140 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 



them in, so as not to touch the stems. Dig this about the roots of your 

 Geraniums, Roses, Verbenas, Pansies, etc., not letting it come in direct 

 contact with the tender roots, and you need not complain of the poverty 

 of the soil ; while the rich blooms of your flowers will fully repay the 

 extra labor. The barrel can be hid away under vines ; and, as the earth 

 is used up, add more to it. The Japanese and Chinese gardeners can 

 teach us a lesson in these matters. Nothing is wasted in their country 

 and their flower gardens are wonderfully beautiful and gorgeous. 



" Eternal vigilance," Gen. Jackson's pet phrase, applies particularly to 

 gardening. One cannot grow fine flowers without some labor; and you 

 will soon learn that constant efforts are needed to make the flowers grow 

 into fine-shaped plants, filled with blossoms. You cannot garden one 

 week, and let it alone the next ; but you must watch it, and water it, and 

 weed it, daily, if you would be successful. It requires as much care to 

 cultivate a handsome garden, as to grow cabbages, melons and tomatoes, 

 and no more. 



An open exposure is desirable, where the sun will have free access to 

 the plants; there are some flowers like Fuchsias, Primroses, Daisies 

 Pansies, etc., which bloom far better in beds that are sheltered from the 

 noonday sun ; and their tastes should be gratified. Yet nearly all plants 

 love the sun, and grow better, if directly under its influence. 



Selection and Sowing of Seeds. 



This is a matter of importance to amateur gardeners, who usually 

 desire the handsomest kinds that can be grown. It takes no more time 

 and care to grow a small, poor, single flower than a rich, double variety ; 

 and the cost is but little more. Always purchase your seeds of reliable, 

 well-known seedsmen, and do not content yourself with those offered by 

 small traders. 



Seed raisers who make it a business, raise only the finest kinds ; the 

 poorer sorts do not pay. Hundreds of dollars worth of good seeds are 

 annually wasted because the growers do not know how to plant them. 

 They require a very finely pulverized soil ; and, if the coarser particles 

 are sifted out, the seeds will germinate more surely. In the Chapter 

 on ANNUALS, minute directions are given for sowing seeds. Since writ- 

 ing it, I have sowed sixty, or more, different varieties, and hardly one 

 has failed to germinate. Every seed of some varieties has come "up." 

 There is no difficulty in their culture, if you will only take a little pains 



