October, 1909 
AVERT@GAN HOMES AND GARDENS xii 
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Garden Notes 
Window Plants 
HOUSE without a sunny window full of plants is a dreary 
as place in the winter time! 
If the sunny window is there the plants are easy to manage, 
for nothing is simpler than growing geraniums, for example, in the 
house. They are always beautiful, and they are so satisfactory because 
of their cheerful disposition. They bloom constantly and never look 
poorly unless they are injured by frost. 
Small plants can be bought of florists, or slips from old plants can 
be taken and rooted in sand, a process that takes not longer than two 
to three weeks. This should be done at once, so that they will be 
ready to bring in the house when cold weather comes. 
Calla lilies are very handsome in foliage and flower. They grow 
without much difficulty, though they may be shy bloomers. 
Amaryllis is a bulb of the simplest culture producing two or three 
stalks with a cluster of flowers at the end which go through the 
range of yellow-reds. 
Azaleas are beautiful while they are in bloom, but they can not be 
grown satisfactorily in the house. “They must be brought into bloom 
in a greenhouse, and after flowering they should go back there to 
recuperate for the next season. 
Begonias with their large glossy leaves and delicate flowers are 
indispensable in the window-garden. “The Rex begonias are striking 
in leaf, and the Lorraine begonias have beautiful blossoms. 
The Paris Daisy, or Marguerite, is easily grown and is very pleas- 
ing at first, but becomes scraggly and tiresome. 
Chinese primroses are continuous bloomers and are very delicate 
and pretty. Primula abconica has fine hairs on the leaves which 
irritate delicate skins. 
Cydamen is one of the best window plants. It is always in bloom 
and its graceful red or white flowers and streaked leaves never loose 
their charm. 
Nasturtiums are good, though a little harder to grow than some 
other things. 
Asparagus is a feathery-leaved vine that looks well growing at the 
side of the window. 
English ivy is a little too waxy and artificial looking for windows. 
Lobelia Erinus, the small blue lobelia, can be taken from the 
garden and, planted in a low dish, will bloom all winter. 
Oxalis, with pink flowers and leaves like clover, is good in any 
window. 
Petunias, cut before frost, will grow in water like the Wandering 
Jew, and will bloom as if they never knew what earth was. 
Basket Plants 
Anything can be grown in a basket if one likes, but the favorite 
things are those which droop and trail. Most ferns are good in 
baskets, and of the vines the following are the best: 
Moneywort, Vinca major, 
Nepeta, 
Senecio scandens. 
Kenilworth ivy, 
Tin Cans as Pots 
Tin cans are better in the house than earthen pots, because the 
moisture does not evaporate from them as rapidly as it does from the 
pots. Tomato cans or condensed milk cans with a few holes punched 
in the bottom for drainage will be large enough for most plants. “The 
cans can be painted or they can stand in a wooden window-box. 
Bulbs in the House 
In addition to the bulbs mentioned last month for outdoor plant- 
ing, many of which can be grown in the house, there are a number of 
tender bulbs which are very desirable in the window-garden. 
The polyanthus Narcissus (N. tacetta) in many varieties, N. 
Bulbocodium Clusit, paper white and the Chinese sacred lilies are all 
good tender kinds that can be grown in the window-garden. Other 
narcisst can be grown just as well except N. poeticus, of which the 
variety ornatus is the only one that can be forced. 
Freesias are good and not difficult to manage. They now come in 
a variety of colors, including rosy violet, bright orange-yellow, rosy 
carmine and pale lavender mauve. “These new colors are expensive, 
however, as the bulbs cost from $7 to $30 per ten. 
Of tulips the single early varieties are the best. 
Of iris the Spanish and English can be flowered in the house, 
though not very early in the spring. Jris alata, a tender variety, is 
said to be very good in the house. 
All these bulbs should be planted in flat pans or boxes in October, 
and kept moist and dark in a cool cellar until December, when they 
can-be brought to the light and will soon flower. After one season in 
the house they should be planted out in the wild garden. 
A wild garden in the house with blood root, trillium, Solomon’s 
seal, dodecatheon, snowdrops, crocuses, etc., is quite possible and 
might be very attractive. 
Replanting the Flower Garden 
October is the best month for replanting the flower-garden. Every 
two or three years it should be gone over, taking out unsatisfactory 
things, putting in new ones, dividing the clumps which are too large, 
and in general giving it a thorough overhauling. 
Peonies should never be moved, but Phlox will need dividing and 
replanting. ‘The irises may be too crowded, and the hollyhocks and 
foxglove may need replacing. 
Lilies may die out and some of the coarser things like rudbeckia 
may take too much room. 
The overhauling gives one an opportunity to work in manure and 
to plant many bulbs, such as lilies and bulbous iris. 
Asparagus Culture 
October is a good time to plant an asparagus bed. Two-year-old 
plants costing about a dollar per hundred are the best that can be 
bought. They should be planted about 6 inches deep in a very rich 
and carefully prepared bed, rich and carefully prepared because an 
asparagus-bed is a permanent thing and improves from year to year. 
The common practice is to plant them in rows 4 feet apart, 2 feet 
in the row, but I believe the French method is better. There they 
plant them 5 feet apart each way. Six inches of manure is spread 
on the bed in the fall as a mulch. The new shoots come up through 
that, and it is not spaded in until the cutting-season is over. 
No cutting should be done on an asparagus-bed until it is two 
years old. 
All weeds should be kept out, and it must be remembered that 
seedling asparagus plants are the worst of all weeds to have in an 
asparagus-bed. 
