44 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1913 



being kept carefully away from frost during 

 the winter. If a cool cellar is available, 

 they will keep best in that. The following 

 May (or about one year from the sowing 

 of the seed) transplant the small seed- 

 lings into flats. Use a pair of small 

 tweezers for this work being very careful 

 not to bruise or injure the plants in any 

 way. Then place the flats in frames, and 

 for the first summer leave the glass sash 

 on them, with lath shades placed over 

 the glass. They should have plenty of 

 light, however, and a free circulation of air 

 which is provided by fastening the sash 

 open. Remove the shades toward the 

 evening but leave the glass on, to protect 

 against heavy showers during the night. 



In April, or before the young plants begin 

 to make their growth for the third season, 

 transplant into frames. The soil in the 

 frames should be especially prepared; there 

 is nothing better than light loam into which 

 three inches of leaf soil has been forked. 



Seeds of rhododendron, laurel, etc.. may be sown 

 on moss in pots kept in frames and will give 

 eaually strong plants as if sown in greenhouse 



Plant at least four inches apart and shade 

 with lath until about September ist. Then 



remove the shades and expose the plants 

 to the full sun during the fall months, so 

 as to ripen the wood. In New England 

 the plants at this stage should have some 

 winter protection; about the end of October 

 I give a mulch of half rotted leaves and 

 about one month later pine or hemlock 

 boughs are laid over. This gives protection 

 from both cold winds and frost. In spring 

 when the boughs are removed* the mulch 

 of leaves can remain. Nothing will do 

 the young plants more good for it keeps 

 them cool and moist during the summer 

 months and, as the leaves decay, the 

 plants root into the material, making 

 fibrous roots, which can be transplanted to 

 their permanent location without injury. 



Rhododendrons and hardy azaleas can 

 be raised from seed very successfully, in 

 exactly the same way as kalmias; they grow 

 much more rapidly, require less attention, 

 and can be more easily handled; they are not 

 so liable to "damp off" in the early stages. 



Plants for the Winter Window Garden— By Gladys H.Sinclair, 



QUANTITY OF BLOOM IN BRIGHT COLORS WITH FINE GREENERY ALL 

 WINTER — EASILY GROWN PLANTS ADAPTED FOR INDOOR CULTURE 



Michi- 

 gan 



WHEN window plants are men- 

 tioned one thinks first of ger- 

 aniums, proof of "the survival 

 of the fittest." Geraniums are 

 everybody's flowers because they will live 

 under everybody's conditions; they propa- 

 gate easily and their foliage always looks 

 well. But geraniums should not be counted 

 on to bloom much until after Christmas, 

 especially if they bloomed in summer. Ger- 

 anium slips rooted in August and kept 

 growing briskly are counted best for winter 

 bloom, but I have known old plants to do 

 marvelous things. Wet sand and sunshine 

 will root geraniums swiftly. Make the 

 cutting just below a joint and sink it an 



inch. It will root nearly as well in water 

 and sunshine. When roots are thrifty, 

 plant in a soil made of equal parts of garden 

 loam and old manure, which is not a bit too 

 rich for geraniums. Don't use a big pot at 

 first, and let the roots show outside the soil 

 when the ball is out of the pot before 

 repotting. 



Pinch out the tops till you have a bushy 

 plant with six or eight branches in a medium 

 sized pot with drainage coal in the bottom. 

 When this is root-bound it must bloom. 

 That is the law of geraniums and it can't 

 help blooming. If you are planting a 

 box of geraniums instead of pots, crowd 

 them. You want blossoms, not leaves. 



Have the box eight inches deep or less. 

 Give geraniums all the sunshine available 

 and water when the top of the earth looks 

 dry, soaking them well. Sixteen plants, 

 some old ones, some "slips," were taken 

 up after frost from the yard where they 

 had bloomed all summer and were crowded 

 into a box twenty-six inches long, twelve 

 wide and eight deep. The ends of old plants 

 were broken off, they were kept in the 

 shade a week and sparingly watered, then 

 set in the south window. From Thanks- 

 giving to May they bloomed steadily, from 

 ten to twenty blossoms at a time. The 

 touch of frost forced them to rest a bit and 

 the old ones did better than without it. 



Impatiens will root in water and will grow rapidly in rich soil 



Obconica primroses last longer than the Chinese type, but have smaller flowers 



