NOTE.--Different varieties of same kind will bloom at different times.
==================+=========+=======+========+========+============+==========STARTBLOOMING NAMECOLORHEIGHTOUTDOORSGOOD FORPLACESEASON ------------------+---------+-------+--------+--------+------------+---------- AkabiaViolet-LightMay, June (_Akabiabrownscreenquinata_)BittersweetYellow20 ft.In theSun orBright (_Celastrusfallshadeseeds scandens_)for winterCinnamon VineWhite15 toPlantRapidSunJuly, Aug.
(_Dioscorea_)30 ft.roots ingrowthearlyspringClematisWhite5 toStart inRapidStands partDifferent (numerousRed25 ft.earlygrowthshadekinds at varieties)Purplespringdifferenttimes.
Juneto frostCreeping SpindleEvergreenVariesProcureWall(_Euonymustrailerinrootscoveringradicans_)heightlike IvyDutchman"s PipeBrownish-GrowsMayDenseAnywhere(_Aristolochia_)yellowto 30shadeft.Honeysuckle,Yellow-15 ft.ProcureTrellisJune to j.a.panesewhiteplantsFenceAug.
(_LoniceraWallsHalliana_)Hop, PerennialGreen15 toProcureTrellisSun(_Humulus20 ft.rootslupulus_)Ivy, Boston orSpreadsProcureCoversSun orj.a.panrapidlyplantswallsshade(_Ampelopsis oror treesVeitchii_)Ivy, EnglishEvergreenProcureWallShade-loving(_Hederaplantscoveringhelix_)Kudzu Vine,Rosy-10 ft.EarlyThickSunAugust j.a.panesepurpleFirstspringscreen(_PuerariayearThunbergiana_)fromseedMatrimony VinePurplishShrubbyProcureOrnamentSunLate (_Lyciumrootsand usesummer barbaum_)Pea, EverlastingRed6 to 8PlantTrellisSunAugust (_LathyrusWhiteft.tuber oror roughlatifolius_)seedplaces------------------+---------+-------+--------+--------+------------+---------
CHAPTER IX
Shrubs We Love to See
"Every yard should be a picture. The observer should catch the entire effect and purpose, without a.n.a.lyzing its parts."
--_Bailey._
OF course you want to know something about shrubs. For what? Possibly just to make a tiny hedge around your garden, or a taller one to shut out the view of some neighbor"s untidy backyard. More likely for a lovely specimen plant for your own grounds. In that case, don"t, oh, don"t! set it out in the middle of the lawn! And two or three thus dotted around (in "spotty planting," so called) are the acme of bad taste, and violate the fundamental principles of landscape gardening.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CLEANING UP AROUND THE SHRUBS]
Our grandmothers all loved the tall syringa, honeysuckle, s...o...b..ll, strawberry shrub, weigela, rose of Sharon and lilac, while they hedged both their yards and gardens with box, privet and evergreens.
Today we use a good deal of the j.a.panese barberry, while Uncle Sam"s recent free distribution has widely introduced that pretty little annual bush-like plant--the kochia, or summer cypress, good for low hedges.
But there is that publisher cutting off my s.p.a.ce again! So I can just add a word about the lovely new summer lilac or buddleia. A tiny plant of this, costing only 25 cents, grows into a nice four-foot bush the first summer, and blooms until late in the season.
Most of these shrubs can be easily grown from cuttings, however, so just ask your friends to remember you when they do their pruning.
SHRUBS
================+==========+===========+===============+================ NAMECOLORHEIGHTGROWN FROMBLOOMING SEASON ----------------+----------+-----------+---------------+---------------- Althea, seeRose of SharonAzaleaNo blues1 to 6 ft.Spring, earlysummerBarberry, j.a.panRed4 ft.SeedRed berries all (_Berberisberrieswinter Thunbergii_)BoxwoodGreen4 to 20 ft.(_Buxussempervirens_)Bridal Wreath,see Spirea(_Thunbergii_)BuddleiaLavender3 to 6 ft.CuttingsJuly to frostCurrant,Yellow4 ft.May Flowering(_Ribesaureum_)DeutziaWhite,3 to 12 ft.CuttingsMay, JunePinkForsythiaYellow6 to 10 ft.Cuttings orEarliest springseedGolden Bell,see ForsythiaHoneysuckleWhite,6 to 12 ft.Cuttings orMarch to June (numerousYellowseedvarieties)Pink, Red(_Lonicera_)HydrangeaWhite8 to 12 ft.CuttingsJuly to November (_Paniculatagenerallygrandiflora_)j.a.panese QuinceScarlet8 ft.May (_Cydoniaj.a.ponica_)Kochia (small3 ft.SeedBush reddens in annual bush)fallLilac (_SyringaLavender,5 toMay, June vulgaris_)White20 ft.Mock OrangeWhite10 ft.May, June (_Philadelphuscoronarius_)PrivetGreen15 ft.Cuttings(_Ligustrumunlessovalifolium_)shearedRose of SharonWhite,Up toAugust to (_HibiscusPink to18 ft.October Syriacus_)Purples...o...b..ll,White8 toCuttingsMay, June j.a.panese10 ft.(_Viburnumtomentosum_)SpireaWhite2 toMay (_Thunbergii_)4 ft.Spirea (numerousWhite,4 toDifferent months otherPink, Rose6 ft.from May to varieties)SeptemberStrawberry ShrubChocolate-6 toBy divisionMaycolored10 ft.Syringa,see MockOrangeViburnum,see s...o...b..llWeigelaWhite,6 ft.June (_DiervillaPink, Redflorida_)----------------+----------+-----------+---------------+----------------
CHAPTER X
Vegetable Growing for the Home Table
The life of the husbandman,--a life fed by the bounty of earth, and sweetened by the airs of heaven.
--_Jerrold._
IT is predicted that this year,--1917,--will be the greatest year for gardening that the country ever has known!
The high cost of living first stimulated interest. Then after war was declared, the slogan, "Food as important as men or munitions," stirred young and old. Garden clubs sprang up everywhere, and in free lectures people were instructed how to prepare, plant and cultivate whatever ground they could get, from small backyards to vacant lots.
In our neighborhood last year a man with a plot of ground less than half the size of a tennis court, grew $50.00 worth of vegetables,--enough to supply his whole family! He got his planting down to a science, however,--what he called "intensive gardening," so that every foot of the soil was kept busy the whole summer. He fertilized but once, too, at the beginning of the season, when he had a quant.i.ty of manure thoroughly worked in. Then between slow growing crops, planted in rows as closely as possible, he planted the quick-growing things, which would be out of the way before their s.p.a.ce was needed.
Incidentally he worked out a chart (which he afterwards put on the market), ruled one way for the months, and the other for the number of feet, with name cards for the vegetables that could be fitted in so as to visualize--and make a record of the entire garden the entire season.
Such a plan means a great saving of both time and s.p.a.ce.
Garden soil must be warm, light and rich. It must be well spaded to begin with, well fertilized, well raked over, and kept well cultivated.
Vegetables require plenty of moisture, and during dry weather especially must be thoroughly watered. As I have said before, simply wetting the surface of the ground is almost useless, and often, by causing the ground then to cake over the top as it dries, worse than none at all, if the soil were cultivated instead. Pests must be watched for on all the crops, and treated according to the special needs of each variety when whale-oil, soapsuds, tobacco dust or insect powder seem ineffective.
Then with weeding, and reasonable care, you can safely expect to keep your table supplied with that greatest of all luxuries,--your own green vegetables, fresh from the soil.
VEGETABLE GUIDE
_Beans. Bush_
Plant from early May on, every two weeks, for succession of crops. Drop beans 3 in. apart, in 2-in. deep drills, allowing 2 ft. between rows.
Hoe often, drawing the earth up towards the roots. Be sure that the ground is warm and dry before planting, however, or the beans will rot.
_Beans. Pole_
Set stakes 5 to 8 feet high, in rows 3 ft. apart each way; or plant in drills to grow on a trellis. Put four or five beans around each stake, and when well started, thin out the poorest, leaving but three at each pole. A cheap trellis is made by stretching two wires (one near the ground and the other six feet above), and connecting them with stout twine for the vines to run on.
_Beans. Lima_
As these are more tender, they should be planted a couple of weeks later than other beans. They need especially good, rich soil, with plenty of humus or the fine soft earth that is full of decayed vegetable matter.
Allow each plant 6 in. in the row, and make rows 2 ft. apart. Give a good dose of fertilizer about the time they start, and keep well cultivated. Beans are among the easiest of all vegetables to grow, and as they can be dried for winter use, are especially valuable.
_Beets._
Any well-tilled, good garden soil will produce nice beets. Make drills or rows 18 in. apart, and plant the seed about 1 in. deep if earth is light and sandy, but only half an inch if heavy and sticky, as early as the ground can be put in condition. Cultivate often, and thin out the plants to about 3 in. apart. Sow at intervals of two or three weeks for successive crops up to the middle of July. An extra early lot can be had by starting seed in the house in boxes in February or March, and then setting the young plants out at time of first outdoor planting.
_Cabbage._
For early crop, start seed indoors in February or March and transplant, when four leaves appear, to another seed box until you can plant in open ground in May. For later crop sow seeds in rows in open ground during April and May, and transplant during July and August, to 20 in. apart, in rows 3 ft. apart. Cultivate often, to keep moisture in the soil.
Prepare to fight pests, early and late. After the seventy or more remedies suggested by one authority, for maggots alone, the amateur might feel like abandoning cabbage, but at the price this moment of $160.00 a ton, wholesale, in New York City, a person with even a handkerchief bed feels like attempting this luxury.
_Carrots._
Hardy and easily grown, they can be sown in rows that are 12 in. apart, and thinned out to 3 in. apart in the row. They can be started as early as April, and sown for succession up to the middle of July. Cultivate often.
_Cauliflower._
Treat like cabbage, except that you must start as early as possible, to get ahead of the hot weather, and give the plants plenty of water. When the heads are well-formed and firm, bring the outside leaves up and tie together, to shut out the sun and keep the heads white and tender. And don"t forget,--plenty of water!