The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XI— No. 2 



Published Monthly 



MARCH, 1910 



3 One Dollar Fifty Cents a Yeah 

 I 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.] 



Relieve the Spring Rush 



OUTDOOR work for the year begins in 

 real earnest with this month, and 

 from now on, as the weather warms up, 

 important jobs begin to crowd each other with 

 increasing intensity. Therefore, everything 

 that can be done early means so much relief 

 from the later crush. 



Plant all the hardier seeds just as soon 

 as the ground can be worked, especially 

 sweet peas. Put these into the ground at 

 the very earliest possible moment. Sow 

 fairly thickly, and thin out to about three 

 inches for each plant. For very superior 

 flowers, if you have the time to bother about 

 it, sow seeds singly in i\ inch pots and keep 

 the pots in a cool place just above freezing, 

 with an abundance of light. Keep them 

 as cool as possible, so as to discourage top 

 growth; later transplant outdoors without 

 disturbing the roots. 



Important garden crops for early planting 

 are potatoes and strawberries. Read Mr. 

 Jenkins' article on page 94. 



Vegetables for Present Sowing 



TN the open ground, as soon as it can be 

 worked, sow asparagus, carrot, chick- 

 ory, corn salad, mangel wurzel, parsnip, 

 peas (the round-seeded kinds are hardier 

 than the wrinkled, but not Sweet), salsify, 

 seakale, spinach. Remember you do not 

 have to wait two years for seakale; you can 

 enjoy this delicious vegetable next winter 

 by sowing seeds now and by following direc- 

 tions given in The Garden Magazine for 

 March, 1908, page 78. 



Under protection in the greenhouse or in 

 the hotbed, or even indoors in flats in a 

 well-lighted window for planting out as soon 

 as the weather is settled, these: Peas, broc- 

 coli, cabbages of all kinds, cardoon, cauli- 



flower, celeriac, celery, egg plant, kohlrabi, 

 leek, lettuce, okra, onion, parsley, pepper, 

 squash, tomato. 



For extra delicacies, if you have the space 

 to spare to mature the crops in the hotbed 

 or greenhouse, make sowings of bush beans, 

 cucumbers and melons. These are tender 

 crops. 



If you have a greenhouse or frame and 

 can afford room for successions, sow cress, 

 mustard, radish. Lettuce, sown thickly and 

 the seedlings used entirely for fresh salad- 

 ing, may also give good returns. 



Flower Seeds for Present Sowing 



YOU will gain much by making an early 

 start in the flower garden during this 

 month. Hardy annuals — that is, coreopsis, 

 marigold, wallflower, etc. — may be sown out- 

 doors where they are to flower, merely thin- 

 ning as the seedlings develop some time 

 during this month, according to location. 



All kinds of hardy annuals should be 

 started under cover for earliest flower. Sow 

 in flats or in drills in the hotbed, and plant 

 out when the weather is safe. This includes 

 all the hardiest annuals, annual delphinium, 

 snapdragon. Half-hardy annuals may be 

 sown in the greenhouse or hotbed, trans- 

 planted while small, and gradually hardened 

 off for planting outdoors when the ground 

 is warm. Also some of the easier-flowering 

 perennials. Such are: China aster; tropical 

 bedding plants; cannas; cobea; cosmos (by 

 all means start this now for a fall feature 

 in your garden) ; dahlias (seeds, not roots; the 

 latter need not be planted until the end of 

 June) ; mignonette must be transplanted 

 when very young, as it resents root dis- 

 turbance; morning-glory; nasturtium; petu- 

 nia; salvia; verbena; and zinnia. 



As soon as the ground can be worked, 

 plant out hardy lilies, peonies, and hardy 

 perennials of all kinds that you were not 

 able to get into the ground last fall. 



Work Around the Lawn 



r T 1 HE early part of the month uncover 

 gradually any bulb beds that have 

 had protection. 



Look over dormant trees and shrubs and 

 spray where necessary. If scale was present 

 or near you last year, spray anyhow. 



Bring in manure and mulch shrubs, vines, 

 and, if it needs it, the lawn, too. Mulch 

 rose beds especially. 



Look over trees and shrubs for final prun- 

 ing before growth starts. Repair winter 

 damage by ice storms, removing broken 

 limbs and smoothing rough wounds, etc. 

 If any large branches have been broken 



away, cut the stub clear back to the trunk 

 and paint the surface. 



Prune the roses. Remember the rule: 

 For quantity of flower, prune moderately; 

 for specimen blooms, prune severely, leav- 

 ing four to six eyes. Again, the stronger the 

 growth the less the pruning required. 



Cut back severely Hydrangea paniculata. 

 It flowers on the new wood. 



As the frost leaves the ground, lawns 

 may be seeded and sod rolled. Make other 

 repairs by filling hollows and top dress. 

 Remove rank, strong-growing weeds. 



Toward the end of the month plant new 

 rose beds, and remember the quantity and 

 quality of the bloom is directly proportioned 

 to the attention given now. Do all ground 

 work necessary, digging sites for new beds, 

 turning the soil and leaving it up roughly 

 to mellow for a short time. 



Gradually remove the heavier coverings 

 from all plants as the weather opens. Nearly 

 everything should be completely cleared by 

 the end of the month. 



Graft cherries and plums early. Thin out 

 currant bushes. Prune apple trees, peaches, 

 plums and pears. Dwarf trees will need 

 more attention; cut back two-thirds of last 

 year's growth ; if it has not already been done. 

 Prune raspberries, cutting uprights three 

 feet and laterals one foot. The pruning of 

 grapes is discussed on page 88. 



Plants in the House 



V[OW is the time for repotting and shift- 

 -*- ^ ing. Growth will be starting and new 

 roots are forming. Look over everything, 

 pick off dead leaves, and if any plants are 

 pot-bound and it is not convenient to shift 

 them, feed them weak liquid fertilizers. 

 Watch for green fly and fumigate with 

 tobacco or dip in dilute tobacco juice. Do 

 not let any suffer for want of water. 



Keep the pots turned around so as to get 

 even illumination and an even development 

 of the plant. 



Take cuttings of geraniums for winter 

 blooming, pinching off all flower buds dur- 

 ing the summer. 



Grow gloxinias if you have heat enough 

 (60 to 65 degrees). Pot the corms in light, 

 rich soil. Propagate fuchsias — the last op- 

 portunity. Chrysanthemum cuttings struck 

 this month make the best plants. Pot up 

 all summer-flowering bulbs that are to be 

 kept in pots. 



As the sunlight increases in intensity, 

 shade the greenhouse by coating the glass 

 with thin whitewash. Watch the tem- 

 perature, and if it runs high, put on air. 

 The shade, on the outside of the glass, 

 will be gradually washed off by the weather. 



