AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
: 
Around the Garden 
A MONTHLY KALENDAR OF TIMELY GARDEN OPERA- 
TIONS AND USEFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS 
ABOUT THE HOME GARDEN AND 
GROUNDS 
All queries will gladly be answered by the Editor. If a personal 
reply is desired by subscribers stamps should be enclosed therewi h. 
August, 1912 
THE AUGUST GARDEN 
oog|| HIE’ N all the lovely flowers in the hardy bor- 
Fic|| ders are making the Autumn garden ablaze 
with gorgeous color, the provident gardener, 
anticipative of next Summer’s delights, will 
not forget that perennials should be sown 
in cold frames in August. By planting them 
in frames, the seeds will escape being washed from the soil 
by Fall rains. Then, too, one may plan now for the Win- 
ter garden indoors. Seedlings set out of doors in early 
August, may be transplanted to small pots ‘“‘plunged”’ in 
soil, and removed indoors as soon as frost threatens to 
make its first appearance. In plunging the pots for out- 
of-door plant growth, the garden beginner should not for- 
get to lift the pots every now and then, to break off any 
roots that may have pushed down through the opening at 
It is a good 
time now to plan for one, for the garden maker will be able to see 
just where, amid the blaze of autumn color a sundial would find its 
most picturesque setting 
ae complete garden should have a beautiful sundial. 
the bottom of the pots to root firmly in the external soil. 
These ambitious root stragglers must not be allowed to 
take firm hold; to this end it will be well to fill the holes in 
the bottoms of the pots. 
HERE are few flowers dearer to the hearts of garden 
lovers than the Pansy. Pansies thrive best where an 
abundance of moisture reaches them, for they suffer greatly 
from drought and from the scorching rays of too constant 
sunshine. Nearly all garden makers treat Pansies as an- 
nuals, though they are, in reality, perennials, wherefore 
their seed may be planted toward the end of the Summer 
to insure an abundance of plants the following season, to 
take the place of those that have not survived climatic 
severities through a long hot Summer. Wonderful results 
may be obtained if the Pansy seed is sown in cold frames; 
then the Spring blossoming period will be productive of an 
abundance of fine plants. As to the proper soil and loca- 
tion for Pansy beds, a rich loam in a spot where the morn- 
ing sun penetrates, but which is shaded in the afternoon is 
ideal for Pansy culture. 
IKE all other garden flowers, the Pansy has a little 
history of its own that is well worth reciting, for one 
should feel that the flower garden is something more than 
a propagator of vegetable decoration,—that it is a store- 
house of interesting plant-forms, rich in association with 
the history of mankind. It is supposed that the Viola tri- 
color, a wild violet native to Europe, was the ancestor of 
the Pansy, and that careful cultivation brought it to the 
perfected forms of the present, which such noted horticul- 
turists of the late nineteenth century as Trimandeau did so 
much in the way of making possible by their indefatigable 
attention to this particular plant. 
THER seeds may well be sown in August, that of the 
Japanese Morning-Glory, French Marigold, Phlox 
Druminondii, and Sweet Peas, for indoor development 
later. July sown seedlings of the Aster may be trans- 
planted now into pots, plunged in garden soil. 
HE garden should be kept clear of weeds. They 
should not be permitted to grow up, even in those spots 
where there have been failures in the garden, for this year’s 
weeds at any time, if permitted to reach maturity, will mean 
troublesome times with them next season when their scat- 
tered seeds have sprouted and taken root. With weeds an 
hour of prevention will be found to be worth a gallon 
of cure. 
HERE is still some planting one may do, if attended to 
immediately. Radish and Lettuce may be sown at this 
time for late crops. In clearing the garden beds of the 
débris after harvesting, it will be well to burn all the old 
vegetable matter, for then it will not be left to invite insect 
pests to take shelter in the underlying soil, to menace next 
year’s garden. Set out Strawberry plants the first week in Au- 
gust, if wishing to have them bear fruit the next season. 
