rect 
VOL. 3 
BURY ME NOT... 
How to Plant 
More ornamentals suffer from too-deep 
planting than from any other cause. Reams 
of literature are compiled every season on 
WHAT to plant, WHERE to plant what, 
and all the subleties of an attractive land- 
scape, but there are very few adequate 
recipes for HOW to plant. And the answer 
is so simple—ALWAYS SET IT HIGH. 
The new shrub arrives in a can which 
is cut by the driver upon delivery. The 
hole has been prepared and you carefully 
set in the new acquisition and fill in around 
it with dirt and mild fertilizer. When you're 
all through and the earth is well tamped 
and mulched with steer manure or leafmold, 
where is the top of the rootball? (The 
~rootball is the earth around the plant which 
was in container). The top of the rootball 
should be about one inch higher than the 
surrounding ground in its new home. And 
around this raised island which is the root- 
ball you'll make a basin, or moat, for hold- 
ing the water with which you soak the 
plant when you're all through planting. But 
the outer wall of the basin should not be 
so high that when you fill the basin the 
water will stand high on the trunk or stem 
of the plant. Fill the basin so that the 
rootball is just barely covered with water 
but the water around the rootball is much 
deeper. 
Now that we have emphasized the two 
most overlooked important points, let's go 
back to the digging of the. hole itself. 
Generally, in ordinary top soil of fair qual- 
ity and depth, it is unnecessary to dig 
very much deeper than the depth of the 
rootball, being sure to leave an undisturbed 
portion of earth immediately in the middle 
of the hole to set the rootball on, so that 
the plant will sink very little. If the drain- 
age is obviously poor and the soil is sterile 
one may dig deeper on either side of the 
undisturbed high point, loosening the soil 
and actually replacing poor soil with rich 
loam, mild fertilizer and leafmold. If one 
(Continued on inside page) 
OCTOBER, 1952 _ 
IT’S TIME FOR 
. . . Considerable planting! October and 
November are important bulb months. 
FREESIAS, DAFFODILS, NARCISSI, RA- 
NUNCULI, ANEMONES, etc., should go 
into the ground. King Alfred is still tops 
in Daffodils just as it was in Grandad's 
time, but of special interest are Daffodil 
varieties such as Geranium, white petals 
and orange-red cups; Diana Kasner, white 
petals and large fluted yellow cup with a 
blood-red frilled edge; and Spring Glory, 
large yellow trumpet with equally large 
white petals. 
Here is something for you to try with 
bulbs this coming season—it is a practice 
widely employed in Europe and most et- 
fective. Edge a border or a walk with, 
first a row of MUSCARI (Grape Hy- 
acinth) and then outside this a row of 
LACHENALIA AUREA, (golden Cape 
Cowslip). The result will surprise and please 
you no end. Both these bulbs increase 
bountifully and are of easy culture. 
Get FREESIAS in the ground as early 
as possible. They are restless bulbs and 
start to sprout under the ordinary storing 
conditions. Then try a few LEUCOCO- 
RYNE IXIOIDES (Glory of the Sun) from 
Chile. The flowers are star shaped, pale 
blue, carried on long wiry stems, and have 
long lasting qualities as cut material or on 
the plant. For full details on traditional 
and exotic bulbs ask for our BULB CATA- 
LOGUE containing descriptions, prices, 
and cultural notes. 
AVOCADOS and CITRUS can be 
planted to advantage at this time. More 
and more the Avocado is being appreci- 
ated as a most useful tree, for its orna- 
mental value as a shade tree, as well as for 
its tasty additions at the table. Varieties of 
Avocados can now give us year round 
production, so for coastal plantings try 
the following: FUERTE, winter; ANAHEIM, 
spring; NABAL, summer; JALNA, fall, 
(Continued on inside page) 
