THE MONTH'S REMINDER, SEPTEMBER, 1918 



The purpose of the Reminder is to call to your attention the things which should be thought about or done during the next few weeks. For full details as 

 to how to do the different things suggested, see the current or back issues o/The Garden Magazine. An index of contents is prepared for each completed 

 volume, and is sent gratis on request. Prepare now for next year s war garden. 



IN SEPTEMBER, we expect to pay more 

 attention to getting things out of the 

 ground than to putting things into it, but 

 the wise gardener is beginning, not only to 

 plan, but to actually start the work on his next 

 year's garden, before this year's crops are out 

 of the ground! Much of next spring's work can 

 be done from now on this fall, and everything 

 that is done between now and the time snow 

 flies will be doubly effective. 



In the Vegetable Garden 



GET something growing! Rule number one 

 for the fall garden work is, to sow some- 

 thing that will grow through the winter, on 

 every square foot of soil not occupied, until hard 

 freezing weather. There is no need to wait 

 until the crops come off. As soon as September 

 rains make the ground "workable" loosen up the 

 soil between the rows, and rake in rye, or rye 

 and vetch. Sow rye early, especially wher- 

 ever the soil is likely to be washed out in late 

 fall rains. 



Get after onions early. Don't wait until 

 tops are completely dried up before pulling 

 them. Remove from the ground as soon as 

 tops fall down and begin to shrivel and bulbs 

 come out of the ground readily. Dry in an 

 open, airy shed. 



Prepare for frost. Almost invariably the first 

 cold snap which will kill the tender things is 

 followed by two or three weeks of weather when 

 conditions for late growth are ideal. A load of 

 marsh or salt hay, which you will want for winter 

 mulching later on anyway, can be obtained now 

 and will be the means of saving you its cost in 

 vegetables saved from the early frost. Have it 

 on hand near the garden where you can spread it 

 along and over rows of lettuce or beans when the 

 first frost threatens. A few days before danger of 

 frost, go over vine crops and cut out the ends, 

 of the plants and laterals which are not needed 

 to support the fruits which have a chance of 

 reaching full maturity. 



Keep the celery growing upright! One grow- 

 ing celery for the first time is likely to make the 

 mistake of letting the plants take their natural 

 form of growth. Keep the growing plant hilled 

 up carefully to hold the stalks together. The 

 extra eaily plants should be ready for blanching 

 this month. If you find them difficult to handle, 

 tie each bunch up fairly tightly with coarse twine 

 before drawing the soil up to it. The work of 

 hilling, fall blanching, should be done while 

 the soil is fairly moist, but not while the plants 

 are wet. The quickest and easiest way of 

 blanching is to use a modern blanching outfit 

 consisting of a metal tube to clasp about the 



Elant and a paper jacket to hold it in shape while 

 Ianching. 

 Keep the late crops going. Don't forget that, 

 even though weeds may not bother as much 

 now as they did earlv in the spring, cultivation is 

 just as important! Keep the wheel-hoe and rake 

 going, and otherwise care for the late planted 

 things as carefully as you did those planted in 

 April and May. 



Don't gather root crops too early. 'I he root 

 crops such as beets, carrots, parsnips, and turnips 

 will not be injured by the first early frost, but 

 will make good growth for some weeks afterward. 

 I hey need not be taken out until there is danger 

 of their being frozen fast. If they are taken out 

 to') early they are likely to wilt or spoil when 

 put into storage. 



In the Flower Garden 



/IRE you ready for the show? Nothing has 

 ■^* done ■•> much to stimulate interest in flow- 

 ers in the last few years as the reawakened inter- 

 est in local flower shows. Has your town or 



community joined this movement yet? If not, 

 get busy and organize one yourself. If it has, 

 join and take an active part. Don't be afraid 

 to exhibit as many beginners are, unless they feel 

 sure of being able to capture half the first prizes. 

 Do it "to help along" — but be determined to 

 take any prizes you can. Don't wait until the 

 very last minute to select what you want to take. 

 Begin to pick out, select, and nurse now. 



Protection from early frost. Have a supply of 

 bags, old sheets, or anything that will do for cov- 

 ering your choicest plants at night when frost 

 threatens. Even the most tender flowers such 

 as Tuberous Begonias, and so forth, will continue 

 to bloom for several weeks after the first frost, if 

 they can be saved. 



Gather the mulch. Begin at once to get 

 together the materials which you will need for 

 mulching later on — leaves, hay, light manure, 

 and so forth. Keep in a dry place where they 

 are available as wanted. 



Why wait till next year? If you want to 

 have a reputation among your neighbors for the 

 flowers you grow — your flower beds must be well 

 drained! You cannot expect the same results 

 from simply planting out in any strip of 

 ground merely spaded up, as from planting in a 

 carefully made bed. Select a good position, and, 

 as you find time to spare during the next few 

 weeks, dig it out to a depth of eighteen to twenty- 

 four inches, put a few inches of cinders or gravel 

 in the bottom, cover with broken sod, and refill 

 with good garden loam mixed with barnyard 

 manure — not just light, dry horse manure. 

 Next year put your choicest flowers in this bed, 

 and wait for results. 



Greenhouse and Frames 



GET soil in place now; for all under glass 

 crops. Time to settle and ripen a bit is 

 needed before you put in the vegetables or flow- 

 ers which may be wanted for fall or winter. A 

 generous application of bone meal and wood 

 ashes, raked in when soil is put in, will strengthen 

 and sweeten it, and leave everything in readi- 

 ness for rapid plant growth. 



And while you are getting soil, be sure to pro- 

 vide plenty for next spring's needs. Good soil 

 for flats and pots is one of the biggest factors 

 in the success of the spring operations. Mix 

 garden loam, sods, and manure in a compact 

 pile now; give a good soaking, occasionally, to 

 keep moist; and fork over two or three times be- 

 fore freezing weather. 



Make sowing of lettuce for first under glass 

 crop at once — if you haven't done so already. 

 May King, Wayahead, Big Boston, Mignonette, 

 and Grand Rapids are all excellent sorts for this 

 purpose — the last is a loose leaf variety. 



Be careful with crops put under glass this 

 month. A few hours' bright sun may result in 

 excessive wilting, resulting in a bad check to 

 growth, even if it should not prove fatal. Plants 

 taken from the open to be set under glass, where 

 conditions are quite different, need to be trimmed 

 back carefully, and shaded for several days. 

 Of course, all the air possible should be given 

 for several weeks yet. Leave the sash off frames, 

 except to protect from hard beating rains. 



Heat a Frame from Your Cellar 



TF YOU haven't any greenhouse, you can 

 ■■• have an inexpensive substitute in the form 

 of a deep frame, placed against the house, where 

 you can run a hot-water or steam pipe through 

 it from the heater in the cellar. Often the frame 

 can be so arranged as to be accessible from the 

 cellar, so that it can be got at in stormy weather 

 without lifting off the sash. Such an arrange- 

 ment, with three or four double glass sash will 

 give winter vegetables, and such low-growing 



plants as bulbs, Stocks, Violets, in quite a gener- 

 ous supply. 



Plants for the House 



"^TINETEEN persons out of twenty will admit 

 *■ ^ that they get more pleasure, plant for plant, 

 out of their house plants than any others. And 

 yet how infrequently one sees a good collection 

 of house plants. The reason is that they are 

 generally given no thought until after snow falls 

 and the last of the out-door blooms has suc- 

 cumbed to the advance guards of the winter 

 drive. 



Order now plants for winter! There are some 

 gloiious new Ferns. And there are some splendid 

 Geraniums (costing no more than the old varie- 

 ties). Get small plants now, pot them up in 

 good soil, keep the buds pinched off for a few 

 weeks, and have a winter garden that you can be 

 proud of. 



Start now a packet of Clarkia — one of the 

 least known of the best flowering plants. Pot 

 up the seedlings, which are grown readily, in 

 two-inch pots, and shift later to fours. You will 

 be glad to make the acquaintance of one of the 

 cheeriest, freest flowering little plants you have 

 ever met. 



Take up from the garden some of the favorites 

 to bloom in the house this winter. Don't wait 

 until the last minute, and then try to save the 

 whole plant but remove all blooms, and cut back 

 quite severely. Then cut half way round the 

 roots, after a week or so cut around the rest of 

 the way, water thoroughly, and when water has 

 soaked away, take up and pot. Keep in the 

 shade and well watered for a week or so. New 

 growth will start, and in a few weeks you will 

 have your plant in full bloom, ready to keep on 

 supplying its good cheer through the winter, 

 and give you cuttings in the spring that will 

 perpetuate the identical color you have se- 

 lected, if it happens to be something that would 

 not "come true" from seed. 



Examine any plants in pots you may have 

 been carrying over the summer, for use in the 

 house again this winter, to see that they are not 

 "pot bound." If the roots have become a tough 

 fibrous mat around the inside of the pot, the 

 plant needs repotting. Either loosen the ball up 

 with the fingers and change to a larger pot; or if 

 already in a large-sized pot, soak off most of the 

 old soil in a pail of water, and repot in fresh soil 

 in the same pot. The longer in advance of tak- 

 ing the plants into the house this can be done, 

 the better. 



Spend a few hours and a couple of dollars in 

 fixing up a suitable place for your winter window 

 garden. Don't be content with sticking a pot 

 up on a window sill, where it is in danger of get- 

 ting knocked off, or frost nipped through the 

 glass. Build a suitable, strong, wide shelf, with 

 an edge around it, to hold moss or pebbles; and 

 put up brackets for the things of a trailing na- 

 ture. If a window box is used, it should be given 

 ample drainage. 



Order Bulbs and Shrubs 



T~XON' T wait another day to get in your orders 

 -*-^ for bulbs and shrubs for fall planting. Last 

 year, on account of the war, showed a falling off 

 in the planting of most ornamentals. Now is 

 your chance to get extra large and fine stock. 

 Take advantage of it! But order now, even if 

 you don't want delivery till next month; trans- 

 portation is improved but the nurseries are very 

 short handed. Those who have tried "made 

 in America" bulbs have been very pleased with 

 the results. California is now growing bulbs 

 "to beat the Dutch", or at all events to help out 

 the market. 



