
HOME eF Nati kemeielie}s8 Where? Why? 
Pinching Back Flower Plants 
If sturdy, stocky plants are wanted, they 
will need ‘pinching back.’ When five 
or six pairs of leaves have formed, pinch 
out the top, leaving two or three pairs 
of leaves on the stem. New shoots will 
come where the leaves join the stem. 
Sometimes a second pinch can be made, 
when these new shoots in turn have 
formed four or five~pairs of leaves, leav- 
ing two pairs on each. Pinching in- 
creases the number of flowers, though 
sometimes it decreases their size. 
Petunias particularly need pinching back 
if they are to remain short. Towards 
the end of the flowering season, after 
Petunias have grown long and lanky, 
they can be cut back to within an inch 
or two of the ground and they will throw 
out new growth. If given a light feed- 
ing of mixed fertilizer, these rejuvenated 
plants will often bloom as well as 
younger plants early in the season. 
Removing Flowers 
The gardener can lengthen the blooming 
season of all annuals and some perennials 
by removing old flowers as soon as they 
fade, and preventing the plant from go- 
ing to seed. Delphiniums and Canter- 
bury Bells will usually respond to this 
treatment by producing a second crop of 
flowers in fall. 
Flowers in the Vegetable Garden 
To have plenty of cut flowers without 
disturbing your flower borders, plant a 
few rows of flowers along the edge of 
your vegetable garden. Or set them out 
between rows of early lettuce or radishes, 
where they can bloom after the vege- 
tables have been used, 
Large Flowered and 
Double Petunias 
These should never be direct seeded out- 
doors, but must be started indoors. Use 
a flat filled with seed-starting mixture. 
Press soil with a brick or flat piece of 
wood ito firm it. Wet thoroughly. Then 
broadcast the seed on the surface of the 
soil. Cover entire flat with a pane of 
glass and then with a sheet of newspaper. 
Set in a warm, dark place at 75 degrees 
to 85 degrees until seed germinates. 
Then move to a sunny window. 
If flat dries out slightly before seed 
sprouts, water carefully with an atomizer. 
Transplant seedlings when second pair of 
leaves forms. Move into the garden after 
danger from frost is past. 
D. D. T. and Aster Yellows 
Though wilt resistant asters solved the 
wilt problem, Aster Yellows are still a 
menace. Now, with D.D.T., we can keep 
off the leaf hopper, the insect that carries 
the virus of Yellows to the Aster plant. 
Regular spraying or dusting with D.D.T. 
will leave a residue which will kill the 
leaf hopper when it lights on the plant 
and before it can stab the leaves and 
pass on the virus. So if your Asters 
have been disappointing lately, try again, 
using D.D.T. 
Window Boxes 
There’s nothing finer than window and 
porch boxes to make a house look “lived 
in” and gay. 
The necessary boxes may be bought 
ready-made, or constructed at home. Red- 
wood or cypress are the best lasting ma- 
terials, but ordinary yellow pine will do 
nicely if well painted. Paint at least 
two coats, and use brass screws instead 
of nails to joint the boards. 
Drainage of flower boxes is 
Use about two inches of coarse gravel 
at the bottom. Cover this with a layer 
of sand, and then with good, rich soil. 
Fertilizing may be done with liquid 
manure, but commercial plant tablets are 
even better, and much easier to apply. 
Plants suitable for window boxes are 
quite numerous. Among the best are 
petunias, nasturtium, ageratum, candytuft, 
dwarf marigold, cornflower, babysbreath, 
verbena, sweet alyssum, vinca. 
For shaded boxes vinca, viola, pansy, 
and English daisy will be satisfactory. 
If boxes are exposed to hot south sun a 
selection of petunia, dwarf marigold, small 
zinnia, and portulaca may be used. 
Watering should be carefully watched as 
the boxes dry out very rapidly when the 
plants have reached a good size and the 
roots are filling all of the soil. 
important. 
_GAILLARDIA P 


