If you live in a city, you may be interested in a garden I have seen, which ran along the side and rear end of a long, narrow lot. The tallest flowers,--dahlias and hollyhocks,--were at the back of the bed, at the extreme end, and although late in flowering, formed a beautiful green background for the rest all summer. The first irregular section was given up to the blues, and--planted with both annual and perennial larkspur, and cornflowers,--kept the dining-table supplied with blossoms to match the old blue china until the frost came.
Frost, by the way, you will find of two kinds,--h.o.a.r frost, which the Psalmist so vividly described when he said, "He scattereth the h.o.a.rfrost like ashes," and which injures only the tenderest flowers; and black frost, which is of intense enough cold to freeze the sap within the plant cells, so that when the sun"s heat melts this frozen sap the plant--leaf and stalk--wilts down and turns black. Therefore, both in the early spring and the late fall, you must watch out for Jack, whichever garb he dons, and give your tender plants some nighty covering.
A LITTLE BED FOR A LITTLE GIRL
If you can have only one small bed, however, you can get a lot of pleasure out of it most of the season if you will carefully choose your plants. Pansies set along the outer edge will blossom until mid-summer if you keep them picked and watered every day; and verbenas, which have the same harmonizing shades, you can count on blooming until late in the fall. They would be attractive in either of the following simple designs:
[Ill.u.s.tration: FLOWERS THAT WILL BLOOM FROM EARLY SUMMER UNTIL FROST]
Candytuft for a border, with petunias in the center, is another combination that should blossom from June until frost. Poppies and cornflowers would also last all summer if you would keep out part of the seed and sow a couple of times at intervals of several weeks. The combinations of red and blue is very pretty, too. Sweet alyssum, with red or pink geraniums, would be lovely all season. For an all yellow bed, plant California poppies to bloom early in the border, and African marigolds, or Tom Thumb nasturtiums to bloom in the center from July on late into the fall. With any of the combinations suggested you could gather flowers almost any time you pleased, for they are all profuse bloomers.
WINDOW BOXES
If you are a little city child, and can have only a flower box in a window or along a porch-rail, cheer up! There is still a chance for you to have posies all the long hot days. After having your box filled with good, rich soil on top of a layer of broken crockery or stones,--for drainage, you know,--you can plant running nasturtiums along the edge for a hanging vine. Inside of that plant a row of the blue lobelia, or set in a few pansies already in bloom. Then you would have room for still another row of taller plants,--say pink and white geraniums, with a fern or two. Another pretty box could be made by putting Wandering Jew or "inch plant" along the edge for the drooping vine, then blue ageratum for your edging, with next a row of lovely pink begonias. As it takes a number of weeks for any seeds to grow and come to flower, you might better save your candy pennies and buy a few blooming plants from the spring pedlar. They will gladden your heart while waiting.
All kinds of green add to these little boxes, and all the white flowers soften and help to blend the bright colors. China asters, in white, pink, and lavender, are lovely in a window box, and if started in shallow trays or old pots early in the spring, can be transplanted later. Then when your early flowers have seen their best days, you can remove them, put in your asters, and have beauties all fall.
CHAPTER III
Flowers that Must be Renewed Every Year--(Annuals)
And "tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.
--_Wordsworth._
IF you want flowers that grow quickly, plant annuals! Some will bloom within six weeks, so if you can help out meantime with some transplanted roots and bulbs, you will have flowers from the first of the season.
"Plant thickly," says one writer. "It is easier and more profitable to grow flowers than weeds."
The following annuals can be sown outdoors late in April, as far North as New York, in ordinary seasons,--only remember that those marked with a * do not like to be transplanted:--
Alyssum Aster Candytuft Chrysanthemum (Annual) Coreopsis (Annual) Cosmos G.o.detia Larkspur (Annual) Marigold Nicotiana Pansy Petunia Phlox Drummondi Pink, Chinese Salvia Stock, Ten Weeks"
Zinnia * California Poppy * Cornflower * Mignonette * Morning glory * Nasturtium * Portulaca * Sweet Sultan
OUTDOOR PLANTING
Have the soil in your flower bed made fine and light with sand and fertilizer, and entirely free from sticks and stones. If it should happen to be already too sandy, add black loam or leaf mold. (Either father or brother will probably have time to help you get this right.)
Plant your seeds evenly, and rather sparingly if you do not want to pull up a lot later on account of being crowded. And you can plant either in lines or scatter in patches in bed or border, as you prefer, only be sure that the seed is covered about four times its own depth. A few things, like poppies and portulaca, have such tiny seeds that it is best to mix them with half a teaspoonful of fine soil, and scatter it where you wish, afterwards pressing down firmly with a small board.
TRANSPLANTING--ANNUALS
When your plants have developed a few leaves, and are big enough to handle, prepare to transplant them. This exercise does them good, and while a few resent it, the rest will grow better and be stronger. Choose morning or evening for the work, although it can be done at any time on a cloudy day. (One of my friends loves to do her transplanting in the rain!) Be sure that the ground is thoroughly damp, even if you have to sprinkle it well beforehand.
PUDDLING
Lift each seedling with a spoon, so as to keep a ball of the moist earth around the roots, set it in a hole made where you want your flower to grow, and then fill up this hole with water before you begin to put in the rest of the soil. This is called puddling, and will enable you to do your transplanting with the least possible disturbance to the roots.
Next add all the soil necessary to fill up the hole, and press firmly around the plant. Then cover with an old can or berry box, or even a cone of newspaper held in place with stones, until the seedling has had time to get used to its new surroundings. And remember that this "puddling," followed by protection from the sun, will enable you to transplant almost anything you wish, successfully.
SWEET PEAS
Sweet peas require peculiar treatment for an annual. As early as the ground can be worked,--about the middle of March around New York,--get some one to dig you a trench (and it is best to have it run north and south), about fifteen inches deep. Have put in this trench a layer of well-rotted manure, then a layer of soil, a sprinkling of wood ashes, and then another layer of soil, filling the trench until it is left only six or eight inches deep. Soak your seeds over night in warm water to make them start more quickly, and then plant them two inches apart, in a double row. Cover with only a few inches of soil until they sprout, and then gradually fill up the trench as the vines grow. Train them on brush or chicken wire, and keep them well watered in order to get the best results.
The latest method I have had recommended for growing sweet peas,--but which I have not tried,--is to have the soil just as carefully prepared, but then to rake it smooth, make a straight drill only half an inch deep, and plant 3 seeds every 6 inches in the row. If all three grow, pull up the two weakest, leaving only the best plant every 16 inches apart. This way,--with plenty of water and cultivation, is said to produce the very finest kind of flowers. You might try a few on the side.
During the hot weather put gra.s.s clippings around the roots to help keep them moist and protected from the hot sun. Cut the flowers every day in order to prolong their blooming.
A word about names, though, before we go a step farther. I intended at first to give you only the common names, despite the protests of a very good friend,--an English botanist. To clinch her argument one day, she exclaimed with considerable heat, "Why, what they call "baby"s breath"
here on Long Island might be "infant"s sneeze" up in Connecticut! But if you tell the children it"s real name is GYPSOPHILA, they"ll never be mistaken."
And later, when I found that foxglove (originally Folk"s glove, alluding to the "little folk," or fairies) has been known also--according to Holland--as Thimbles, Fairy Cap, Fairy Fingers, Fairy Thimbles, Fairy Bells, Dog"s Fingers, Finger Flowers, Lady"s Glove, Lady Fingers, Lady"s Thimble, Pop Dock, Flap Dock, Flop Dock, Lion"s Mouth, Rabbit"s Flower, Cottages, Throatwort, and Scotch Mercury, I concluded I would better urge you to remember its Latin name, DIGITALIS, by which the plant is known the world over.
The botanical terms will easily stick in your mind, too, because they are unusual. Then people who are familiar with flowers will know exactly what you are talking about, and you yourself will always have a certain pride in the scientific knowledge that enables you to call things by their right name.
You will see, if you study the lists given, what a simple matter it is to plan for a garden, big or little, and with reasonable care you will be rewarded with flowers throughout the season. The following list will give you more explicit information about the ones people like best:--
FLOWERS THAT MUST BE RENEWED EVERY YEAR
A GUIDE TO THE COMMON ANNUALS
NOTE.--The time that they will bloom and the quality of your flowers will depend on the time you sow your seed, on your soil, your location, and your care. The dates given apply to the locality around New York, and will be earlier if you are South, and later if North, of this section. Both the height and the flowering time of the same plants vary with the different varieties, so find out the particular kind you get.
The richer the soil, the finer the flowers, as a rule, and therefore fertilizer of some kind should be applied at least once a season, about the time the buds are forming.
================+=======+=======+==========+===========+=========+========+========SOWSOWGOODBLOOMING NAMECOLORHEIGHTINDOORSOUTDOORSFORPLACESEASON ----------------+-------+-------+----------+-----------+---------+--------+-------- AgeratumBlue8 in.MarchMayEdgingSunJune to (_AgeratumWhitefrost conyzoides_)Alyssum, SweetWhite4 toMarchApril toEdgingSunJune to8 in.Sept.frostAntirrhinum,seeSnapdragonAster, ChinaWhite18 toMarchApril,BedSunAug. to (_CallistephusPink24 in.MaySept.
hortensis_)VioletBaby"s BreathWhite1 toAprilBorderSunMay (_Gypsophila_)2 ft.(sowagain)Bachelor"sb.u.t.tons, seeCornflowerBalsamWhite1 toMarchMayBorderSunJuly to (_ImpatiensRed2 ft.AprilBedOct.
balsamina_)YellowCaliforniaYellow12 in.AprilEdgingSunJune to PoppyWhite(sow infrost (_EschscholtziaOrangesuccession)Californica_)CandytuftWhite6 toApril,EdgingSunJune to (_Iberis_)Pink8 in.and everyfrostRedtwo weeksafterCastor-oil Bean3 toAprilTropicalSunUntil (_Ricinus_)8 ft.effectsfrostChina Aster,see Aster[A]CoreopsisYellow1 toAprilBorderSunJune to (_Coreopsis3 ft.BedOct.
lanceolata_)CornflowerBlue1 toAprilBorderSunJune to (_Centaurea2 ft.Bedfrost cya.n.u.s_)CosmosWhite4 toMarchAprilBack ofSunJuly toPink8 ft.borderfrostCrimsonCypress VineRed10 toAprilMayScreenSunJune, (_Ipom[oe]aWhite20 ft.July quamoc.l.i.t_)Eschscholtzia,see CaliforniaPoppy[B]Forget-me-notBlue6 toApril toBedHalfApril to (_Myosotis_)18 in.JulyShadefallFloss Flower,see AgeratumGilliflower,see Ten Weeks"StockG.o.detiaWhite1 toMarchMayBorderShadeJuly toRed2 ft.BedorOct.
sunGypsophila,seeBaby"s BreathHyacinth BeanPurple10 toMayScreenSunJuly to (_Dolichos_)White20 ft.frostLady"s Slipper,see BalsamLarkspur, AnnualWhite1 toAprilBorderSunJuly to (_Delphinium_)Pink3 ftBedfrostBlueLobeliaBlue6 toMarchMayEdgingSunJune to (_Lobelia12 in.Nov.
erinus_)LupinMost2 ft.SuccessiveFrom May onBorderPartialFrom (_Lupinus_)shadessowingBedshadeJune onMarigold,Yellow2 ft.MarchMayBorderSunAfricanBedAug. to (_Tagetesfrost erecta_)MignonetteWhite1 ft.AprilBorderSunJune to (_ResedaRedand JulyBedOct.
odorata_)YellowMorning-gloryWhite10 toAprilVineSunJuly to (_Convolvulus_)Pink20 ft.frostPurpleMyosotis, seeForget-me-notNasturtiumYellows1 toAprilClimberSunJuly to (_Tropaeolum_)to reds10 ft.MayDwarffrostNicotiana, seeTobacco Plant[A]Pansy (_ViolaNo red6 toFeb.AprilBedHalfMay to tricolor_)12 in.MayshadeOct.
PetuniaWhite1 toOn surfaceBorderSunJune to (_Petuniato2 ft.in MayBedfrost hybrida_)MagentaPhlox, AnnualWhite1 ft.MarchMayBorderSunJune to (_PhloxPinkBedfrost Drummondi_)Red[B]Pink, ChineseWhite1 ft.Feb.MarchBorderSunAll (_DianthusPinkAprilBedsummer Chinensis_)RosePoppy, ShirleyWhite1 toMarch,BedSunJune to (_PapaverPink2 ft.AprilOct.
rhaeas_)RedLater forsuccessionPortulacaNo blue6 toMay 1stCarpetingInAll (_Portulaca9 in.dry,summer grandiflora_)sunnypositionRose Moss,see PortulacaSage, Blue orScarlet,see Salvia[A]SalviaWhite3 ft.MarchMayBorderSunJuly toBlueBedfrostScarletScarlet RunnerRed12 ft.AprilClimberSunJuly to Beanfrost[A]SnapdragonNo blue1 toMarchMayBorderSunJuly to (_Antirrhinum_)3 ft.BedfrostStock,White1 toMarchMayBorderSunJuly to Ten Weeks"Pink2 ft.Bedfrost (_MatthiolaPurpleincana_)SunflowerYellow3 toAprilBack ofSunJuly to (_Helianthus12 ft.bedfrost annus_)Sun Plant,see PortulacaSweet PeaAll3 toMarchBack ofSunJuly to (_LathyrusColors6 ft.borderOct.
odoratus_)vines[B]Sweet WilliamWhite12 toAprilBorderSunJuly to (_Dianthus18 in.BedOct.
barbatus_)PinkRedTobacco PlantWhite2 toMayBorderSunJuly to (_Nicotiana_)Pink5 ft.Oct.
RedPurpleVerbenaNo Blue1 ft.MarchMayBorderSunJune toBedOct.
ZinniaYellows1 toMarchMayBorderSunJune to (_Zinniato reds2 ft.BedOct.
elegans_)----------------+-------+-------+----------+-----------+---------+--------+--------
FOOTNOTES: