HOUSE AND GARDEN 
August, 1912 
107 
About the Grounds and Flower 
Garden 
W HAT is true of weeds and cultivation 
for the vegetable garden for this 
month holds good also of the flower gar¬ 
den. Another thing to look out for, where it 
has not already been attended to, is to put 
in good stout stakes for the support of 
such plants as dahlias, cosmos, or any other 
tall growing late flowers which are likely 
to get beaten down or broken by the fall 
winds and rains. It is time also to give 
attention to the bulb question. Get the 
catalogues of several firms and take time 
to go over the problem thoroughly before 
placing your order, but place it early. 
Orders are filled in rotation, and as prac¬ 
tically everything in this line is important 
and shipments are frequently late, see that 
yours will be out of the first consignments 
received. One word 
of warning—Do not 
be beguiled either by 
price or adjectives in¬ 
to getting “collec¬ 
tions” of various col¬ 
ors for those crimi¬ 
nally hideous carpet 
and design beds. 
Stick to the good 
named varieties and 
to solid blocks of one 
color, for the best re¬ 
sults. Get beyond the 
kindergarten stage of 
bulb planting. As far 
as price goes, the col 
lections seldom save 
you anything, as 
twenty-five of any of 
the best sorts can us¬ 
ually be had at the 
one hundred rate. 
One of the least ap¬ 
preciated of all bulb¬ 
ous plants is the 
Spanish iris; with its 
beautiful delicate 
shades and orchid¬ 
like appearance, it is entirely distinct from 
the other types of iris. 
Another thing to be looking up at this 
time is the hardy things to be planted this 
fall. Unless the fall is an exceptionally 
dry one, fall planting will give better re¬ 
sults than spring planting with most of the 
hardy things, especially evergreens and 
shrubs. Furthermore, you will have time 
to plant this fall, while next spring you 
probably will not. So look after it now. 
When the length of time a tree or shrub 
will last, the little attention it requires, and 
the fact that it is constantly improving in 
value are all considered, it must be ad¬ 
mitted that they give the most economical 
way of improving the grounds that there 
is. Moreover, nothing can so quickly and 
completely change the appearance of an 
unsatisfactory place as the planting of 
evergreens and tall growing shrubs. And 
the actual planting is not difficult — not 
nearly so much work to it as there is to 
preparing a flower bed. Care should be 
taken to dig out a hole of ample size to 
take all the roots without crowding. If 
the soil is very stiff and heavy, dig it 
deeper than will be required and fill in the 
bottom with gravelly soil. If dug in very 
poor soil, get a barrow or two full of good 
loam to fill in with, to assist in giving a 
good start. When once established, most 
trees and shrubs will make a satisfactory 
growth in any but the poorest of soils. 
Should the ground be very dry, put two or 
three pailfuls of water near the bottom of 
the hole as it is filled in. The great secret 
in planting of this kind, however, is to get 
the soil in firmly about the roots: it should 
be tramped down with the foot or a 
wooden rammer of some sort during the 
process of filling in the hole, for if this 
firming is left till the last thing, only the 
surface will be compacted, while the soil 
about the roots remains as loose as when 
it was thrown in. 
Preparing for Winter in Frames and 
Greenhouse 
I T is time to take thought again for this 
winter’s work with the coldframes or 
in the greenhouse- — and a small “lean-to” 
greenhouse, heated from the house heating 
system if steam or hot-water is used, is a 
saving instead of a luxury for any small 
place. 
In the coldframe, lettuce can be matured 
without any covering except the regular 
glass sash and used until about Thanks¬ 
giving time. In case of an extra early 
spell of hard freezing, the sash may easily 
be further protected by old bags, a dis¬ 
carded rug, or something of the sort. A 
3x6 ft. sash will hold about four dozen 
of the heading sort, of which I prefer 
Wayahead, or five to six dozen of the 
Grand Rapids, which does not form a solid 
head but is unsurpassed for quality. More 
detailed information as to starting the 
seedlings, preparing the soil, etc., is given 
on page 100; but do not overlook this op¬ 
portunity to have salad fresh from your 
own frames well into the winter. Pansies 
and English daisies (Beilis perennis ) 
should also be sown now, care being taken 
to make a very fine seed bed and give it 
shade until the seed has sprouted. For 
this purpose nothing is better than an old 
coldframe or hotbed. If dry, wet the soil 
thoroughly the day before planting and 
barely cover the seed. A double thickness 
of black mosquito netting will furnish not 
only shade but protection from insects 
during the development of the seedlings. 
For about a week, until the seed germi¬ 
nates, the frame may be kept dark. When 
large enough to transplant, set part of the 
seedlings in a frame 
and part out in an 
open bed, for winter¬ 
ing over; this will 
give you some blooms 
the very first thing in 
spring, and others to 
mature later and 
flower throughout the 
summer. The daisies 
may be set in a frame 
quite thickly, and 
transplanted early in 
the spring to their 
permanent positions 
as a border or in solid 
beds, whichever your 
plans may call for. 
Care of Flowers 
for Winter 
NOTHER thing 
to be looked af¬ 
ter now is the selec¬ 
tion of such plants as 
will be wanted for use 
indoors in the winter. 
Those which have 
been kept in pots should, of course, be 
frequently turned to insure development, 
and to prevent rooting through into the 
soil if they have been “plunged” in the 
soil. Repot now any which will need 
shifting, being sure to give shade and 
plenty of water for a week or so, so that 
they may be well established in their new 
pots by the time they have to undergo the 
shift indoors. Plants growing in the gar¬ 
den are often lost when the attempt is 
made to take them up and pot them. This 
may be accomplished by cutting around 
them part way, with a sharp trowel or 
spade, and a week or so later cutting 
around them on the other side. This 
makes the severing of the roots incidental 
to taking up more gradual, and leaves the 
plant in the best of condition for transfer- 
ing to a pot, at which time, if the top 
growth is heavy, it should be cut back quite 
severely — a third or even a half will not 
be too much. 
Early beans are among the vegetables which will produce for the late fall garden if planted 
in late July or August 
