50 STATE POMOI.OGICAI, SOCIETY. 



to spray the leaves of your plants. You can take them to the 

 sink and use a whisk broom. You can shower your sweet peas 

 just where they are. If you get your windows spattered with 

 dirt and water it won't show. 



For the summer garden we have all of these plants which w^e 

 had in our windows, excepting the sweet peas — which is a good 

 beginning. For the busy housewife who does all of her house- 

 work besides taking care of the children, doing the mending, 

 knitting, making butter and perhaps cheese, and possibly spin- 

 nmg all the stocking yarn, T should not recommend many seed- 

 lings or annuals for out of doors. Perennials and shrubs are 

 so much easier and they are always there. A few: loads of dress- 

 ing wheeled around the roots in the fall is something which ought 

 to be done, and if you can, have some one drive a stiff stake near 

 each bush and tie the branches close together to the stake. The 

 heavy snows will not injure them. Spirea Van Houtteii is one 

 of the best shrubs. It is always pretty and graceful out of 

 bloom, but when in full flower it looks like a bank of snow. I 

 greatly prize one I have by a low, sunny window. 



Golden glow is another plant which when once established is 

 well worth the trouble. It grows tall and has a wealth of hand- 

 some yellow flowers, something like chrysanthemums, always 

 yellow, splendid for cutting. Delphinium is another grand 

 plant. Dr. Young of the health department at the State 

 House, has in his garden a root of this which has reached enor- 

 mous size. I went there one day to bu}" some tall cut flowers for 

 parlor decorations for a customer. These long sprays stood 

 twelve feet high and the big root itself was fully eight or ten feet 

 in diameter. The color of the flowers ran from dark purple 

 through all the shades to light lavender and white. Now this 

 i? something any one can have — for I immediately sent away for 

 a root and got a small one for fifteen cents. Then I planted 

 some seed — all grew finely — and I hope some day to have a large 

 bush. These are fine for cutting, as they keep a long time in 

 fresh water. This summer I planted two castor oil beans in a 

 sunny corner where there was plenty of moisture. They grew 

 ten feet tall, with leaves eighteen inches across. They looked 

 decidedly tropical. 



I have a little back piazza where I keep the step-ladder, mop^ 

 slop jar, wash bench and wringer and lots of things. It is some- 



