174 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1913 



Mr. Campbell and his Trout Stream' ' ^ R 



for training the vines and these are 

 placed in the ground when the peas are 

 planted. Tendrils lay hold of the branch- 

 es'*'much more readily than wire, which 

 is also inclined to burn the tender plants 

 in hot weather. Last year peas from 

 this garden captured first prize. 



Bird life abounds in this garden. Mr. 

 Campbell has built bird houses and pro- 

 tected the birds, not only because he 

 likes them but because he finds that they 

 are good friends to the garden, in de- 

 stroying insects. 



Although Mr. Campbell is in his sev- 

 enty-first year, there is a lightness and 

 briskness in his step and a brightness in 

 his eye that many a young man might 

 envy. 



Summer Care of House Plants 



Many people arc in the habit of put- 

 ting their house plants out of doors dur- 

 ing the summer. Some turn them out 

 of the pots and plant them into the 

 open ground. Others sink the pots with 

 the plant in it up to the rim in the 

 ground. 



These methods of summering plants 

 are resorted to because the owners think 

 they save trouble by them. They are 

 under the impression that plants so 

 treated will take care of themselves, and 

 consequently they save a good deal of 

 labor. This is a mistake, however, for 

 if one expects to get the best results 

 from one's plants they must have care 

 and attention all through the summer. 



It is true that a plant turned out of 

 its pot and planted into the open ground 

 will make a stronger growth than if 

 kept in its pot, and it will make the 

 growth without any attention from its 

 owner. But when fall comes, and it is 

 necessary to lift and pot the plants for 

 removal to the house, a large proportion 

 of the roots will be sacrificed during the 

 operation. Notice a plant that has been 



growing in the open ground all sum- 

 mer and then lifted and potted in the 

 fall ; the disturbance of the root sys- 

 tem, and consequent loss of the vigorous 

 growth which characterized it during 

 the summer, gives you a very unpromis- 

 ing looking sjjecimcn. Such a plant will 

 generally require all winter to recuper- 

 ate, and during recuperation very few, 

 and more often no flowers, are produc- 

 ed. Therefore nothing is to be gained 

 by putting it in the garden except that 

 it takes care of itself. On the other hand 

 a good deal is lost because the plant is 

 in fjoorer condition than it was in the 

 .spring after having done a good win- 

 ter's work. Taking these facts into con- 

 sideration one is bound to admit that the 

 labor of lifting and re-potting would off- 

 set all the attention that would have 

 been required had they been left in their 

 pots. 



"Plunged" plants generally suffer 

 from lack of moisture at the roots. The 

 soil about the roots appears moist and 

 from this one gets the impression that 

 the soil at the bottom of the pot is in a 

 similar condition. An examination will 

 generally reveal the fact that such is not 

 the case. The pot prevents the soil from 

 absorbing a sufficient amount of mois- 

 ture from the surrounding soil and un- 

 less one is careful to watch the plants 

 and water them freely, they are almost 

 sure to suffer from dryness at the roots. 



It will be noticed that plunged plants 

 never exhibit that vigorous, luxuriant 

 growth which characterizes plants grown 

 in the open ground. The chief factor 

 in the difference of development is lack 

 of sufficient moisture at the roots. To 

 give them the water they need requires 

 about as much work to take care of 



them as it would require if kept in pots 

 on the veranda, where they can be giv- 

 en shelter from strong winds and Sunl 

 shine. 



KEEP THEM IN POTS 



It is advisable therefore to keep plants 

 intended for next winter's use in pots 

 during the entire season. Give them a 

 place on a partially shaded veranda, 

 or under a shed with a slat roof. Kept 

 in either of these places they are to a 

 great extent under control. Water can 

 be freely given to those whose growth it 

 is advisable to encourage and withheld 

 from those requiring a resting sjjell, 

 thus keeping them almost dormant. The 

 sunshine can be tempered to the needs 

 of each specimen. Little attention can 

 be paid them which if put in the garden 

 they 'would go without; and the secret 

 of successful plant growing depends to 

 a great extent (and to a much greater 

 extent than is dreamt of in many an 

 amateur's philosophy) on these little at- 

 tentions. 



ENTHUSIASM NEEDED 



To be a successful plant grower one 

 must go about it enthusiastically but 

 carefully, ffor each plant has certain 

 characteristics and requirements of its 

 own, which cannot be ignored. 



Plants summered as suggested very 

 often do not require complete re-potting 

 in the fall, simply the removal of the 

 upper portions of the soil in the pot and 

 the substitution of good rich fresh earth. 

 The result will be that they will come 

 to the season of removal to the house 

 in the best condition possible to stand 

 the trying change. 



Plants intended for winter use should 

 never be allowed to bloom during the 

 summer. They should be encouraged to 

 store up energy for the coming season. 



