Ida D. Bennett

“ The leaves are compound or pinnate, fifteen to eighteen inches long and of a dark, rich green on the upper side, glaucous beneath and with a rich red midrib—an elegant fern-like spray which is very useful in cut flower work and in autumn turns to the most vivid crimson imaginable. It does best when protected from severe wind, from which it seems to shrink, distorting its symmetrical growth. In good rich soil a half dozen offshoots may appear the second year after planting and after one has once become familiar with its beauty all will be welcome. ”

“ THE ANNUAL GARDEN For the busy woman who has but a modicum of time to spare for the growing of flowers, but is loath to relinquish entirely their cheerful presence about the grounds and house, the annual garden with its wide diversity of color, season and charm affords the greatest possible returns for the outlay required. A few packets of seed, most of which may be purchased for from five to ten cents, will lay the foundation for sheets and sheets of bloom and the labor of planting and caring for them will be less than is required for perennials. ”

“ Probably no flower that has come into vogue of late years has won more popularity than the Cosmos—certainly for cut flowers nothing can surpass it in graceful beauty. The large pink and white Hibiscus, with a generous handful of long-stemmed pink, crimson, and white Cosmos, makes an ideal bouquet for a high glass vase. Placed in front of a large mirror the effect in form and colour is hardly surpassed by the choicest exotics. The graceful, fern-like foliage adds greatly to the beauty of a well-grown clump in the garden or lawn. ”

“ If I could have but one tool to garden with I think it would be a scuffle-hoe, for no other tool will keep the garden so free from weeds. With the common garden hoe my paths through the garden are usually marked by the wreckage of plants, for use as much care as I can sooner or later I get to hoeing too vigorously and off goes a cabbage, tomato or onion. The scuffle-hoe does not seem to arouse an excess of energy; one goes along smoothly and serenely, leaving clean tilth and undepleted rows of vegetables in one's wake and looking back at the end of each row sees that it is good. ”

“ Probably no greenhouse flower is as little known or repays acquaintance as royally as the Calceolaria. Of infinite variety, its showy purse-shaped flowers range from a rare pure white through all the shades of pale lemon, orange, and scarlet to a deep, rich, velvety cardinal. ”

“ It is amazing, once one has started to conserve fertility, how much one can find to add to this compost heap; I recall that one spring,77 from a well-tended compost heap and one horse stable, I had hauled on to the garden ten large, two-horse loads of fertilizer, and put the garden in excellent shape, and not only this,—it had kept the premises tidy as nothing else would have done. The gatherings of the summer and fall will, by spring, have rotted down into available form and the action of the soil, sun and rain will complete the process. ”

“ The indoor garden may have its beginning in the late days of September, when the hardy spring blooming bulbs come into the market. Nearly all of this class of plants force readily and pots and window boxes may be filled with soil, planted to tulips, hyacinths, narcissi, valley lilies, and the like and set aside in a cool dark cellar for midwinter blooming, requiring no further care for weeks to come. ”

“ It is of much more slender growth than the rest and inclined to be pendulous, or weeping. Its delightfully fragrant flowers are produced in round heads the size of a half-dollar at the axil of every leaf and show a lovely rosy-lilac hue. If planted in the open ground the Weeping Lantana quickly covers a considerable area, presenting a solid sheet of bloom throughout the summer. It will bloom freely in the house if given a warm, sunny window, abundant room, and showered daily to keep back the red spider, or dipped occasionally in hot water for that purpose. ”

“ A basket of three two-year-old seedlings is a thing of beauty, throwing off wonderful fronds—even in the dry air of a sitting-room heated with a coal-stove. They should be given a chance to rest during the summer by setting in a cool, shady place, watering sparingly. When the plant shows signs of renewed growth repot, giving a larger pot if necessary, or, if two or three plants have been growing in one basket they may be separated and given more room. An elongated tuber is formed on the roots, which stores nourishment—like the nodules on the Clematis and Clover roots. ”

“ They may be purchased all ready to bloom of the florist or easily raised, from spring sown seed, to blooming size by fall. Heliotropes, the sweetest of all flowers, will bloom freely in any sunny window if the precaution is taken to spray or wet the foliage thoroughly every day; without this refreshing bath the foliage will curl up and die and the buds blast. ”

“ If all the original soil is to be retained, remove the top-soil for top-dressing. Spade the manure into the subsoil and replace the surface-soil. In ground which has not been cultivated this surface-soil is rich in humus or leaf-mould, which furnishes food in its most available form for the young plant, and should, therefore, be left where the plant can use it and not be turned under as is usually done. Nature never turns the soil upside down; nor will the wise gardener, except when a richer and better soil is to be added or when it is necessary to work in manure. ”

“ Your garden will give back to you just What you put into it—no more, and the more you give to it the less it will exact of you; neglect it ever so little and it willvi prove a hard taskmaster indeed, or a living reproach—a reproach that will burgeon and bloom in noxious weeds and sickening plants, a garden where the worm dieth not and the aphis and grub revel undisturbed and unchecked.
There is nothing so easy as to keep a garden in perfect order, free from weeds and pernicious insect life, nothing easier than to have the reverse of this. ”

“ Watering the garden in the middle of the day may seem a reckless innovation to many, especially to the professional gardener, but years of experience have taught me the value of giving a plant water when it most needs it—and that is when it is parched with heat. Of course all plants will not stand water under a hot sun, but Pansies are not injured by it in any way. ”

“ Tenacious, clayey soil or newly broken sod ground should not, however, be undertaken by a woman, such ground is a man's job.
But it is the warm, sunny location that is vital to the successful cultivation of the garden. All the early vegetables—peas, lettuce, endive and the like—call for abundant sunshine in the cool days of early spring, and, as the season advances and the fall chill is in the air at nightfall, then the warm sunshine will hasten the maturity of such late comers as tomatoes, winter squash, citron and any late-sown vegetables that are used to succeed the earlier growths. ”

“ For this reason I like to grow them by themselves and use a mulch instead of cultivation. So much of the beauty of the plant depends upon the perfection of the foliage that every effort should be made to preserve it. In setting or potting Gloxinias the crown of the bulb should be above the earth, the soil should slope to the rim of the pot, that no water may settle about the crown and rot it. The plants may remain in the hotbed or other quarters until the approach of frost, when they must be shifted into larger pots and given a position in an east window with plenty of light. ”

“ But it must be borne in mind that the use of commercial fertilizers is not intended to replace that of barnyard manure, but rather to supplement it until the soil has regained what it has lost by poor management. Commercial fertilizers will of themselves produce a crop, but it is at the expense of the after-fertility of the land, just as the application of the whip will spur a jaded horse to one more final effort. Liberal applications of manure, leaf mould or muck and bone meal will bring any land that has soil at all, up to a satisfactory condition of fertility in a very few years. ”

“ For effective grouping, to fill in a corner, to serve as a screen to unsightly objects, to catch the eye and carry it on from point to point, there is no finer flower than the Hollyhock. The double flowers, of course, are more attractive at close range, but at a distance the single are rather more effective. Everyone who grows plants should find at least one corner for a big clump of this gorgeous flower. ”

“ WINTER STORAGE It is in the late days of fall that one begins to realize substantially on the summer's investment of seed, time and labor in the garden. Previous to this one has watched the maturing of the summer vegetables with an eye to their immediate use; now one sees before one rich stores of food that shall tide one safely through many lean days when the price of food goes soaring and the visible supply temporarily disappears. ”

“ As the foliage dies it becomes firm and hard again, the strength of the top has returned to the bulb from which it came, and it is at this period that it makes its own growth and prepares for another season of bloom, readiness for which it will announce by beginning to grow though water be withheld. The top earth—which should be dry at this time—should be removed as far as possible without disturbing the roots, and replaced with good, rich soil. Water freely, and when the buds appear give a little weak liquid manure once a week. ”

“ THE HARDY GARDEN Is a permanent investment, possible only in the permanent home. It adds dignity and charm attainable from no other form of planting. It is to the outdoor life of the home what the possession of colonial furniture and family heirlooms is to the indoor life, and yet is neither expensive nor tedious in its inception. ”

“ The utmost care must be taken to guard against aphides or green plant-lice, which are absolutely fatal if allowed to gain any foothold. The prevention is plenty of fresh air and tobacco-dust sprinkled on the leaves, which mars their beauty. The remedy—dipping in water heated to about 135 degrees, or brushing off the lice and killing them.
Carnations are the most easily grown of all desirable house-plants. If planted in drills in the hotbed in April, or in the open ground when the trees are in leaf, they will bloom in about four months. ”

“ Those early vegetables which are so keen an incentive to the planting of a garden—young beets, spinach greens, string beans, limas, peas, tomatoes and the like must be preserved in a cooked form, hermetically sealed from the air to preserve them from spoiling. This the commercial canners have done for years and we have been content to let them do this work for us at a price that has added materially to the high cost of living, while our own garden product, often of a far better quality, has gone to waste. ”

“ A small plant obtained from the florist in spring and potted in a four-inch pot, with good compost, will be ready to bloom by November, and will remain in bloom from that time until spring, when it should be repotted in a six-inch pot and plunged in the sand-box to grow for winter blooming. The only precaution necessary is to keep it in a small pot, as it blooms more freely when pot-bound. Cut back if not branching freely, as the bloom comes at the ends of the new growth. ”

“ The nicotianas are other cold-resisting plants and have the added advantage of self-sowing—not to a troublesome extent but sufficiently to insure a yearly supply of volunteer plants without267 thought or trouble on the gardener's part. The nicotiana does not open up well in bright sunshine, but unfolds its snowy cups in late afternoon and on cloudy days, but in shady positions is more generous of its beauty and is lovely when silhouetted against the flaming red of the salvias. ”

“ The variegated Japanese Hop is another summer vine that should be extensively grown. Its large, handsome foliage, freely splashed with white, is very showy and effective, and it thrives in almost any situation and soil, though paying well for extra care or attention in the way of cultivation, watering, and food. The vines are not hardy, but, as they self-sow, once established they are practically permanent. Several plants should be set near each other, as only the female plant bears seed. The leaves of this are smaller and the vine more slender. The great-leaved, robust vine bears no seed. ”

“ If it had been in a situation demanding a heavier planting I should have alternated the plants, setting them behind the spiræas, with forsythias—whose golden yellow blooms make bright the garden in earliest spring—and between the forsythias introduced the deutzias.
There are few more satisfactory and graceful plants for use in front of a porch than this Spiræa Van Hutti; its gracefully curved branches, though growing to a good length, curve away gracefully from the building, bending with their weight of snowy bloom almost to the ground and the growth is very strong and rapid, but never coarse. ”

“ Don’t forget to water the window-boxes every day, and to keep the sand in the sand-box wet all the time.
Don’t forget to go over the Pansies and Sweet-peas every day, and remove all withered flowers. Don’t let them suffer for want of water at any period of their bloom.
Don’t try to raise more plants than you have room for, or strength and time to cultivate. A few plants well cared for are better than a neglected garden—a most discouraging sight. The gardener will find enough real difficulty without inviting disaster. ”

“ The soil must always be firmed above the seed after sowing, either by means of a flat piece of board, with a handle on one surface or, in the case of large seeds by tramping the rows with the feet; this firming of the soil is most important, it brings the soil close about the seed so that the first little root—a very tiny, delicate little root, feeling its way about in search of nourishment can come at once into contact with the warm soil and obtain the food and moisture so critically needed at this juncture of its little life. ”

“ When through blooming in the spring, and the foliage has ripened, the bulbs may be lifted, dried, and stored away in a cool place until fall. All these bulbs increase rapidly, both by multiplying and by seed. Neglected beds of Tulips seem to multiply and perpetuate themselves indefinitely, but the new plants will be found to be all from seed, as the Tulip forms its new bulbs at the base of the old, and if they were not frequently taken up and reset they would grow so deep in the ground that all the strength of the plant would be exhausted reaching the surface, and there would be no bloom. ”

“ Any garden spot, however, should always be ploughed rather than spaded and as deep ploughing as possible should be the rule. If the soil is good go as close to the bottom of it as possible, the shallow ploughing so universal—seldom more than six inches in depth, does not give a mellow bed for any but shallow rooted vegetables. Carrots, salsify, parsnips and similar long-rooted things must fairly drill their way into the hard ground below the shallow cultivation, this resulting in deformed, stunted or many twigged roots, unsalable and of little value for the home table. ”

“ The root when cooked is like a potato. It is better to start separately in pots an inch larger than the bulbs, setting the top of the bulb just above the surface of the soil. Pot with muck or good compost and keep moist and warm. They respond to heat and moisture the most readily of all dormant bulbs, beginning to grow at once and making steady progress, the root growth keeping step with the top much more uniformly than is usual with bulbs that are wintered dry. It is an ideal plant for the amateur, as easily grown as a hill of corn. ”

“ For garden culture where hand cultivation is to be practised, the plants may be set in hills two or three feet apart each way, leaving room to cultivate between each way for the first few years. Two year old roots are the best to use and in planting a little mound of earth should be made in each hill, the roots of the plant spread out around this so that the earth will fit in beneath, close to the under side of the crown, then the earth should be firmed about the roots, a handful of bone meal sprinkled over the soil and the remainder of the soil filled in. ”

“ Salvia is much more desirable for bedding than for any other purpose. In the house it is subject to attacks of red spider, which make it more trouble to care for than it is worth, while in the open ground it is remarkably healthy and free from insect pests.
Seed should be started early in flats or hotbed, and plants set out where they are to remain, when all danger of frost is past, as they are very sensitive to cold. Muck or marsh earth seems the most congenial soil in which to grow the Salvias, and if this is supplied they will need little care beyond watering during the summer. ”

“ A great many of the vegetables that are always sown in the open ground—beets, string or lima beans, endive, lettuce—all may be started in the hotbed27 and planted out and will give one very tender and succulent vegetables to use while the main crop is maturing from open ground sowing. Once one has acquired the hotbed habit one will never have quite room enough for one will always be wanting to try something more. One of the most satisfactory pushing forward of vegetables is achieved in planting melons and cucumbers and squash on pieces of sod in the hotbed. ”

“ It will be better still—if the disease appear in August, as is usual—to remove all the old growth, cutting or breaking it off close to the crown, care being taken not to injure the tender new shoots, which will have started by this time. Burn the old tops. The new growth, being open to the air, will probably be free from disease, and will quickly fill the bed, giving an abundance of fine flowers throughout the cool days of fall. From a bed so treated I gathered five hundred blossoms the day before Thanksgiving with no apparent diminution of bloom. ”

“ Indeed, if one owns the site of a home and the building is yet in the future, no better expenditure of one's spare time and dollars can be inaugurated than such initial planting as shall insure the presence of blooming shrubs about the home at the time of its completion so that all may be beautiful and perfect together, rather than that two or three years must elapse before one can begin to enjoy the results. ”

“ Peat, or a compost of two parts loam, two parts leaf-mould, and one part each of sand and old, well-rotted manure suits all varieties of Begonias. In setting out the tuberous Begonia it is well to mulch the bed with lawn clippings. Water thoroughly once a day, and, if very dry, or at all exposed to the sun, twice a day. So really wonderful are their blossoms, and so long and freely do they bloom, that they well repay a little extra care and protection. When frosty nights come the tuberous Begonias must be lifted, potted and kept indoors until they have completed their season of growth. ”

“ A good rain, however, should always precede the planting, if possible, as newly worked ground is not sufficiently settled for sowing seed and not so desirable for setting out of plants.
The arrangement of the vegetables in the garden has much to do with the convenience of caring for it. It is always a good arrangement to plant the early vegetables, such as lettuce, radishes, beets, endive and onions at the end of the garden nearest the house where they are most easily available as one has occasion to use them in preparing a meal. ”