IN CALIFORNIA 197 



to fertilize for blooms is now. Give the beds a liberal 

 mulch of manure and see that they get plenty of 

 water without overdoing it. The rains should relieve 

 you of this from now on. 



Nearly all hardy perennial flowering plants do 

 well if put in at this season. By planting now they 

 receive the benefit of the winter rains, start new root 

 action, produce an abundance of bloom in spring, and 

 become thoroughly established, thus enabling them 

 to better withstand the heat of summer. 



We are now at the secondary period of bulb plant- 

 ing, the most important operation of all fall garden 

 work. With seasonable weather at hand this work 

 should be prosecuted with vigor if you expect to ob- 

 tain a full return in a wealth of flowers from the 

 spring garden. We advise the thorough preparation 

 of the soil; dig the ground deeply and thoroughly, 

 incorporating a plentiful supply of well rotted man- 

 ure. The better the tilth of the soil, the more satis- 

 factory will be the results. 



THE ROSE GARDEN 



Now is the time to attend to roses if heretofore 

 neglected. Where the bushes have been dried off 

 during the summer, for winter flowers all the weak 

 wood should be cut away and the stronger branches 

 cut back heavily, as this treatment will induce 

 longer stems and a better quality of flowers. Such 

 roses should then be watered thoroughly. 



Should the bushes be expected to produce a crop 

 of bloom, both for winter and spring, it will be found 

 best to cut away only the weak wood entirely, and 

 the stronger growth just enough to balance the plant 

 nicely, and then prune more heavily the latter part 

 of February. Proper treatment necessarily varies, 



