.May, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



127 



after the frosts of fall, when a variety 

 of bulbs maj' be planted in rows, mark- 

 ing the end of each row with a stake, 



I 



f^~« HOUGH it may seem a simple mat- 

 I ter enough on the surface, there 

 is a good deal in potting plants 

 properly. The pots should be well 

 drained, using for this purpose pieces 

 of broken pots, and placing one large 

 piece over the hole in the bottom of 

 your pot. A little sphagnum or rough 

 material of some kind should next be 

 placed over the crocks to keep the soil 

 from being washed down and blocking 

 the drainage. Then put an inch or so 



and putting a label to each variety. The 

 rows should be arranged to allow inter- 

 cropping of annuals in the spring 



Pointers in Potting 



John Gall, Inglewood, Ont. 



Turning plants out of pots. 



of the soil before placing the plant in 

 position, and fill in with the compost, 

 pressing this down rather firmly with 

 the fingei-s until the pot is nearly but 

 not quite full. (See Figure 4.) 



If the pot is overfilled (see Figure 1), 

 insufficient room is left for watering, 

 while, if not filled full enough, not 

 only does the pot not contain enough 

 soil, but the plant is liable to become 

 "drowned" when water is given. 

 (Note Figure 2.) Figure three de- 

 picts a plant potted on one side — a 

 clumsy if not hideous style ; and 

 Figure four, a plant potted properly. 

 There ought always to be enough space 

 left between the top of the pot and 

 the surface of the soil to permit givin<r 

 sufficient water to saturate the whole 

 of the soil and moisten all the roots. 



Some people seem to throw the 

 jilants into the pots almost anyhow, 

 and still they grow and do well — just 

 a large piece of crock over the drain- 

 age hole (sometimes not even that), 

 and then perhaps a few of the rough 

 lumps of the compost being considered 

 quite sufficient. This plan may answer 

 well enough in a country garden, 

 xrhere plants seem to thrive under any 

 condition, but too much care cannot be 

 taken in the town garden. "What's 

 worth doing is worth doing well," is 

 an old adage that should not be for- 

 gotten, even in the potting of plants. 

 Something always depends upon the 

 state of the soil or compost. If it is 

 sufficiently coai-se or porous, compara- 

 tively little drainage will be necessary, 



|t, if at all fine, plenty should be 



given. Plants that require much water, 

 such as spiraeas, etc., should also have 

 plenty of drainage. In fact, I believe 

 in this in almost all cases, as, if a little 

 too much water is given at any time, no 

 harm is done. Most plants, especially 

 those of the "hard-wooded" or shrubby 

 type, require to be potted very firmly 

 — that is, to have the soil made almost 

 hard in the pots — but in the case of 

 soft-wooded plants, generally, pot 

 rather loosely for rapid growth, and 

 more firmly for early bloom. 



Illustration two shows exactly how a 

 plant should be turned out of its pot 

 for purposes of examination. Figure 

 C shows the correct placing of the 

 drainage, one large piece of crock be- 

 ing shown with the hollow side down- 

 wards (as it would be were the plant 

 replaced in the pot as at. D). This 

 should always be sufficiently large to 

 well cover the drainage hole at the 

 bottom of the pot, and any other ma- 

 terial for drainage, snch as smaller 

 crocks, should surround it, while a 

 little sphagnum (moss) should be 

 placed above it, so that the compost 

 may not be washed through. This lat- 

 ter, if of proper constituents, that is, 

 containing a certain amount of sand, 

 fibrous loam, and leaf mould, can 

 hardly be made too firm by fair means, 

 but a soil composed solely of heavy 

 garden loam will have its porosity en- 

 dangered if rammed about the roots 

 with undue vigor. In all potting 

 operations, see that the roots of the 

 plants are laid out in the soil, that is to 

 sav, thev should not have the soil 



Good and i>oor potting. 



thrown on them, but among them. It 

 is wise also, generally, to finish off with 

 a surfacing of sand, while the compost 

 should be slightly lower at the rim of 

 the pot than at the collar of the plant. 



The Flower Border 



It is best to locate the flower border 

 at the side or back of the lawn, rather 

 than make it too prominent a feature in 

 the front yard. It shows to best advan- 

 tage against a background of shrubbery, 

 or near a building or fence, which can 

 be covered with vines and climbers. The 

 size of the border need be limited only 

 by the extent of the grounds and the 

 time that they can be put upon it. A 

 border with irregular oudine varying 

 from five to ten feet in width is prefer- 

 able to a narrow one between straight 

 boundary lines. 



The ground for the flower border 

 should be prepared deeply and thorough- 

 ly, and be made as rich as possible by 

 digging in plenty of well rotted manure 

 or compost. The work of stocking a 

 border may be done at various times 

 throughout the .season. Early in the 

 spring is the best time to sow seeds and 

 do most of the planting ; the transplant- 

 ing of seedlings may be done at any time 

 during the season when the ground is 

 moist. Hardy bulbs and tuberous rooted 

 plants should be planted in the fall. 



This beauty spot was situated In St. Thonias and was the work of the St. Thomas Horticul- 

 tural Society. The bed was planted by the owner. The urn was owned and planted by th« 

 society. Varieties of flowers for the bed were suggested by the society. 



