TAKING THOUGHT FOR THE MORROW. 



Field, forest and garden still abound in flowers. Just 

 now — early in September — there is an embarassment of 

 riches. In gardens the autumn queen is beginning to 

 open her buds, surrounded by scores of still lovely at- 

 tendants, but the wildings are lavish and riotous in beauty 

 and not to be eclipsed. Golden-rod and asters, gentians 

 cardinal-flowers and tall, filmy ferns are scattered every- 

 where, bewildering the soul of the bouquet-gatherer who 

 plucks them in careless, prodigal, Bohemian-fashion until 

 his arms hold great sheaves, and then wonders, vainly, 

 what in the world he is ever to do with them all. 



But there is a crispness in September air that suggests 

 coming frosts and if one would have flowers for "one 

 boquet a day, every day in the year," it is time to take 

 thought for the morrow. The artist has made our model 

 bouquet very simple and sketchy, and has furthermore 

 declared that it must not be costly. " For two cents ; " 

 what more would you have ? The prettiest bouquet- 

 flowers are the sweet, simple, companionable ones with 

 long, pliant stems, that wherever or however placed — 

 thrust carelessly into a woman's belt or hair, pinned upon 

 coats, arranged loosely in bowls and vases, or twisted by 

 children into wreaths and chains, grace in a charming, 

 natural way any spot where fate may fling them. Plenty 

 of good green is indispensable for bouquets, as also are 

 fragrance and bright, softly shaded flowers. 



To grow one's own flowers for cutting gives much more 

 pleasure than merely buying them. "Where to do it" 

 must be in any space available for gardening, of course. 

 Flowers, if you really love them, will grow for you in 

 almost any place. Old Canon Hole laid down the 

 first broad principle of horticulture, as well as of rose- 

 growing, when he said that whoever would have beauti- 

 ful roses in his garden must first have them in his heart. 



Instinct, close observation, and experience will all be 

 teachers of " how to do" this all around the year flower- 

 growing, and this page of American Gardening will be 

 devoted to helping those who care to help themselves in 

 the matter. As for ' ' when to do it " — now is a good time 

 to begin. September is the best month for transplanting 

 wild-flowers — between pages 513 and 520 we are told just 

 how to do it — and some of them are lovely for bouquets. 

 Then, too, in outdoor gardens there are still some fine 

 young plants that have been laggards until now, and 

 are just sending out full first crops of buds. Annuals 

 they may be, a gay salvia perhaps, an pgeratum with 



graceful, plumy clusters of cool deliciou.. blue, or Swan 

 River daisies, swaying like blue and white butterflies 

 upon long, graceful stems ; but annuals are not to be 

 despised for winter bloom. Lift and pot them carefully 

 and they will blossom gayly indoors for a long while. 



Any greenhouse plants that have been calmly summer- 

 ing on benches under trees must be put under shelter 

 from frosts in September ; not crowded into a close room 

 and shut up tightly, but set upon porches or verandas, 

 where they may get plenty of air and yet be safe from 

 frost. Next month there will be time to look them 

 carefully over, select such plants as are needed for winter 

 bloom, or that seem most likely to give it, and to send 

 the rest to the cellar. 



On another page, in the " Lilies of the Field " depart- 

 ment, full directions are given for planting, during this 

 month and next, all sorts of bulbs for winter blossoming, 

 so that I need not repeat details of culture ; but not all 

 bulb-blossoms are fine for cutting. Rich, well-filled 

 spikes of hyacinths that, growing on their own roots make 

 a fine display, are too stiff and heavy for this purpose. 

 Only the single, snowy bells of the little early Roman 

 hyacinth are for effective bouquets. Freesias and lilies-of- 

 the-valley at once suggest themselves as popular flowers, 

 adaptable and easy to grow. " Pips" of valley-lilies, for 

 winter bloom, must be extra strong and plump. One 

 cannot have too many of them, and I like to grow them 

 in long narrow boxes filled with moss, that fit the win- 

 dow-sills. Wait until the crowns have had a good, hard 

 freezing, then select and pot the strongest ones from garden 

 clumps. Narcissus fioeticus and Paper White (polyan- 

 thus), anemones, ranunculus, snowdrops and lilies all 

 force readily in winter, and all are fine for cutting. 



The "fore-handed" gardener must take thought not 

 only for the morrow but for the next year. Some' an- 

 nuals and perennials make finer, earlier-flowering plants 

 if their seeds are sown in autumn. Soft mellow beds of 

 soil are ' ' made up " in sunny sheltered places on the lawn, 

 and during September we sow in them seeds of myosotis, 

 gypsophila, lychnis, silenes, nasturtiums, collinsia, sweet- 

 peas, mignonette and pansies. 



Pansies, violets and mignonette one must have all 

 winter, and they cannot be grown in windows of warm 

 rooms. The best way is to grow them in hotbeds or cold- 

 frames, like the simple structure shown in the heading 

 of this department. 



