AUGUST: FIRST WEEK IQS 



fraction of the price that will have to be paid a few months 

 hence; or some of the plants that were set out in the garden 

 last spring may be taken up and potted now. 



Of these several methods the most difficult is to take up 

 plants from the garden and make pot plants of them. Yet 

 this method has several advantages. The plants cost noth- 

 ing, you may select those of good shape, health and strength, 

 and in any particular color and variety. With plants 

 grown from mixed seed these last points are important. 



"Potting up" from the Garden 



To be sure of saving the plant and to give it the least set- 

 back in transplanting, the process should cover two or three 

 weeks. With a sharp trowel or a long-bladed knife cut a 

 half or a third round the plant, with the blade slanted in 

 toward the root; the circle formed in this preliminary root 

 pruning should be a little smaller than the inside circum- 

 ference of the pot to which the plant is to be transferred 

 usually a four, five or six inch one. At the same time re- 

 move any buds or blossoms there may be, and cut back the 

 plant quite severely, removing some of the oldest growth. 

 Later make another cut round the plant. After two or three 

 operations take out the plant carefully, cutting off clean all 

 the long roots underneath. Give a thorough soaking some 

 hours before "lifting" the plant, if the soil is dry. Then 

 pot up carefully and keep in partial shade, under a tree or 

 on the veranda, for a week or so. Cutting the roots in ad- 

 vance of potting gives the plant a chance to recover from 

 the shock and also to form the feeding new roots that must 

 be produced before it can establish itself in the pot. 



Old plants that are kept from year to year should receive 

 treatment according to their kind. Those that flower in 

 winter should be rested during the first part of the summer, 

 but started into more active growth about this time so they 

 will be in the pink of condition for the beginning of the 

 winter season. They may be cut back quite severely, leav- 

 ing a framework of strong wood upon which the new growth 



