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In August the flower beds were dug two feet deep and the soil mixed with 
rotted manure 
Home Gardening in Southern California—By Charles F. 
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The same beds eight months later. 
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Canterbury Bells on left, foxglove in 
center, and sweet alyssum on right 
Saunders 
THE WONDERS THAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A CLIMATE WHERE YOU CAN PICK FLOWERS 
OUTDOORS EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR—WHAT THE 
[Epiror’s Nore. 
give a calendar for important operations, and make your story interesting and practical ?] | 
HEN, after half alifetime in the East, 
we transferred our residence to 
California, the prospect of making our 
own ‘garden spot” was not the least of 
our anticipated pleasures. The pleasure was 
realized beyond our most sanguine hopes, 
but with it came surprises so pronounced 
that I may almost term them shocks. 
Such a matter as common, everyday grass, 
for instance, on which we had counted for 
turfy walks as in the East, proved harder 
to grow than anything else and, except for 
lawns, had to be abandoned; seed blithely 
sown in June resisted all the blandishments 
of the watering pot and astonished us by 
coming up in January, long after we had 
forgotten it; familiar annual climbers, such 
as the canary-bird vine, which we had 
confidently planted for temporary screens, 
were a mass of burned leaves by July, as 
indeed by that time were most of our old- 
fashioned Eastern garden favorites which 
we had set out for midsummer bloom; 
while nearly all the perennial vines, which 
enthusiastic friends who had toured Cali- 
fornia told us grew there like Jack’s bean 
stalk, disappointed us by sulking for months 
until in some cases we were on the point 
of tearing them up root and branch. The 
beanstalk gait, we found, was usually not 
struck until the second year. But it came 
then — with emphasis! 
The house that we bought was barely 
a year old, built upon a lot 60x 180 ft. 
The original owner had given no attention 
to the grounds except to put in a lawn before 
the house and to set out a few flowering 
plants where they would be visible from the 
street. The whole rear of the lot, a space 
measuring 60X85 ft., had been left untouched. 
Upon this portion, in a tangle of weeds 
and wild grasses, stood five orange trees, 
remnants of a grove which had originally 
covered the tract of which our lot was part. 
““TENDERFOOT ” 
MUST LEARN 
This is the fourth of a series of articles on “ Home Gardening in Every Part of America,” to which you are cordially invited to contribute. We had a 
Nebraska garden in Fune, 1906; a New Hampshire garden in October, 1907; a Texas garden in February, 1908. Wall you tell us what the peculiar conditions of your regton are, 
The surface of the land was humpy and 
irregular with a pronounced dip toward the 
back and to one side, so that the rear of 
the lot was from four to ten feet lower than 
the ground upon which the house stood. 
The soil was a dark, mellow, clay loam, 
which, after the first winter rains had sent 
their moisture well through it, was easily 
worked. It had, however, a strong tendency 
to pack as it dried out.” 
It was December when we obtained 
possession and our first concern was the 
building of a fence. We had several loads 
of soil hauled in from a neighboring lot, 
and deposited in and about the deepest 
corner so as to bring the rear line more 
nearly up to a level. The fence itself was 
made of redwood 3x4 in. posts set eight 
feet apart; these were six feet high, planted 
two feet in the ground, making the fence 
four feet high. Redwood battens one-half 
an inch thick by three inches wide were 
Part of the rear lot, covered with wild grass and weeds, before the ground was broken for the garden, and the same place eight months later 
225 
