The Project Gutenberg EBook of ABC of Gardening, by Eben Eugene Rexford This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: ABC of Gardening Author: Eben Eugene Rexford Release Date: June 12, 2014 [EBook #45946] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABC OF GARDENING *** Produced by Giovanni Fini and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [i] 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 [ii] [iii] 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 [iv] 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. [v] [vi] [vii] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 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. [6] [7] [8] 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. [9] [10] [11] [12] 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. [13] [14] [15] 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. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] 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. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] 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. [27] [28] [29] [30] 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. [31] [32] [33] 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. [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] 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. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] 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. [45] [46] [47] [48]