FEBRUARY 



Dawning Spring 



THE opening days of February mark the earnest 

 beginning of the garden year, and the laggard now 

 will be the loser later on. The increasing sunshine has 

 awakened the garden from its winter sleep and brought 

 joy to the heart of the gardener who began long months 

 ago. He who has delayed must procrastinate no longer. 

 The soil dries, enabling planting to be carried out in 

 greater comfort and with greater convenience. The 

 Snowdrops are already out, and the Winter Aconites 

 little yellow flowers in frills of green and the Crocuses 

 are opening wide to the pale sunshine. Daffodils, 

 Tulips, Hyacinths and Grape Hyacinths are fast spearing 

 through the soil, while the shoots of Spanish Iris and 

 Ixia, which made their appearance long since, seem 

 not to have suffered from the January cold. The buds 

 of the earliest Saxifrages, apiculata, sancta and others, 

 grow bigger every day, and show more colour, while 

 the tufts of some alpines that had lost their vivacious 

 green, or become sparse of leaves, are quickly regain- 

 ing their attractiveness. The awakening to fresh life 

 and beauty of the rock flowers is one of the delights 

 of the garden at this time of year. 



Among the Hardy Flowers 



Pruning Clematis. When Clematises are purchased 

 it is wise to ascertain to which class they belong, so 

 that one may know how to proceed with the pruning, 

 for some kinds bear flowers on the shoots of the previous 

 summer, and others on the new shoots of the summer 



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