CULTIVATION OP PLANTS AND FLOWERS. 



155 



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CONDUCTED BY MRS. C. P. T., RICE LAKE, C. W 



CULTIVATION OF PLANTS AND FLOWEES. 



0.\ the laying out of a garden, the soil and situa- 

 tion must be considered as much as the nature of tlie 

 ground will admit. Many soils which are harsh or 

 arid, are susceptible of improvement by a little pains. 

 Thus, a stiff clay, by digging well and leaving it to 

 become pulverized by the action of the frost, and 

 then mixing plenty of ashes with it, becomes a fine 

 mold, which I have ever found most excellent for all 

 flowers of the hardier kind. The black soil is the 

 richest in itself, and requires no assistance beyond 

 changing it about a foot in depth every three years, 

 as a flower garden requires renewing, if a lady expects 

 a succession of handsome flowers. The ground 

 should be well dug the latter end of September or 

 October, or even in November, and if the soil is not 

 sufficiently fine, let it be dug over a second or third 

 time, and neatly raked with a very fine-toothed rake. 



Stony ground requires riddling well, and great care 

 must be taken to keep it neat by picking up the little 

 stones which constantly force themselves to the sur- 

 face after rains. Nothing is so unbecoming as weeds 

 and stones in parterres, where the eye seeks flowers 

 and neatness. Almost every plant loves sand ; and 

 if that can be procured, it enriches and nourishes the 

 soil, especially for bulbs, pinks, carnations, auriculas 

 hyacinths, itc. Let it be mixed in the proportion of 

 a third part to the whole. 



If the dead leaves are swept into a mound everj 

 antumn, and the soap-suds, brine, &c., of tlie house 

 be thrown upon it, the mass will quickly decompose, 

 and become available the following year. It makes 

 an admirable compost for auriculas, &c., mixed with 

 garden or other mold. 



If the ground be a gravelly soil, the flower-garden 

 should not slope, for stony ground requires all the 

 moisture you can give it, while the sloping situation 

 would increase the heat and dryness. A moist earth, 

 on the contrary, would be improved by being sloped 

 towards the east or west. 



The south is not so proper for flowers, as a glaring 

 sun withers the tender flowers ; but the north must 

 be carefully avoided, and shut out by a laurel hedge, 

 a wall, or any rural fence garnished with hardy creep- 

 ers, or monthly roses, which make a gay and agreea- 

 ble defence. Monthly roses are invaluable as auxili- 

 aries of all kinds. They will grow in any soil, and 

 bloom through the winter months, always giving a 

 delicate fragrance, and smiling even in the snow. 

 Monthly roses will ever be the florist's delight : they 

 are the hardiest, most delicate-looking, and greenest- 

 leaved of garden productions; they give no trouble, 

 and speedily form a beautiful screen against any of- 

 fensive object. No flower garden should exist with- 

 out abundance of monthly roses. 



It has often been a disputed point whether flower 

 gardens should be intersected with gravel walks or 

 with grass plots. This must be left entirely to the 

 taste and means of the parly forming a garden. Lawn 

 J8 as wet and melancholy in the winter, as it is beau- 



tiful and desirable in the summer; and it requires great 

 care and attention in mowing and rolling, and trim- 

 ming round the border. Gravel walks have this ad- 

 vantage : the first trouble is the last. 



Many females are unequal to the fatigue of bend- 

 ing down to flowers, and particularly object to the 

 stooping posture. In this case, ingenuity alone is 

 required to raise the flowers to a convenient height; 

 and by so doing, to increase the beauty and pictur- 

 esque appearance of the garden. Old barrels cut in 

 half, tubs, pails, &c., neatly painted outside, or 

 adorned with rural ornaments, and raised upon feet 

 neatly carved, or mounds of earth, stand in lieu of 

 richer materials, such as vases, parapet walls, and 

 other expensive devices, which ornament the gardens 

 of the wealthy. I have seen these humble materials 

 shaped into forms as pleasing to the eye, and even 

 more consonant to our damp climate, than marble 

 vases. They never look green from time, and are 

 renewed at a very trifling expense. A few pounds 

 of nails, and the unbarked trimmings from fir planta- 

 tions, are the sole requisites towards forming any de- 

 vice which a tasteful fancy can dictate ; and a little 

 green paint adds beauty and durability when the bark 

 falls from the wood it protects. I have seen fir balls 

 nailed on to these forms in tasteful patterns; and 

 creepers being allowed to fall gracefully over the 

 brims, give a remarkably pleasing and varied appear- 

 ance to the parterre. 



Krery lady should be furnished with a gardening 

 apron, conqxised of stout Holland, with ample pock- 

 ets to contain her pruning knife, a small, stout ham- 

 mer, a ball of string, and a few nails and snippings 

 <;f cloth, ifave nothing to do with scissors ; they 

 are excellent in the work room, but dangerous in a 

 flower garden, as they wrench and wound the stems 

 of flowers. The knife cuts slanting, which is the 

 proper way of taking oS' slips; and the knife is suffi- 

 cient for all the purposes of a flower garden, even 

 for cutting string. 



There are many modes of adorning a small piece 

 of ground, so as to contain gay flowers and plants, 

 and appear double its real size. By covering every 

 wall or palisade with monthly roses and creepers of 

 every kind, no space is lost, and unsightly objects 

 even contribute to the general eflect of a "plaisaunce." 

 The larger flowers, such as hollyhocks, sunflowers, 

 &o., look to the best advantage as a back ground, 

 either planted in clumps, or arranged singly. Scarlet 

 lychnis, campanula, or any second-sized flowers, may 

 range themselves below, and so in graduated ordir, 

 till the eye reposes upon a foreground of pansies, au- 

 riculaa polyanthuses, and innumerable humbler beau- 

 ties. Thus all are seen in their order, and present a 

 mass of superb coloring to the observer, none inter- 

 fering with the other. The hollyhock does not 

 shroud the lowly pansy from displaying its bright 

 tints of yellow and purple; neither can the sturdy 

 and gaudy sunflower hide the modest double violet 

 or smartly clad anemone from observation. Each 

 flower is by this mode of planting distinctly seen, 

 and each contriputes its beauty and its scent, by re- 

 ceiving the beams of the sun in equal proportions. 



If the trunk of a tree stands tolerably free from 

 deep, overshadowing branches, twine the creeping 

 rose, the late honeysuckle, or the everlasting pea 



