The Garden Magazine 



Vol. V— No. 4 



Published Monthly 



MAY, 1907 



One Dollar a Year 

 Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



Making a Good Start 



DO NOT be deceived by an early burst 

 of warm, balmy weather into setting out 

 tender vegetables that have been started in 

 heat, or into planting out flowering plants 

 for summer effect. Late spring frosts usu- 

 ally occur about the middle of May and the 

 over-eager amateur is often an easy victim 

 to his enthusiasm. Nothing is gained by 

 this very early starting, because during the 

 later spell of cold weather — even if actual 

 frosts do not occur — all growth is checked 

 and a checked plant never fully recovers. 



Consult your own records or the local 

 weather reports, and do not set out the tender 

 plants until the critical date is passed. If, 

 however, frost does catch the early set plants, 

 shade them from the sun, and if possible 

 spray with cold water — ice water is best — 

 till they are thawed. But prevention is better 

 than cure, and if the weather indications 

 suggest a frosty night, give protection by 

 cloth screens, newspapers or some such 

 thing. 



FRUIT GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



Spray fruit trees and bushes twice during 

 May to prevent insects, scale and fungi 

 from getting a start, and, of course, keep it 

 up for another three months. (See the 

 Spraying Calendar in the April Garden 

 Magazine.) 



If you have any plum or cherry trees, the 

 curculio is almost sure to pay you a visit. 

 There is but one practical remedy — jar the 

 trees and catch the insects, as they fall, in 

 a cloth. Then dump them into a pail having 

 a little kerosene in it. Use a mallet, wrapped 

 around with a cloth, to strike sharply on the 

 trunk of the tree. Do not strike too hard 

 or an irreparable injury will be done the 

 bark. It requires only a slight jar to dis- 

 lodge the curculio. 



Cut out any dead wood from apples and 



pears; also remove any crossing or inter- 

 locking branches. If any trees were grafted 

 last season, remove all suckers from around 

 the trunk, and rub off any buds that appear 

 on the branch below the graft. 



Only under exceptional conditions is it 

 wise to let strawberries bear a crop the same 

 year that they are planted. Fall-set beds, 

 if they have been given the very best of care, 

 may be cropped, but spring set plants will 

 do much better, and give much larger crops 

 next year, if they are not allowed to bear any 

 fruits at all this spring. Pick off all flower 

 stalks, and induce vigorous growth by water- 

 ing, cultivation, and a liberal dressing of 

 manure. Mulch the old strawberry beds 

 with salt hay to keep the berries clean. 



A BUSY TIME TN THE FLOWER GARDEN 



The earliest spring flowers, including the 

 Dutch bulbs and most of the hardy shrubs, 

 are now passing out of flower. When 

 finished blooming all these plants begin to 

 make their growth and build up for the next 

 year's crop of flowers. Therefore, prune 

 the flowering shrubs immediately after the 

 flowers have fallen, by removing the flowering 

 wood. This will force a free production 

 of new, young growths, each of which will 

 produce flowers next spring. 



If the space now occupied by the spring 

 bulbs is needed for other plants, the bulbs 

 are to be saved. They may be left to partly 

 mature their foliage for a few weeks, and 

 then be lifted carefully and allowed to finish 

 ripening in a sheltered out of the way part 

 of the garden. Plant pansies and daisies 

 for succession until the summer bedding 

 plants are ready. 



During the first half of the month, make 

 sowings of all hardy and half-hardy annuals, 

 such as morning glory, China asters, calliop- 

 sis, balsam, candy tuft, etc., and transplant 

 hardy annuals that were started in the 

 coldframe in March if they have been 

 hardened off. If not already done, sow 

 tender annuals in coldframes for trans- 

 planting later. 



During the latter half of the month — after 

 the late frosts — plant out from hotbeds or 

 frames all tender annuals and roots; sow 

 seeds of tender plants outdoors, and "bulbs" 

 or roots of cannas, begonias (tuberous), and 

 elephant's ear can be safely planted, but of 

 course, these will be later in flowering than 

 plants that were started in heat and set out 

 at the same time. 



All kinds of perennial plants may be safely 

 shifted and the borders rearranged before 

 the end of the month. 



The German iris, blooming in May, will 

 make an unusual veranda plant if the whole 

 clump is lifted and put into a large pot or 



jardiniere when the leaves are about six 

 inches high, or less. The plants will flower 

 in almost any situation in the house or on the 

 porch, and the roots may be planted in the 

 border any time after flowering. 



GROW SOME WATER LILIES 



Do you realize that good water lilies may 

 be grown easily in the half of an old kerosene 

 barrel ? And they add greatly to the interest 

 of the garden. Make preparations this 

 month to plant the roots in June. The 

 Garden Magazine for March, 1906 (page 

 78) and for January, 1906 (page 279) tells 

 how to grow the hardy water lilies and what 

 are the best among them. For the tender 

 lilies, see the numbers for July, 1906 (page 

 321) and September, 1906 (page 70). Any 

 pond that has a continuous supply of fresh 

 water can be used for water lilies. 



SOW THESE TENDER VEGETABLES 



Beans. — After the ground is warmed. Bush 

 beans are a little hardier than the limas, 

 which, however, may be started in frames, 

 in pots or on inverted sods, for transplanting 

 after all danger of frost is past. 



Corn. — Read Mr. Darlington's article on 

 page 230 of this number. It has a specific 

 planting list for your own locality. 



Cucumbers and melons. — Start the latter 

 in coldframes on pieces of inverted sod, or 

 in pots, to transplant in June. Put three 

 melon seeds to a sod or pot, and thin to the 

 strongest when the first true leaves are well 

 developed. Sow cucumbers outdoors the 

 last week of the month. 



Spray potatoes with Bordeaux mixture 

 and Paris green as soon as they appear above 

 ground — and keep at it every ten days. 



Do not transplant from heat any tender 

 vegetable plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, 

 egg-plant, etc., unless you are sure that the 

 frost season is over. 



IN THE GREENHOUSE 



As the sun's heat increases at this season, 

 plants under glass require considerable more 

 water, and such decorative foliage plants as 

 palms and ferns will need protection from 

 the direct rays of the sun. Shade by cheese- 

 cloth screens or by whitewash on the glass. 



Throw out old rose plants to make room 

 for new ones. 



Plant carnations outdoors now. 



Ventilate the greenhouse very carefully; 

 and on dull days, if possible, turn on a little 

 heat to keep the air moving and drive out 

 dampness. Keep on some air at all times 

 when frost is not anticipated. 



Buy chrysanthemums — rooted cuttings 

 from the florist — for fall flowers. It is not 

 vet too late to start arrowing for exhibition. 



