Saving the Summer's Outdoor Plants for Winter Bloom Inside 



By Luke J. Doogue, "„' 



assa- 

 setts 



SOME THINGS THAT MAY BE LIFTED FROM OUTDOORS AND WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO 

 FURNISH THE WINDOW GARDEN DURING WINTER — STORING THE TENDER ROOTS AND BULBS 



P 



How the nasturtium behaves 

 in the winter window garden 



,RACTI- 

 cally every- 

 thing now 

 growing in 

 the garden may be 

 saved for another 

 year, excepting, of 

 course, the true 

 annuals that die 

 after they have per- 

 fected their seed. 

 Many plants, such 

 as salvia, though 

 handled as annu- 

 als , are really per en- 

 nials. Save your 

 plants, either for 

 fall and winter flow- 

 ers in the houseor to 

 provide "stock" from which to start the next 

 year's supply. Everything told about here I 

 have done myself, and there is so little that is 

 technical that the veriest tyro must succeed. 

 Just about the time that frost comes in 

 the fall, the average window garden is a 

 sickly affair, with few respectable plants 

 and worse flowers; and the worst of it 

 is that this lack of flowers continues well 

 toward spring. This condition is caused 

 by a want of planning and a consequent 

 scramble to get things under cover 

 when the first freeze comes. At such 

 a time the garden is torn apart with- 

 out much consideration; some things 

 are saved, but the best part is left 

 out to freeze. 



Do a little planning before cold 

 weather arrives. Decide what 

 will be the disposition of each 

 — this one to use in the house 

 (particularly those in flower), 

 that to go into immediate 

 storage, and others must be 

 thrown away. There is no 

 economy in saving plants that 

 can be easily raised from seed 

 in spring. The average garden will have, 

 say, asters, marigolds, nasturtiums, bal- 

 sams, zinnias, tobacco, cosmos, vina, salvia, 

 ageratum, cannas, dahlias, fuchsias, etc. 

 Some of each of these can be taken right 

 into the house where they will continue 

 flowering for weeks without a check. It 

 is like shifting your show from the outside 

 to the inside. 



Handle the low growing things first. 

 Do you remember what a blaze of color 

 the French marigolds showed last year 

 just before the frost, and with what great 

 regret you saw them cut down in their 

 prime? This year put them in the window 

 box. Prepare the box w?.th drainage, etc., 

 and then drive a spade deep under the 

 plants to be lifted, taking as much loam as 

 possible with them. Carefully put the clump 

 into the box and firmly p' iss down the 

 earth. Then water thorougl iy. If the work 

 is carefully done, the mangolds will not 



experience the slightest check. Practically 

 all the other small flowering plants will 

 respond to this treatment. 



SALVIA FOR WINDOW DECORATION 



A plant of salvia with a spread of five 

 feet can be lifted and taken into the house 

 without any trouble. The plant in the 

 picture on page 93 was as large as this, 

 and it bloomed through the entire winter. 

 The only care necessary in lifting lies in the 

 manner of putting the spade under the 

 plant. Go down deeply and pack the 

 earth firmly about the roots in the pot be- 

 fore watering. A light watering will not 

 do. Water until the water runs through 

 the bottom of the pot. This experiment 

 will more than please you for the plant 

 will throw flowers just as freely as it did 

 out-of-doors. 



FLOWERING TOBACCO 



Another tall grower that is decorative 

 and can be handled this way 

 is the tobacco plant, both 



4 » ■ • 



The geranium is kindly disposed. You may keep it 

 growing in the window or dried off in the cellar 



alata and Sanderae. Here again it is only 

 necessary to remember the firming of the 

 earth and the watering. If these are 

 watched there will be no trouble. The 

 picture shown was taken in the late spring 

 after the plant had been a whole winter in a 

 sunny window. 



LIFTING NASTURTIUMS 



Though the nasturtiums will not do as 

 well lifted as they did out-of-doors, yet they 

 will live and send out leaves and a few 



92 



flowers. The sun- 

 nier the window 

 where they are kept 

 the greater the 

 success. Select a 

 plant not too large. 

 Pick out a medium 

 sized one and dig 

 under it like the 

 other plants; soak 

 and soak again 

 with water. 



BEGONIAS 



Begonias of the 

 Vernon type will 

 flower all winter in 



1 , A few cheery flowers in win- 



a good sunny loca- ter may be easily prov.ded now 



tion, and a few 



plants will furnish sufficient cuttings for 

 next season's supply of plants. This plant 

 will stand very rough handling. If you don't 

 want it for flower in the house it can be 

 packed away in the cellar in a box, where it 

 will winter well. 



STORING IN A CELLAR 



A cellar that is cool (about 40 to 45 



degrees) is excellent for storing 



plants through the winter. With 



winter storage the idea is to keep the 



plants just alive. Pack the 



plants in boxes and cover the 



roots with loam. Keep the 



earth from getting bone dry by 



occasional light waterings. An 



over supply of water will quickly 



rot the plants but judiciously 



applied ensures success. 



Dahlias, cannas, fuchsias and stock 

 that you cannot use in the 

 house should be put in storage 

 in the cellar. 



Do not be in too much of a 

 hurry to get the dahlias under 

 The first frost is generally so 

 light that it will do them but little 

 harm and after this freeze we are apt 

 to have some of the most delightful 

 weather of the whole year. Let your 

 dahlias stay out and you may be sur- 

 prised at the number of flowers; this 

 light freezing seems to stimulate the plants 

 into their best efforts. When the black 

 frost really cuts them down clean off the 

 stems to within six inches of the roots, and 

 pack them away in sand in the cellar. There 

 is nothing better than sand for storage. 

 Some people use sawdust for this purpose 

 but these same people usually complain of 

 the poor condition of their dahlias. Coal 

 ashes will also serve. 



Put away your cannas in practically the 

 same way. 



Fuchsias will stand rougher treatment. 

 After taking up the large plants from the 

 garden pot them and dry them off until the 

 leaves fall. Then put the plants in storage 



cover. 



