Book of Gardens 
117 
November THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Eleventh Month 
The grass in the 
orchard should 'he 
burned to destroy 
insect eggs, etc. 
Now is the time for 
the final cleaning up 
of all garden and 
grounds trash 
Whatever changes 
are uncompleted in 
the perennial border 
should be made 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
30. All orna¬ 
mented garden 
furniture, set¬ 
tees, etc., iand 
frames, bean 
poles, tomato 
trellises and 
such planting 
accessories, 
should now be 
stored away for 
winter. Paint 
those that re¬ 
quire it. 
I saw old Autumn in the misty 
morn 
Stand shadowless like Silence, 
listening 
To silence, for no lonely bird would 
sing 
Into his hollow ear from woods 
forlorn. 
Nor lowly hedge nor solitary thorn;— 
Shaking his languid locks all dewy 
bright 
With tangled gossamer that fell by 
night. 
Pearling his coronet of golden corn. 
—Thomas Hood. 
This Calendar of the gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder for undertaking all his 
tasks in season. It is fitted to the latitude 
of the Middle States, but its service should 
be available for the whole country if it be 
remembered that for every one hundred 
miles north or south there is a difference 
of from five to seven days later or earlier 
in performing garden operations. The dates 
given are, of course, for an average season. 
1 . It is not 
too late to start 
seeds of some 
of the more 
rapid - growing 
annuals in the 
greenhouse for 
winter flowers. 
Of these may 
be mentioned 
c a 11 i o p s i s , 
candytuft, rag¬ 
ged sailor and 
the ever popu¬ 
lar mignonette. 
2 . It is now 
time for all fall 
bulb plantings 
to be com¬ 
pleted. Always 
plant four 
times as deep 
as the diameter 
of the bulb, 
mound the 
earth up so as 
to shed water, 
and mulch the 
with manure. 
3. Garden 
changes should 
be made now 
be fore the 
ground is froz¬ 
en, to prevent 
other irregular¬ 
ities in the 
spring. Plants 
disturbed now 
are more likely 
to live than 
those moved in 
midwinter. 
4. Do not neg¬ 
lect to make 
successional 
sowings in the 
greenhouse of 
vegetable crops 
such as beans, 
cauliflower, 
beets, carrots, 
lettuce, etc. 
The secret of 
success is sow¬ 
ing in small 
quantities and 
frequently. 
5. Ill-kept 
gardens breed 
diseases and in¬ 
sects. Clean up 
all refuse and 
burn the stalks 
and other ma¬ 
terial likely to 
decay. Thor¬ 
oughly sterilize 
the ground by 
the application 
of lime or deep, 
consistent 
trenching. 
6 . Poinsettia, 
lilies and other 
heat - loving 
crops intended 
for Christmas 
bloom must be 
forced rapidly. 
A temperature 
of 75o oi even 
SOo when 
plenty of mois¬ 
ture is avail¬ 
able, will be 
beneficial to 
them. 
7. It is per¬ 
fectly safe to 
plant aspara¬ 
gus in the fall 
provided you 
make some ef¬ 
fort to protect 
it during the 
winter. Pull 
plenty of earth 
up over the 
cover them well 
with decayed 
manure. 
8 . The straw- 
berry bed 
should be 
mulched with 
well - rotted 
manure ; this 
not only pro¬ 
tects the plants 
but prevents 
the deteriora¬ 
tion oi the soil. 
Straw to pro¬ 
tect them from 
the sun should 
be added. 
9. Carnation 
plants should 
be kept sup¬ 
ported and 
properly dis¬ 
budded. Never 
allow the 
benches to ac¬ 
cumulate green 
mould. The 
surface of the 
ground should 
be kept stirred. 
Top-dress with 
sheep manure. 
10. Sweet 
peas sown now 
and properly 
protected over 
the winter will 
give quality 
flowers next 
year. A frame 
made of boards 
and covered 
with manure 
after it is put 
in place will be 
an excellent 1 
protection. 
11 . I f you 
have not al¬ 
ready stored 
your tool crops 
for the winter, 
they should be 
attended to at 
once. Burying 
them in 
trenches out¬ 
doors with the 
proper kind of 
protecting ma¬ 
terial is the 
ideal storage. 
12 . There are 
a number of 
popular peren¬ 
nials which 
force well. 
Clumps of core¬ 
opsis, bleeding 
heart, Shasta 
daisy, dicentra, 
etc., may be 
lifted, potted, 
and then stored 
outside to ripen 
properly before 
forcing. 
13. Celery 
must be kept 
banked proper¬ 
ly to protect 
the hearts of 
the plants from 
damage by se¬ 
vere frost. In 
fact, it can be 
stored in 
trenches any 
time now for 
use during the 
late fall and 
winter months. 
14. Goose¬ 
berries, cur¬ 
rants, raspber¬ 
ries and black¬ 
berries are sur¬ 
face rooters.. A 
heavy winter 
mulch of man¬ 
ure will build 
up the fertility 
of the soil and 
help to protect 
the roots from 
damage by the 
frost. 
15. One of 
the hardest 
plants to pro¬ 
tect during cold 
weather is the 
French Globe 
artichoke. If 
covered too 
much it decays, 
so use a frame 
to prevent the 
covering ma¬ 
terial from ac¬ 
tually resting 
on the plants. 
16. Primula, 
cyclamen, cin¬ 
eraria and 
other potted 
plants that are 
customarily 
grown in frames 
maybebrought 
inside now. 
Frequent feed¬ 
ing with liquid 
manures is very 
helpful to their 
continued suc¬ 
cess indoors. 
17. Tender 
roses and all 
tea roses should 
be strawed up 
now to protect 
them. Putting 
earth around 
the bases of the 
plants helps 
shed water and 
will serve to 
protect the 
lower part of 
the plant from 
damage. 
18. Manure 
for the garden 
should be pur¬ 
chased now. 
For garden 
purposes it im¬ 
proves greatly 
with age and 
handling, and 
it is always 
possible to get 
manure in the 
fall, while next 
spring is un¬ 
certain. 
19. Standard 
roses are among 
the hardest 
garden subjects 
to protect. If 
strawed in they 
must have 
heavy stakes or 
they will be- 
come top- 
heavy. Laying 
the stems down 
and covering 
with earth is 
the best. 
20. Freesias, 
French grown 
narcissus, early 
lilies and all 
bulbs of this 
type can be 
brought into a 
higher temper- 
After the buds 
show, free ap¬ 
plications of 
liquid manure 
will benefit the 
roots. 
21. House 
plants of all 
kinds should be 
given a little 
extra care at 
Sponge the fo¬ 
liage with soap 
solution, scrub 
the green scum 
off the pots and 
top - dress the 
soil in them 
with sheep 
manure. 
22 . Sweet 
peas in the 
greenhouse 
should be fed 
freely with li¬ 
quid manures. 
The first flow¬ 
ers to appear 
should be 
pinched off to 
conserve the 
plants' 
strength. Keep 
the atmosphere 
dry at night. 
23. Apples, 
pears and other 
stored fruit 
should be 
looked over oc¬ 
casionally for 
any decayed 
ones which 
would soon de¬ 
stroy others. 
When the fruit 
is wrapped sep¬ 
arately in soft 
paper this dan¬ 
ger is lessened. 
24. At this 
time all hard- 
wooded forcing 
plants such as 
lilacs, cherries 
deutzia, wis¬ 
taria, etc., 
should be lifted 
from their 
places about 
the grounds 
and placed in 
tubs or boxes 
foi winter forc¬ 
ing. 
25. Young 
fruit trees had 
better be pro¬ 
tected now 
from the at¬ 
tacks of field- 
mice, rabbits 
and other rod- 
dents which 
girdle the 
trunks. Tarred 
burlap or paper 
collars placed 
above ground 
will help. 
26. Boxwood 
and other ten¬ 
der evergreens 
should have 
their winter 
protections ap¬ 
plied now. Bur¬ 
lap covers that 
are supported 
come in actual 
contact with 
the plants are 
the best ma¬ 
terial for this. 
27. Low spots 
in the lawn or 
irregularities in 
thesurfacemay 
be top-dressed 
come these 
troubles. Use 
good soil, and 
when not more 
than 2 inches 
of it is applied 
the grass will 
come through 
all right. 
28. Rhodo- 
d e n d r o ns 
should have 
their roots pro¬ 
tected by a 
heavy mulch of 
leaves or litter. 
Some branches 
of pines or 
other ever- 
greens thrust 
into the ground 
between the 
plants will pre¬ 
vent sun-scald. 
29. M o s t 
smooth-barked 
trees and prac¬ 
tically all fruit 
trees are sub¬ 
ject to the at¬ 
tacks of San 
These trees 
should be 
sprayed with 
one of the sol¬ 
uble oil mix¬ 
tures which can 
be purchased. 
D OWN in the medders back o’ my barn they’s a kinder swampy corner, all hummocky an’ full o’ ev’ry 
sort o’ long grass, which fair turns blue with fringed gentians in the fall. For a couple o’ weeks, if 
the hard frost holds off, ’Lisa goes dozen there ev’ry few days an’ picks a pitcherful, but zve never gets 
tired of ’em. They’s so durned purty an’ blue—same as the sky; an’ they’s about the last o’ the year’s wild 
flowers, too, ’cept a stray vi’let here an’ there. Them late vi’lets is the blue kind, if ye’ll notice — 1\ 
reckon that’s the November wild flower color, somehow,, same as they’s others for the other seasons. In 
the spring it’s white an’ yaller, pink an’ light blue, mostly. like the weather. Then as the sun gets hotter 
the colors change an’ come stronger an’ deeper, ’til along in August ye see the scorchin’ red o’ the I 
cardinal flowers. After that they begins to cool off ag’in; more yallers, the blues an’ purples o’ the 
asters, the browns o’ the grass an’ leaves, an’ fin’ly a patch o’ blue at the very end. Blue’s a good color 
any time—soft an’ restful like an’ cool. But they ain’t no blue quite as good as them little fringed 
gentians down in my swamp medder, with the rusty dead grass all ’round an’ the dark green cedars 
along the fence. —-Old Doc Lemmon. 
Liming the garden 
in the fall will im¬ 
prove the produc¬ 
tiveness of the soil 
Dead vines from the 
vegetable g ar den 
may be added to 
the compost heap 
When the bulbs are 
well rooted they can 
be brought into the 
house 
A well developed bulb 
with the roots spread, 
ready to force for winter 
bloom indoors 
A good bonfire of the odds-and-ends 
such as cornstalks, dead branches, etc., 
is a great help toward general garden 
cleanliness and insect pest control 
Burlap covers should be placed over 
the boxwood as winter protection. 
These bushes are not really hardy 
north of New York 
Succession plantings of 
beans are now in order 
in the greenhouse. Plant 
in rows 2' apart 
