THE BEGINNER 41 



going to use. This improves its temperature ; it will be 

 far better for the plants than cold hard water from the 

 tap. Baby's bath-water, when he has done with it, is 

 excellent to water with. 



Sometimes one sees the beginner put his pot-plants out 

 in the rain, thinking it to be ever so generous to them. 

 See that the leaves do not get all the wet, leaving none 

 for the soil ; this often happens, and the poor plants suffer 

 thirst in the midst of plenty. We want to keep the 

 leaves washed clean, so that the skin of the leaves can 

 breathe (they are full of pores), but it is through their 

 roots that plants drink in the water. Our interest in 

 tending plants is enhanced tenfold by the study of their 

 nature. Then common sense comes in to help us ; any- 

 thing like good gardening without this is nearly as im- 

 possible as it would be for doctors to cure their patients 

 without having first been through a course of training in 

 physiology and physics. 



Plants in pots set out on the balcony do well if we 

 stand them on a layer of coke ashes, or, indeed, any ashes 

 that are going. Of course, we must hide them in some 

 cunning way. Little pots of Campanulas, pink or white, 

 drooping about are a help, and always decorative. So is 

 Musk— delicious, delightful, shade-loving Musk ! What 

 a treat when the time for the Musk comes round ! But 

 Musk wants a great deal of watering, and we must never 

 water its flowers, only its leaves ; and no plant scorches 

 up so easily in a hot sun. It just wants care, and to be 

 in a sheltered, yet not altogether sunless place. 



For the autumn many people like Asters. I am not very 

 fond of Asters personally; but they are gay, and will pass in 

 a crowd. Small Myrtles are helpful, but our Geraniums 

 and Petunias, Ferns and Daisies may be relied on to keep 

 us going till flower-time is over and we begin to be thank- 

 ful for the small mercies of the evergreen old Ivy, and 

 enjoy the colours of the Virginia Creeper, more beautiful 



