November, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



333 



The Garden 



The Garden Month by Month — November 



iOVEMBER is the last month of the year in 

 which any outdoor work will be done. If 

 the weather is warm and pleasant — and 

 there are often such days in November — 

 the tendency to leave any blooming plant 

 out of doors will be difficult to resist. The 

 dismantling of the flower beds often enough seems unpleas- 

 ant labor, for it is taking away good old friends, removing 

 the notes of color and life that have enlivened the house 

 grounds, and substituting for it the dreary soberness that 

 is too often characteristic of winter. But the dismantling of 

 the flower beds does not necessarily mean destruction. Every 

 flower lover who has planted her garden with annuals knows 

 their period of life is short, and as a matter of fact many of 

 them exhaust themselves with bloom before the summer is 

 over. Many of these plants will have been removed before 

 the end of the fall, and those that survive will be little lost. 

 The stronger blooming plants, those that are planted from 

 pots each spring, belong to a different class, and their final 

 removal from the ground means the ending of the outdoor 

 garden for the year. 



The ardent garden lover is, no doubt, constantly finding 

 things that she would have done otherwise, and the present 

 season is no exception. As the leaves fall from the trees 

 and shv.. ~ ? . great bare spaces come into view and an utter 

 barrenness settles upon the land that, but a month ago, was 

 full of green foliage and beautiful flowers. The experience 

 is a common one, for most gardens are planted for the sum- 

 mer effect, and little attention paid to the winter aspect. 

 There could be no greater error, particularly if one lives in 



the suburbs or in the country the entire year. Summer is, 

 of course, the garden season, and all gardens are arranged 

 and planted with special reference to it; but the winter 

 months should not be overlooked. The garden aspect in 

 winter is quite as important as its aspect in summer. It must, 

 at all events, be considered. 



Here it is that the value of the evergreens is unsurpassed. 

 The great beauty of these trees requires no comment, but 

 their value as winter decorations of gardens is not recog- 

 nized as much as it should be. All landscape gardeners 

 make use of evergreens for notes of color and warmth in 

 winter and their abundant use will help the garden as noth- 

 ing else can do. One realizes their lack as the borders be- 

 come bare and there is nothing but openness and cold; and 

 down goes a note that in the next planting season this want 

 will be remedied. 



On or two practical suggestions may be added. Do not 

 undertake to pass through a winter without a supply of pot- 

 ting soil : it is sure to be needed before the winter is over or 

 before the spring has advanced. Lay in a liberal supply, as 

 your needs can not be estimated closely. Roses of tender 

 growth should be laid on the ground and fastened down by 

 a weight of some sort on their tips. The canes should be 

 bent carefully to prevent breaking. They should be covered 

 with leaves or litter and held in place with boards. Tender 

 plants of various sorts may be protected by means of head- 

 less barrels, boxes or similar covers, which should be filled 

 with leaves and covered with loose boards. Fertilizers 

 should never be applied to dormant plants. 



The Window Garden 



The garden activity which has been manifested out of 

 doors all summer will now be transferred to the window 

 garden within doors. No true flower lover will remain 

 without this charming adjunct to the pleasant house. It will 

 give as much pleasure as the outdoor garden — perhaps more; 

 for all sorts of flowers and plants bloom in the summer, and 

 the rarer blooms of the indoor garden are the more beautiful 

 because of their scarcity. Moreover, the indoor plants 

 grow and bloom directly under the eye ; they form part of the 

 inhabitants of the house, and are genuine companions, care- 

 fully grown by hand and nurtured by daily attention. 



Like the outdoor garden, the window garden can be con- 

 ducted on various scales. The beginner in such matters will 

 do well to keep along the simplest lines possible. Many 

 annuals can be successfully grown within doors and will 

 yield charming notes of color with comparatively small 

 efforts. A few simple, homely plants, while not giving all 

 the results that might be desired, will add immensely to the 

 interest of the home interior and will give welcome notes of 

 color of great beauty. 



Decorative house plants, as they are technically called by 

 the florists, constitute another class of winter plants. Their 

 beauty is of the finest sort, because only especially beautiful 

 plants are grown for this purpose. Their attractiveness is 

 also immense, and when they can be afforded they form the 

 handsomest of all house decorations. Many of these plants 

 can be grown from seed, but if room can be had for but two 

 or three it will be found wiser economy in the end to purchase 

 growing plants from reputable dealers. The seedlings do 



not always mature well in home culture and the plants often 

 require more attention than the amateur is competent to give. 



The window garden needs, therefore, considerable at- 

 tention at the very outset. If one has had no experience 

 whatever it will be safest to begin in the smallest way, with 

 plants of known habits of growth and of easy cultivation. 

 Indoor conditions vary greatly. Some plants will thrive 

 with a night temperature of 50 degrees, others with a tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees; the day temperature, in both cases, 

 easily averaging from 10 to 15 degrees higher. One must 

 know and understand these temperature conditions and their 

 relations to the plants before embarking in a window garden 

 for which success is desired. 



House plant culture is further complicated by leakage of 

 gas, from the dryness of the atmosphere, from overheating 

 and from lack of heat. It requires a plant of sturdy habits 

 to live through a winter successfully in the average American 

 house, the more especially since the care and attention it 

 really requires is often not given it. The owners of large 

 houses change their house plants from time to time, sending 

 them down to the greenhouses for recuperation after a 

 season inside the house. The method is an obvious one, 

 yet it suggests the difficulties the amateur must contend with. 

 For such people have competent gardeners who know just 

 what to do and how to do it. If, under such circumstances, 

 constant change is necessary, what must be required without 

 this expert knowledge ! For small plant growers the most 

 satisfactory results are likely to be obtained from two or 

 three decorative plants of acknowledged easy growth. 



