VII 



THE RESTING-SPELL OF 



PLANTS 



ANY — perhaps I would be 

 justified in saying most — 

 mistakes made by ama- 

 teur gardeners might be 

 avoided if they were to 

 famiHarize themselves 

 with the various habits 

 of their plants. One of the most common 

 ones is that of attempting to keep them grow- 

 ing and blooming the year round. This is 

 something that few plants can do, and the 

 few that can do it would be vastly more 

 satisfactory if they were given a resting-spell 

 sometime during the year. The average 

 plant is never able to do itself justice unless 

 allowed to remain dormant two or three 

 months out of the twelve. I am aware that 

 the idea of a plant's resting is often ridiculed 

 as one of the whims to which the enthusiastic 

 gardener is subject, but it is the gardener 



57 



