CHAPTER XII 



THE PLANTING OF THE SPRING AND SUMMER 



ONCE the garden is placed and its internal 

 arrangement is settled, the question as to 

 its planting naturally arises. In the spring, 

 the desire to plant the green things of the earth is 

 undoubtedly keener than at any other time of the 

 year; and it is then that the greater number of new 

 gardens are started, and old ones replenished. As 

 soon as the frost has left the ground, even the most 

 laggard spirits feel the impetus to sow seeds rich in 

 their promise of flowers, and to keep pace with the 

 unfolding buds and leaves. 



Gardeners then busy themselves in setting out pan- 

 sies and such plants as they have forced under glass, 

 that there may be an early show of bloom. They are 

 not content to trust their gardens entirely to the beauty 

 of early bulbous plants. In fact, unless some thought 

 for the spring has been taken, by way of sowing seeds 

 and planting bulbs during the preceding autumn, the 

 month of April and the greater part of May must pass 

 before any reward can be expected from the planting 

 done in the spring. 



A new garden made entirely in the spring will 

 assuredly not glow with beauty the first season. As 

 with all desirable things, plants take time to reach 



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