. And think about your location (a dry
spot being necessary for portulaca, and a cool, moist place for
lily-of-the-valley), as well as bear in mind whether your garden is
sheltered and warm or exposed to the chilly winds. Any desert can be
made to blossom as the rose,--if you only know how.
As to the third step, make the list of the seeds, bulbs, etc., that you
would like, with the idea of having some flowers in bloom the whole
summer long. If you are lucky enough to have a kind friend or neighbor
give you of her store, they will probably be good and come up as they
should. If you have to buy, though, be sure to go to a first-class,
reliable dealer, for you don't want to waste your time and money on old
things that won't grow.
Then last of all, decide on your planting from this list with a view to
height and color, so that you will arrange to the best advantage,--the
nasturtiums which climb, for instance, going to the back of the bed
against wall or trellis, while the dwarf variety should be at the front.
BIG WORDS FOR COMMON THINGS
To select your flowers intelligently, though, you must know something
about their nature, habits, and tendencies, and certain words always
found in seed catalogues and garden books may be puzzling to a beginner.
a. _Annuals_, for example, are the plants that live
but a year or a single season.
b. _Biennials_, however, continue for two years before
they perish, making roots and leaves the first year
and usually flowering the second.
c. _Perennials_ are the kind that continue for more
than two years.
d. _Deciduous_ refers to the shrubs and trees that
lose their leaves in the fall.
e. _Evergreens_ are those that keep their verdure the
whole year round.
f. _Herbaceous_ plants may be annual, biennial or
perennial, but they have a stem that does not become
woody, and that dies down after flowering.
g. _Hybrids_ are plants produced by "crossing," or
mixing two distinct varieties.
PLANT NEEDS
All plant life, you must understand, requires five things,--WARMTH,
LIGHT, AIR, WATER and FOOD. But plants differ as much as people, and
some need more of one thing than they do of another. Some grow best in
sunlight, others in the shade; some in sand, others in rich soil. You
will have to find out what each kind requires. The food properties
needed in the soil have some big names, too,--_nitrogen_, _potash_, and
_phosphoric acid_, all of which are found in farm manures. If you can
not conveniently get these, however, florists and seed-men can supply
you with other fertilizers more easily handled.
THE SEED NURSERY
If you are just getting ready to start your garden, the annuals,--the
plants that flower from seed the first season though they do not come up
again,--will probably interest you most as they give the quickest
returns. Many kinds can be started in the house in March, and for this
purpose any kind of a shallow box will answer. Bore holes in the bottom
and put in a layer of broken pottery or stones, to permit drainage, so
the roots will not rot. Fill three or four inches deep with good soil,
after pulverizing and taking out all sticks and stones.
RULES FOR INDOOR PLANTING
Mark grooves in seed boxes (or "flats") with a stick,
in parallel lines.
Plant seeds only about their own depth.
Scatter thinly to avoid crowding.
Press soil down firmly after seeds have been covered.
Keep the earth moist by means of a fine spray, or
sprinkle with a whisk broom. The ordinary sprinkler
lets out the water with such force as to wash the
seeds clear out of the ground.
The very finest seeds should be _sprinkled_
lightly--and thinly--over the pulverized soil and then
pressed into the earth with a small board.
The different seeds should be sown in separate rows,
and the names plainly marked on the edge of the box,
so you will not become confused, or forget what you
are growing.
Cover the boxes with glass or a newspaper for the
first week, to keep the earth moist and warm until the
seeds sprout.
FAMILIAR ANNUALS
Even as early as March you can start in the boxes in this way any of the
following annuals, which will bloom at the time mentioned or even
earlier:--
Ageratum, blue, good for edging; blooms for three months during
summer.
Asters, white, pink, red, purple; early in the fall.
Alyssum, sweet, white; from May to November.
Amethyst, blue, violet, white; flowers all summer.
Balsam, white, red, yellow; from July to middle of September.
Chrysanthemum, tricolor; August to middle of October.
Cosmos, white, pink, crimson; August to November.
Cypress vine, red, and white starry blossoms; June and July.
Godetia, red, white; July to October.
Moonflower (Japanese morning-glory), white, a vine; August to
September.
Pansy, all shades and combinations, of white, yellow, purple;
July on.
Chinese pink, white, rose, maroon; May to August.
Salvia, red; August to frost.
Ten Weeks' Stock, white, pink, purple; June and July.
Zinnia, red, yellow, magenta; July to November.
EASILY GROWN PERENNIALS
Both the perennials and the biennials following should all blossom the
first year if started in the house in March:--
Gaillardia, red, yellow.
Forget-me-not, lovely blue.
Larkspur, blue.
Snapdragon, white, red, purple, yellow, pink.
Sweet William, white, pink, red, maroon, plain, varigated.
Coreopsis, yellow.
Cupid's Dart, blue.
Iceland Poppy, yellow, white, scarlet.
Get as many as you can--and your space will permit,--of all the lovely
old perennials and the bulbs that come up every season with little or no
care. One of the oldest,--now deserted--farmhouses on Long Island, still
carries in its dooryard the impress of some gentle flower-lover long
since passed away, in its annual spring beauty of daffodils and
lilies-of-the-valley. And the few bulbs and pips transplanted from there
to my own garden, have thrived and spread so profusely that I, too, can
pass them on to others.
HARDY FLOWERS ALL SUMMER
With carefully chosen bulbs and perennials alone, it is possible to have
a succession of lovely blooms. In March your heart will be made happy
with snowdrop and crocus; in April with violet, daffodil, narcissus,
hyacinth and tulip; in May and June with spirea, peony, iris,
forget-me-not, columbine, baby's breath, bleeding heart, mountain pink,
candytuft, Chinese pink; in July and August, golden glow, hollyhock,
larkspur, hardy phlox, snap-dragon; September and October, sunflower,
dahlia, gladiolus and aster, with November closing the season with all
kinds of beautiful chrysanthemums. And many of these often come earlier
than expected, or stay later. How easily raised are they by the person
with little time!