AUGUST 



The Gardener's Holiday 



THE practice of gardening necessitates timely and 

 careful anticipation; only by looking well ahead 

 can one hope to achieve success. Even while the garden 

 is gay with summer bloom preparations must be made 

 for the flowers of winter. So many failures may be 

 traced to a tardy beginning. Procrastination in the 

 fulfilment of gardening tasks invariably leads to dis- 

 appointment and to the loss of much of that pleasur- 

 able anticipation which is one of the delights of flowei 

 growing. 



Among the Hardy Flowers 



The Hydrangea is a great favourite with amateurs, 

 especially for growing in pots, though in southern and 

 many western gardens it is sufficiently hardy for planting 

 out of doors. Perhaps it never looks better than when 

 grown in a large pot or tub placed on the garden terrace, 

 or at the top of a flight of garden steps. A well-grown 

 plant, bearing numerous heads of pink or blue blossoms, 

 is very handsome. Those who wish to propagate the 

 Hydrangea should take cuttings now, choosing them from 

 flowerless growths ; they are severed beneath a joint 

 about 3 inches from the apex, and are inserted singly in 

 small pots filled with sandy soil. The pots are placed in 

 a frame, kept closed for a few weeks. During winter the 

 rooted cuttings are kept in a frame or greenhouse, and in 

 spring, or in early autumn if well rooted, are repotted in 

 5-inch flower-pots. In due course most of them will pro- 



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