9 ° 
House bf Garden 
The GARDENER’S CALENDAR for MARCH 
FRANCIS BACON 
“For March”, says 
Bacon, in the essay on 
the art of landscape 
gardening in which he 
exhorts “ There ought to 
be gardens for all months 
of the year, in which, 
severally, things of beauty 
may be in season. . . . 
In March there come 
violets, especially the 
single blue, which are 
the earliest, the yellow 
daffodil, the daisy, the 
almond-tree in blossom, 
the cornelian tree in 
blossom, sweetbrier.” 
HENRY WOTTON 
A sensitive garden 
criticism is this of Wot- 
ton’s, the author of 
that splendid treatise, 
“The Elements of Ar¬ 
chitecture”: “He did 
so precisely examine the 
tinctures and seasons of 
his flowers that in their 
settings, the inwardest of 
which that were to come 
up at the same time, 
should be always a little 
darker than the outmost 
and so serve them for a 
kind of gentle shadow, 
like a piece not of Na¬ 
ture but of Art.” 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 
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 ser¬ 
vice 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. 
I dream'd that 
as 1 wander’d 
by the way 
Bare Winter 
suddenly was 
changed to 
Spring. 
And gentle o- 
dours led my 
steps astray. 
Mix'd with a 
sound of 
waters mur¬ 
muring. 
SHELLEY. 
4. Boards, 
straw, burlap, 
cornstalks and 
other winter 
covering ma¬ 
terials for box¬ 
wood and such 
tender plants 
must be re¬ 
moved now. If 
possible, select 
dull, cloudy 
weather for 
carrying on 
this important 
operation. 
11. All the 
necessary 
pruning must 
be attended to 
now. Foliage- 
trees and 
shrubs, all the 
llowering types 
that blossom 
on the termi¬ 
nals of the new 
growth, such as 
roses and fruits 
of all kinds, re¬ 
quire atten¬ 
tion. 
18. Have you 
everything in 
readiness for 
the opening of 
the big garden 
drive next 
month? Seeds, 
garden line, 
plant labels, 
m e ausuri ng 
stick, pea 
brush, bean 
poles and to¬ 
mato supports 
are a few es¬ 
sentials. 
25. Specimen 
trees of a 1 1 
types that are 
not growing 
satisfactorily 
can be invigo- 
ratedbycutting 
a trench en¬ 
tirely around 
the tree about 
four feet from 
the trunk and 
filling it in with 
good rich earth 
well tamped 
down. 
5. Changes 
of all kinds 
where the mov¬ 
ing of plants, 
sod, hedges, 
etc., is involved 
must be carried 
into execution 
at once. This 
also applies to 
garden walks 
which, ifaltered 
in early spring, 
settle by sum¬ 
mer, becoming 
permanent. 
12. Make a 
habit of heeling 
in your nur¬ 
sery stock the 
instant it ar¬ 
rives. Stock 
that is allowed 
to lie around in 
the wind and 
sun is certain 
to show heavy 
losses, because 
its roots will be 
dried out and 
the smaller 
ones will die. 
19. This is 
the time to 
think of flowers 
for next winter 
in the green¬ 
house. Primula 
of the Chinese 
or Obconica 
type, cyclamen 
and antirrhin¬ 
um are three of 
the best sorts. 
They should be 
started from 
seed now un¬ 
der glass. 
26. Most of 
the diseases to 
which potatoes 
are heir are 
caused by dry, 
hot weather. 
Potatoes like 
cool, moist soil. 
Prepare a piece 
of ground and 
P 1 a n t them 
now, or as soon 
as the soil can 
be worked. An 
early start 
makes success. 
6. All new 
plantings of 
hardy stock 
mustbesetout. 
The earlier in 
the planting 
season this is 
done the less 
losses you will 
have. Just as 
soon as the 
frost leaves the 
ground is the 
proper time for 
work of this 
sort. 
13. Cuttings 
of all the vari¬ 
ous types of 
bedding plants 
should be start¬ 
ed in sand in 
the greenhouse 
early this 
month. Coleus, 
geraniums, lan- 
tana, helio¬ 
trope, abera- 
tum, etc., are 
some which 
come under 
this heading. 
20. The cov¬ 
ering on the 
strawberries 
should be re¬ 
in o v e d and 
burned and the 
manure mulch 
can be dug un¬ 
der. In cases 
where for some 
reason no fall 
mulch was ap¬ 
plied the bed 
should be well 
manured and 
dug in. 
27. Mulches 
of all kinds ap¬ 
plied to shrub¬ 
bery borders, 
perennial 
plantings, flow¬ 
er beds, etc., 
should be dug 
under. In do¬ 
ing this, get tiie 
manure as deep 
as possible and 
see that it is 
thoroughly in¬ 
corporated 
with the soil. 
7. If you 
have not al¬ 
ready planted 
them, seeds of 
cabbage, cauli- 
power, celery, 
parsley, let¬ 
tuce, tomatoes, 
egg-plant, pep¬ 
pers, leek and 
onions should 
be sown. See 
page 47 for de¬ 
tailed informa¬ 
tion on this 
work. 
14. Cannas, 
especially the 
newer or better 
types, should 
be divided by 
cuttingtheeyes 
separately. 
They can then 
be rooted by 
placing in sharp 
sand, or they 
may be potted 
up in a very 
light soil mix¬ 
ture if you 
prefer. 
21. Before 
the buds burst 
on the decidu¬ 
ous trees and 
shrubs, the 
whole growth 
should be 
looked over 
carefully for 
any caterpillar 
nests, w h i c h 
can easily be 
destroyed by 
burning with¬ 
out injuring 
the plants. 
28. Sweet 
peas may be 
sown out of 
doors now. Dig 
trenches about 
two feet deep 
and the width 
of a spade. Fill 
the trench with 
good top soil 
and manure 
well mixed and 
sow the seed 
about t w o 
inches below 
the surface. 
1. If you 
are considering 
new lawns this 
spring get the 
ground ready 
for seeing just 
as soon as it 
can be worked. 
Early sowings 
will prove to be 
much freer of 
weeds than 
those which are 
made during 
the summer 
months. 
8. All the 
exotic plants, 
suchaskentias, 
dracaenas, 
cocos, arecas, 
etc., should be 
re-potted at 
this time. Use 
pots about I 
inch larger 
than the plants 
now occupy. 
The soil must 
be light, con¬ 
taining plenty 
of leaf mold. 
15. Sowing 
of all the more 
common types 
of annual flow¬ 
ers should be 
attended to 
now. Asters, 
zinnias, calen¬ 
dula, balsams, 
salvia, mari¬ 
gold, scabiosa, 
pansies, stocks 
etc., are some 
of the many 
varieties that 
maybeplanted. 
22. AH the 
various garden 
tools will soon 
be in use regu¬ 
larly. Are they 
in proper con¬ 
dition? Good 
work is impos¬ 
sible with poor 
or dull tools. 
Go over all the 
implements, re¬ 
moving any 
rust and sharp¬ 
ening the cut¬ 
ting edges. 
29. All trees 
and shrubs 
that are sub¬ 
ject to attacks 
of San Jose 
scale should be 
sprayed with 
one of the sol¬ 
uble oil mix¬ 
tures before 
the buds swell. 
At least forty- 
eight hours are 
needed to 
smother these 
pests. 
2. Chrysan¬ 
themums for 
next fall must 
be propagated 
now. If the 
space is avail¬ 
able it is good 
practice to put 
in a batch of 
cuttings every 
four weeks un¬ 
til June to as¬ 
sure a long per¬ 
iod of bloom 
well into the 
autumn. 
9. Where ab¬ 
solutely neces¬ 
sary, bay trees, 
hydrangeas 
and other orna¬ 
mental plants 
should be re- 
tubbed. Others 
can be re-ferti¬ 
lized by digging 
out some of the 
old soil with a 
trowel and fill¬ 
ing in with a 
rich, fresh 
mixture. 
16. Any 
changes in old 
plantings or 
new plants con¬ 
templated for 
the perennial 
border should 
be finished up 
at the earliest 
moment. Those 
which are 
planted early 
in the season 
will flower late 
this coming 
summer. 
23. The top 
protection on 
the rose bushes 
can now be re¬ 
moved; dig the 
winter mulch 
of manure well 
under. A liberal 
application of 
bone meal to 
the soil will 
produce worth¬ 
while results 
during the 
flowering sea¬ 
son this year. 
30. Manure 
applied to 
lawns last fall 
must now be 
raked up. All 
lawns should 
be raked clean 
and rolled or 
tamped. A top 
dressing of 
wood ashes and 
bone meal will 
help to pro¬ 
duce a good 
vigorous 
growthofgrass. 
3. Rhubarb 
should now be 
showing some 
growth. Bar¬ 
rels placed over 
the plants will 
give earlier and 
better stalks. 
Beds that were 
not mulched 
should have a 
good applica¬ 
tion of manure 
dug into them 
at about this 
time. 
10. Aspara¬ 
gus is one vege¬ 
table that 
starts growth 
very early, so 
dig the winter 
mulch under 
now, hill up the 
rows on the old 
plantings, and 
apply salt liber¬ 
ally to the bed. 
New plantings 
should be start¬ 
ed n o w from 
good roots. 
17. Better 
make arrange¬ 
ments now to 
use your green¬ 
house for some 
useful purpose 
this summer. 
Potted fruits, 
chrysant he- 
mums, melons, 
English forcing 
cucumbers 
etc., are some 
of the many 
possible prod¬ 
ucts. 
24. Small 
fruits of the 
different types 
can be planted 
now. Grapes, 
raspberries, 
blackberries, 
etc., can be 
trained on wire 
trellises, or 
stakes may be 
used. The lat¬ 
ter are neater 
and more eco- 
n o m i c a 1 of 
space. 
31. All the 
best varieties 
of dahlia roots 
should be 
started into 
growth so that 
cuttings can be 
made of those 
desired. If the 
roots are laid 
upon a few 
inches of sand 
and watered 
freely they will 
soon start into 
growth. 
The backside of the house was neither field, garden, nor orchard; or, rather, it was both field garden and orchard- 
for as soon as the descending of the stairs delivered they came into a place curiously set with t°rees of'the most taste 
pleasing fruits; but scarcely had they taken that into their consideration but that they were suddenly stepped bUo a 
delicate green; on each side of the green a thicket, and behind the thickets again new beds offloZrTZich beinl 
under the trees, the trees were to them a pavilion, and they to the trees a mosaical floor, so that it seemed that irt 
nf e n e )i n th W0U l ld needs be f e ! lght T} by counterfeiting his enemy, Error, and making order in confusion In the midst 
of all the place was a fair pond, whose shaking crystal was a perfect mirror to all the other beauties so that it bare 
show of two gardens; one m deed and the other m shadows; and in one of the thickets was a fine fountain. 
{From. ARCADIA, by Sir Philip Sidney.) 
PLINY, THE ELDER 
Cams Plinius Secundus, 
who lived from 23 to 79 A. D., 
is famous primarily for his 
Natural History, but his de¬ 
scriptions of his villas and gar¬ 
dens at Rome and in Tuscany 
are extremely valuable records 
of the art of garden design at 
the time when the Roman Em¬ 
pire was at the height of its 
splendor and gardening a prod¬ 
uct of the lavish period. 
Sir Philip Sidney, like many of 
the English men of letters in the 
nth Century, wrote much on the — 
art of gardening. Most of the portraits used in the 
Gardener’s Calendar have been reproduced from 
plates in rare volumes long out of print. 
PHILIP SIDNEY 
EDGAR ALLEN POE 
Readers of the poetry, the 
criticisms, the essays and the 
lurid tales of Poe should know 
his fantastic essay on The 
Landscape Garden. Among its 
imaginative flights there is a 
display of interesting and accu¬ 
rate knowledge of landscape de¬ 
sign, of the effects which might 
be obtained on a truly grand 
scale if only the matter of ex¬ 
pense were not an item. 
That of Wotton is from a bi¬ 
ography by Logan Pearsall Smith, 
Oxford University Press, and that 
of Walpole from L. B. Seeley’s “Life,” the Grolier 
Press, London. Reproductions were made through 
the courtesy of New York Public Library. 
v x, . / -- 
\ I ff 
■■ m ■ 
JOHN EVELYN 
In the introduction to 
his famous Kalendar- 
ium Hortense, Evelyn 
issues this quaint warn¬ 
ing: “As Paradise 
(though of Gods own 
Planting) was no longer 
Paradise, than the Man 
put into it continued to 
dress it and to keep it; 
so, now will our gardens 
(as near as we can con¬ 
trive them to the resem¬ 
blance of that blessed 
Abode ) remain long in 
their perfection, unless 
they are also continually 
cultivated." 
HORACE WALPOLE 
When Walpole wrote 
his essay on the Modern 
Taste in Gardening, the 
modern taste in garden¬ 
ing ivas being formed by 
a rabid designer of ex¬ 
treme naturalistic ten¬ 
dencies, called “Cap¬ 
ability" Brown. Eng¬ 
land is still repairing 
the ravages wrought by 
this influential land¬ 
scape gardener. But 
the literary record of 
that era left by Walpole 
is as delightful reading 
as it is an interesting 
account. 
