CHAPTER ELEVEN 
THE TIME FOR PLANTING 
Planting time! Time to get a spade and tear up the turf 
somewhere: to clear a space and stir the soil and set in 
it the roots of some lusty plant-foundlings, in hopes of 
seeing what they will do when summer comes. 
James G. NEEDHAM 
RADISHES are planted as soon as the soil can be worked 
in spring. Lima beans are not put into the ground until 
at least a month later. The seeds of these crops are 
planted directly in the garden, but cabbages and toma- 
toes are grown from plants started indoors or under glass 
and later transplanted to the open ground. 
These different practices are followed because through 
long experience gardeners have learned that plants differ 
in their temperature needs and in their growing periods. 
Some kinds of seeds germinate in cool soil. Others rot 
unless the soil is warm. Some plants grow best in cool 
weather. Some thrive only when the heat of summer 
comes. Some crops grow quickly. Others develop 
slowly, and it is necessary to start the seedlings early 
to permit them to mature before the heat of summer or 
the frosts of autumn check their growth. 
The right time for planting a garden crop depends, 
therefore, not only on the climate and weather of the 
locality, but also on the heat and light needs of the crop 
and the length of its growing period. It is well for the 
gardener first to understand the temperature require- 
ments of the various garden crops, and how long it takes 
each one to mature. Then he can with profit study the 
climate of his region. In this way he can find out much 
that will prove of value in determining the right plant- 
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