SOME DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 



AT the end of June the garden is in its prime, 

 and the gardener is supposed to enjoy the fruit 

 of his labours. Yet there is plenty for him to do if 

 he cares to do it, and he can find for himself a hun- 

 dred little tasks besides weeding and watering, the 

 performance of which will make all the difference to 

 the future beauty and even well-being of his plants. 

 This is the time, for instance, for attending to spring 

 flowers that have now gone out of bloom. The gar- 

 dener should seize the opportunity of wet weather to di- 

 vide all spring flowering plants which need dividing, for 

 it is much better to do this now when the plants have 

 the whole summer to recover in than in the autumn, 

 when they have no time to make new growth. There 

 are a great many Primulas, such as P. denticulata, 

 P. rosea, P. Sikkimensis, P. Japonica, and even Prim- 

 roses and Polyanthuses, which deteriorate quickly 

 unless they are divided when their crowns begin to 

 multiply; and it is only safe to divide the more deli- 

 cate of these soon after they have flowered. Auric- 

 ulas, too, and many kinds of Alpine Primulas are the 

 better for occasional division and replanting, and 

 this is the time to do it, provided they can be pro- 

 tected from drought afterwards. This applies also 



to many spring-flowering plants which flower best 



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