JUNE 



June ^ I ^HERE are a good many small items of 

 I 5- -L work which, while not seeming very 

 important, yet require attention at this time from 

 the far-seeing gardener. If the pansies sown and 

 transplanted last autumn are to continue their 

 flowering season throughout the summer, they must 

 be mulched soon with old manure ; so treated they 

 will carry blossoms until winter. Lilacs have to 

 be pruned, the longest shoots which have bloomed 

 being cut out and carried away to the rubbish heap, 

 whence, in the form of ashes, they will return later 

 to the land. Phloxes and delphiniums must be 

 staked, although at present they do not seem to 

 require it ; cuttings must be taken of pinks, if the 

 wood is firm enough, and struck under hand-lights 

 in good soil ; wallflowers must be pricked out from 

 the seed-beds into larger quarters, where they can 

 stand several inches apart, to ensure their making 

 good plants by the time October comes, and with 

 October their final planting. The strong tap roots 

 should be pinched off, and a good bunch of fibrous 

 roots will take their place and make them more 

 able to endure winter frosts. The green tops of 

 bulbs which have not yet died down may, for the 



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