The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XVI— No. 5 



Published Monthly 



DECEMBER, 1912 



\ One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 I Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' differ- 

 ence for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



Keep Up the Gardening Interest 



IN NORTH temperate latitudes Dec- 

 ember is not much of a month for 

 the outdoor gardener, but there are a 

 few ways left for him to show his 

 love for his plants. 



He may knock the snow off the evergreen 

 hedges before it weighs them down and 

 breaks the branches. 



He may give the cabbages, kale, parsley, 

 and violets growing in sheltered coldframes 

 a breath of fresh air whenever the temper- 

 ature outdoors goes above freezing. 



He may complete any pruning or winter 

 spraying that has been put off. The better 

 gardener he is, the sooner he will do this. 



He may spend spare hours making flats, 

 garden and orchard labels, and whatever 

 apparatus he will need most in the spring 

 when time is short and duties are many. 



He may transplant trees — evergreen or 

 deciduous — according to the balling and 

 freezing method described by Mr. McCol- 

 lom in The- Garden Magazine for Decem- 

 ber, ign. 



A few years ago we suggested a growing 

 tree as a suitable Christmas present for the 

 family in the new country or suburban 

 home. With Mr. McCollom's simple and 

 explicit directions available, we again urge 

 this as a means of giving a present that will 

 last a lifetime. 



If your garden lover is also a bird lover, 

 still more happiness may be his. Get the 

 children to make strings of pop corn, heads 

 of wheat or oats, bits of suet, and all such 

 things that the winter birds love. Drape 

 these on the young trees, especially ever- 

 greens, about the lawn. Then wait for the 

 fun of enjoying the avian gratitude for this 

 sort of Christmas tree. 



Your careful gardener will also watch for 

 eaves and rainspouts that drip on the hardy 

 perennial beds near the house. 



Much Can Be Done Indoors 



OF COURSE the chief work with plants 

 is indoors — whether in the green- 

 house, the conservatory, or the window 

 garden. Does everyone appreciate the 

 real difference between these three? 



In the greenhouse, conditions are such 

 that you can actually create plants or at 

 least grow them from seed and cuttings to 

 maturity. In the conservatory you or- 

 dinarily maintain choice specimens while 

 they are at their best, relegating them back 

 to the benches of the more utilitarian green- 

 house when the blossoms have faded or the 

 foliage begun to look poorly. The average 

 window garden is often a scene of continual 

 battle with coal gas, varying temperatures, 

 and somewhat inadequate facilities for 

 plant growing, but where neither the gar- 

 den nor the conservatory is possible, it is 

 a source of much potential enjoyment. 



The best plants of Gloire de Lorraine 

 begonia can be obtained from cuttings 

 started now. As these root and grow, shift 

 them to larger pots gradually; over-potting 

 is a common and often fatal mistake with 

 this variety. 



Gladiolus for Easter may be started now 

 in a temperature of 40 to 45 degrees. 



Bulbs of amaryllis (by which term the 

 gardener refers also to Hippeastrum and 

 other genera), needing a considerable period 

 of ripening, are not received in this country 

 until November and December. As soon 

 as your order is filled, pot the bulbs in a soil 

 composed of rotted sod, three parts; de- 

 cayed horse manure, two parts; sand, one 

 part. Keep them dormant and only 

 slightly moist for a month or so. 



You may begin to take chrysanthemum 

 cuttings now for specimen bush plants and 

 extra early results along other lines. Stock 

 plants, from which cuttings will not be taken 

 for a while, should be stored in a light room 

 where the temperature will stay above the 

 frost line. 



The "tropical house plants," that is, 

 specimens that must be given plenty of 

 heat and shelter the year round, need about 

 three months of rest. This means a 

 slightly lower temperature than usual and 

 considerably less water. Allamanda and 

 the herbaceous birthwort are among the 

 more fastidious in this regard. 



Tea roses, being forced for winter blooms, 

 should receive plenty of liquid manure and 

 a fresh mulch about mid-December. 



*8 7 



Roses that are kept indoors merely for 

 the sake of earlier and more perfect flowers, 

 need the same sort of dry resting period as 

 the tropical or "stove house" plants. 



Some References That May Help 



SOME suggestions that have already 

 been published but that may now 

 prove of much value have appeared in the 

 following numbers of The Garden Maga- 

 zine: 



Suggestion for window boxes in Dec- 

 ember, 1906 and December, 1907. 



How to grow ardisia, Jerusalem cherry, 

 ornamental peppers, and other red-fruited 

 plants in December, 1906, pages 243 and 

 244. 



Forcing rhubarb and asparagus, Decem- 

 ber, 1906, page 252. 



Some bulbs that bloom in a hurry — 

 Roman hyacinths in three weeks, Chinese 

 sacred lilies in six weeks, and Paper White 

 narcissus in eight weeks — December, 1907, 

 page 239. 



How to wrap and pack plants for safe 

 winter shipment, December, 1906, page 250. 



Some red-flowered plants to satisfy the 

 Christmas spirit, December, 1907, page 242. 



Various types of holly with which to 

 brighten the winter landscape — Decem- 

 ber, 1906, page 234. 



How to give plants as Christmas gifts. 

 On the Reminder page for December, 1907 

 and 1908. 



By the way, if you are giving flowering 

 plants this season, why not make them the 

 kind that will last. That is, those that 

 have been forced gradually and not so as 

 to be at the zenith of a very brief career on 

 December 24th. To do this, buy your 

 plants now, looking not for open flowers 

 but for the largest number of buds and the 

 most stocky growth. 



Fall-potted bulbs that you are to give 

 away may now be brought into the light 

 and heat of your living room where they 

 will soon develop flower buds. 



Fuchsia is a convenient plant for ordinary 

 conditions. It needs no sun at all and will 

 grow in a north window about as well as 

 anywhere else. 



Plant Protection in the 

 Greenhouse 



CONDITIONS that in general give the 

 best results are heat and moisture. 

 These are also the conditions under which 

 all fungi and indoor insect pests thrive; 

 hence, we must take special precautions. 

 Sulphur is our most effective weapon 



