HOUSE 
19 16 
& GARDEN, OCTOBER 
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THE GARDEN ASLEEP IN WINTER 
P r o v 
and 
ing the Analogies Between Plants and People 
Demonstrating the Reasons for Fall Planting 
ROBERT S . LEMMON 
With shrubs, trees and flowers the great point is that the 'fall is their natural planting 
time. Only after a winter sojourn in the soil could a bulb bed attain such sturdy growth 
as in the planting above 
W HY, it’s sim¬ 
ple enough. 
All one does is 
plant the things, let 
them lie over win¬ 
ter, and enjoy their 
parti-colored bloom 
in April or May. 
They grow, to be 
sure — every well 
regulated plant does, 
theoretically; there’s 
nothing surprising 
about that. The fall 
planted garden pro¬ 
duces better than the 
spring planted be¬ 
cause—well, it does. 
Coming right 
down to actual facts, 
though, what is the 
true reason for sub¬ 
jecting bulbs, shrubs 
and certain seeds to 
the rigors of a sea¬ 
son whose severity 
checks a 11 visible 
signs of growth ? 
Is the answer to 
be found alone in 
the so-called “ad¬ 
vance start” which 
the roots attain be¬ 
fore the frost grips 
them a n d hardens 
the surrounding soil 
until even backward 
growth would be 
quite impossible? 
Or is there some¬ 
thing else, some 
more subtle cause 
which is but little 
understood ? 
“Mother Earth” 
F rankly, it may 
well be doubted 
whether t h e full 
merit of fall plant¬ 
ing lies in the visible 
advantage of extra 
root development, or 
of being in the right 
place at the right 
time. The authori¬ 
ties tell us that the 
object is to encour¬ 
age the lower and 
discourage the upper 
growth; thus the first energies of the plant 
are devoted to forming a large root system, 
obviously desirable when the stimulus of 
returning spring rouses it to the supreme 
effort of flower production. Furthermore, 
everything will be in place and ready when 
the first stir of renewed activity is felt deep 
in the earth. No time will be wasted then; 
every effort will be directed along the short¬ 
est road to quick and natural results. 
Very good and very true, but look a little 
further into the matter. 
From time immemorial it has been the 
custom of men to speak of “Mother 
Earth.” Strength of mind and body, a 
mental and physical healing and revivify¬ 
ing, come from close contact with the soil. 
“Back to the land” has become a trite phrase 
in its customary usage, yet proofs are not 
lacking to show that its principle is sanely 
practical. Men and women innumerable 
have turned to the soil as a last resort and 
found the health they sought. Should one 
care for less convincing testimony, there is 
the never-to-be-forgotten heroic myth of 
Antaeus, who, in his combat with Hercules, 
derived fresh 
strength each time 
his foot touched the 
earth; and there are 
those to-day who 
contend that daily 
companionship with 
the soil is a remedy 
for many ills. In¬ 
deed, many intense¬ 
ly practical people 
experience a definite 
feeling of rejuve¬ 
nated power as a re¬ 
sult of merely lying 
on their backs on a 
close clipped lawn. 
Since this truly 
“motherly” power of 
the earth, at least in 
an indirect way, is 
an undisputed fact 
in so far as it affects 
human beings whose 
cl o s e st connection 
with the soil is to 
walk upon it, how 
much greater must 
be the influence on 
those organisms 
which derive their 
sustenance fro m 
constant contact 
with it? Place the 
whole subject on a 
basis of scientific 
chemistry, a simple 
conversion of soil 
elements into plant 
tissue if you will; 
but are you sure that 
the explanation is 
entirely adequate? 
A Human Analogy 
Precisely as a long 
childhood filled with 
wholesome associa¬ 
tions a n d activities 
makes for a strong 
and well rounded 
maturity, so does an 
unhurried period of 
contact with the 
earth fit the seed to 
produce the perfect 
plant. Force the 
child’s natural de¬ 
velopment, and you 
risk losing a well 
balanced man or woman; force the em¬ 
bryonic plant unduly, and allied results tend 
to be the outcome. Even though immediate 
effects may be attained, something will be 
lost in subsequent vitality and long life. 
In a state of nature the fall planted gar¬ 
den is the general rule in temperate re¬ 
gions. First the flower, then the seed ma¬ 
turing during the late spring or early sum¬ 
mer and dropping to the ground to lie un¬ 
productive until spring. There is no haste, 
no forcing. Buried under the snow and 
slush, protected in a measure from sudden 
