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When a 
What to Do this Month 
CTOBER is the most important 
month, with the possible exception 
of April, in the amateur gardener's year. 
It is the time to profit by the mistakes of 
the season just past before those mistakes 
have been softened by time until they be¬ 
come profitless. It is the time also to lay 
the foundation of that ideal garden that 
is to be yours next year, when there will 
be no bare and uninviting places in the 
border, no harsh discord of adjacent 
blooms, more vigor, more beauty through¬ 
out. 
Visit a nursery as early as possible 
this month to see things in bloom. There 
is no surer nor more enjoyable way of 
finding out just what you want for your 
own garden. 
Phlox divaricata, a creeping, lavender vari¬ 
ety, makes a splendid ground covering 
to plant in combination with white Tulips 
and Hyacinths 
Killing frosts may be expected in the 
latitude of New York about Oct. 15th. 
Allow a week for each one hundred miles 
north or south of this. Clean up at once, 
for nothing is more untidy than a frosted 
garden. 
Notice the hardy Chrysanthemums hr 
your neighbors’ gardens. There are all 
too few hardy fall-blooming plants, of 
which the Chrysanthemum is one. Plant 
a clump or two next spring — the risk of 
setting them out now or when they have 
finished blooming is too great. 
Pink, white and red Cosmos is bloom¬ 
ing in the face of the coming frosts. Are 
there any in your garden? If not, leave 
a place for them next year, along a short 
stretch of the house wall or against a 
fence. The seed should be sown under 
glass or in flats indoors about March 15th. 
Build a coldframe now if you have 
not already added this invaluable acces¬ 
sory to your garden. On a small place 
a single sash, 4 x 4 ft. or 4 x 6 ft., will 
serve an amazingly useful purpose. You 
can buy a sash for $1.50 from your flor¬ 
ist and build the frame yourself in an 
afternoon. 
In the Flower Garden 
On October 1st take into the house all 
tender plants that are to be saved for 
further bloom indoors—the Geraniums, 
etc. Or take up the latter and hang the 
plants, free from soil, in a moderately 
warm cellar until spring, when they may 
be cut back and planted again. 
Before hard frost, lift the tuberous 
Begonias, dry them and store in the cellar 
in a box of coal ashes or sand. 
Dig up clumps of hardy perennials, 
Phlox, Peonies, Bleeding-heart, Fox¬ 
gloves, Gaillardias, Primroses, Rudbeckia, 
Snapdragon, Sweet Williams, etc., where 
these have become too dense or unwieldy, 
and separate the roots. This operation is 
necessary every three or four years to 
secure the best flowers. Form new 
(238) 
clumps where the color and mass is 
needed, and plant the divisions of the 
ones that are to remain where they were, 
farther apart. 
Plant Tulips and Hyacinths between 
Oct. 1st and 15th for the earliest spring 
bloom. Read the article on another page 
as to how the best effects may be ob¬ 
tained with these. 
Lift the bulbs of the summer-blooming 
plants — Dahlias, Gladioli and Cannas, 
drying them on a board in a cellar that 
is free from dampness. When thorough¬ 
ly dry, put them in paper bags and hang 
in the attic, out of the reach of mice. 
Do not fail to mark the position of 
all the hardy perennial roots by deeply- 
driven stakes — otherwise you will break 
Rock-cress (,Arabts alptna) is a good thing 
to plant in connection with colored spring¬ 
flowering bulbs, offering no difficulty in 
cultivation 
