Part 9

No variety of Petunia can be depended upon when grown in a mixed bed. A particularly fine variety may be lifted and planted on the opposite side of the house, either in the ground or in a window-box, or in a pot in the house. From one exceedingly fine specimen of the large ruffled variety, lifted and grown in a window-box on the opposite side of the house from the Petunia bed, I saved a single pod of seed from which I grew, the following year, sufficient plants for a large bed. No two of these were alike in colour, but they retained the immense size, ruffled edges, velvety texture and beautifully marked throats of the parent strain; some were a velvety crimson, nearly black, some white with crimson blotches, and some showed rare shades of grey.

Sweet Alyssum sows itself, and the trouble is usually not to save but to get rid of it. Candytuft may be saved, but the fewer flowers allowed to seed the better for the continuation of bloom. Where one does not actually need the seed all flowers should be removed as fast as they fade. No one thing will add so much to the appearance of the garden as this, as nothing is more untidy than flowers gone to seed.

Perennials are greatly benefited by having the withered flowers removed; indeed so noticeable is the advantage that some, like the Monkshood, will give a second crop of flowers, and those that will not respond in this way will be more robust and bloom more freely the next year.

Vincas, too, and Hibiscus bloom more freely if not allowed to seed, while Coleus should not even be allowed to bloom. Sweet-peas must on no account be permitted to seed unless grown for the purpose. Seed may be gathered from the Thunbergia, Maurandya, Adlumia, common Morning-glory and Hollyhock without risk of deterioration or harm to the vine. Antirrhinums suffer severely from seed-bearing, while the Ricinus, Lantanas and Salvias may be allowed to seed freely. Ageratums look rusty when ripening seed, and it pays to go over them frequently with the shears; this will keep them fresh and full of bloom until frost. One flower-head will furnish all the seed one is likely to want.

All seeds should be gathered when ripe and the foliage dry. They should be exposed to the air in any convenient receptacle, except in the case of the Thunbergias, Balsams, and others having pods which snap open and expel the seeds to a distance. These should be saved in paper bags until perfectly dry, when they may be freed from their husks by sifting or winnowing, and stored in paper bags, envelopes, or boxes. It pays to save the florists’ envelopes for this purpose, as they are already labelled. Never put seeds away unlabelled, and it is a good idea to add to the label the date, period of germination, with the colour of the bloom, height, and other data of interest. It is still better to keep a book of such information to which one may refer from year to year. There are frequent doubts concerning some operation—the season of starting the hotbed, the time it took a certain class of bulbs to bloom after potting, and the like. In all such cases the note-book offers unimpeachable evidence.

Chapter SIX Starting Seeds in Flats

There are many choice seeds, especially in the greenhouse varieties, that cannot be handled successfully in the hotbed—Begonias, Gloxinias, Cinerarias, and Primulas among them. All seeds too fine to be covered do better with house treatment. For starting these the shallow boxes or flats, as they are called, are used. Shallow cigar-boxes, or the larger ones sawed in two and the lid nailed on for the extra bottom, make convenient sizes for the finest seeds. They may be used from year to year if care is taken to store them away, at the end of the season, where they will keep dry and ready for use.

Holes for drainage should be bored in the bottom and covered with bits of glass or broken crockery. Fill with finely sifted leaf-mould to within an inch of the top and shake the earth smooth and even. A smooth piece of board, three inches wide and as long as the inside width of the flat, with a handle that can be easily grasped, is indispensable for pressing down the soil, both before and after sowing the seeds. It should be stored away with the flats at the end of the season.

Sow very fine seed broadcast, scattering it thinly and evenly over the surface and pressing it into the soil with the wood. It will be better to sow only part of a packet at a time. This will usually give all the plants of a kind wanted at one time, and if success does not follow this first trial there will be seed left for another sowing. Label plainly with the name and date of sowing, and, when known, the date of germination. Give the soil a thorough watering by setting the flat in lukewarm water until the water rises to the surface, but not above it. When the entire surface is wet, remove the box, draining off all surplus water by tipping on one corner, until the water ceases to run off. Cover the flat with a glass and sheet of white paper and place in a warm place—a shelf above a coal-stove or radiator is an excellent location, as it affords the bottom heat so essential in starting tender seeds. Seeds while germinating need but little light, and a box on a shelf in a living-room may be so screened as not to be unsightly. A shelf under another, having a light valance, is an ideal place, as the heat strikes more on the bottom of the box, leaving the top cool. Coarse seeds may be sown in rows and lightly covered, or enough fine white sand to merely cover may be sifted over them. Large seed, like the Asparagus Sprengeri may be pressed into the soil to twice their depth. Or the soil may first be covered with a thin layer of fine white sand, and the seeds sown on this and covered according to need. Sand counteracts the troublesome tendency to damping off caused by the presence of a minute fungus in the form of a fine moss or thread-like filaments covering the ground. Since this is the result of too much moisture, the remedy is to remove the glass, allowing the surplus moisture to pass off and the dry air to strike the soil for a short time. Care must be taken that the dryness does not extend below the surface. Drops of water on the glass indicate too much humidity. The glass should be removed, wiped, and aired. Where the plants are not too close together a crochet-hook or hat-pin may be used to scrape the moss or filament from the earth. This slight disturbance of the soil often serves to destroy the fungus. If the soil threatens to become dry, water carefully with a rubber sprinkler. If the dryness begins in the bottom, water as before by setting the flat in a pan of water.

When the plants have their second leaves give more air and remove the paper; in a day or two set in a light, warm window, screening from the hot sun by placing a piece of white paper between the box and the window glass. Leave the glass partly off the flat to admit air, and when the plants have their first true leaves remove it entirely for a part of the time.

When large enough to handle, transplant the seedlings into other flats, setting them one or two inches apart according to their growth. When the leaves again touch prick them out in two-inch pots of leaf-mould, placing a piece of crockery over the drainage hole and filling with earth to within half an inch of the top. Plunge the pots into a box of sand in a sunny window until large enough to go out of doors. As soon as the roots fill the pots shift to a size larger, using compost of two parts fibrous loam, four parts leaf-mould, one part old, well-rotted manure, and one part sharp white sand, all thoroughly sifted together. This is called fine compost, while soils that have not been sifted are known as rough compost. To remove sticks, stones, or hard bits of root put through a sand or coal-ash screen. A piece of wire netting slightly gathered up in the hand makes a convenient screen for a small quantity and a box with a netting bottom for larger quantities of earth.

By the time the plants again need shifting it should be warm enough to bed out all those that are to grow in the open ground, while those intended for the house must be shifted from pot to pot as they outgrow their quarters and be given such special treatment as the individual plants may require, always aiming at as thrifty a growth as possible. Plants intended for winter blooming must have all their buds removed and their branches pinched back according to their summer development.

Weak liquid manure may be given once a week during summer. Keep the sand in the sand-box wet at all times, but do not over-water. Water thoroughly and then allow the earth to become nearly dry before watering again; this alternate moisture and dryness allows the wood to ripen and make a stockier growth and one that will stand frequent changes of temperature better than the tender growth induced by over-watering.

Chapter SEVEN Transplanting and Repotting

Tender annuals should not be planted out of doors until all danger of frost is past—usually about the twentieth of May in the latitude of Detroit and Chicago, and correspondingly earlier in the latitude of Philadelphia. Corn-planting time is safe in all latitudes. Even hardy annuals, if not too crowded, do better in hotbeds and boxes until the nights are warm. Vines especially suffer from cold nights and cold ground, and often receive a set-back from which they may not recover all summer.

It is best to prepare the beds a few days in advance that they may settle, as freshly dug soil is too loose for the roots of tender seedlings.

For solid beds of one flower make straight, parallel rows about nine inches apart for plants like Pansies, and from twelve to eighteen for Asters and their kind. A most convenient method is to use a board the length of the bed, or as long as convenient, with the distance between the plants marked on it. By using a board wide enough to stand or kneel on, stepping on the bed is avoided. On a round bed the lines may run straight across or they may radiate from the centre, in which case it will be necessary to skip a part of every other row, as the rows run together at the top.

It is better to transplant on a bright, warm day when the soil is dry than on a damp or wet one. Never transplant when the soil is wet. Many people take advantage of an approaching rain to set out plants, but this is a doubtful practice. If the rain is followed by several days of cloudy weather, it may do, but if followed by hot sunshine the plants will suffer more than if first planted in sunshine in hot, dry weather.

Only as many plants should be lifted from the hotbed at one time as may be transplanted before they wilt badly. The plants should be well watered the night before, that they may have a good supply of moisture stored, and that the soil may be moist and cling closely to their roots.

With the trowel make a hole deep enough to receive the roots without crowding, place the plant, fill the hole with water, and when that has partly disappeared press the earth firmly about the roots. Work the surface earth fine and smooth about the plant, taking care that it is perfectly dry. If, after setting the bed, wet spots appear, go over them carefully with dry earth. Do not cover or protect in any way; far more plants are lost by so-called protection than by any other form of mismanagement. If the planting has been done properly the roots will keep cool and damp—the mulch of earth preventing evaporation. This being the case, the tops will take care of themselves if sun and air have free access and the wind can sweep across them. Planting, as it is usually done—with the surface left wet, and the air shut away from the top—causes the water to evaporate rapidly in the hot air, and the plant is literally cooked to death. The water applied to the roots at planting will usually last for several days. The condition of the soil may be ascertained by removing a portion of the surface. If the earth underneath is found to be drying out too much make a hole on one side of the plant and fill it with water as before, carefully replacing the mulch of dry earth. Should it rain before the plants have become established the earth must be worked over as soon as it begins to dry that the moisture may be retained. If these directions are carefully carried out the tenderest plants may be transplanted in the hottest sun without injury. Occasionally a plant will wilt from exposure before planting, but it will be all right the next day—unless it was really injured before being placed in the ground. I repeat the caution to lift no more plants at one time than may be set in the ground before they wilt; to form a fine mulch of dry earth over the soil; to cover plants in no way, and to use no water on the surface for a few days until they have become established, which they will indicate by spreading out their leaves and making ready to grow. This method of planting should be followed in moving plants from one part of the garden to another, in resetting clumps of perennials, in bedding out house-plants and those received by mail. Where these last have had part or all of the soil removed it will greatly benefit them to set them in pots until these are filled with roots.

It is desirable that young plants should be kept growing vigorously all the time, and frequent shifting is necessary. Whenever the earth becomes full of roots, or the ball of earth is covered with a network of roots, the plant should be shifted into a pot a size larger.

“Shifting” means changing the plant to a pot a size larger without disturbing the ball of earth, while “repotting” properly means an entire renewal of the soil, the same sized crock being sometimes used. Shifting may be done at any time, even though the plant be in full bloom, while repotting should be done when the plant is dormant, as it is likely to cause the buds to blast and the foliage to droop. Plants less than a year old are better shifted than repotted—especially such as have neither bloomed nor shown any decided tendency to rest. After blooming and resting, if they are in as large a pot as you care to handle, they may be repotted in fresh soil, care being taken not to injure the roots, while dead roots should be removed with the shears. When a plant has outgrown its pot and it is inexpedient to give it a larger one—especially if it is not making a very vigorous top growth, part of the roots may be removed by running a knife down on two sides of the plant, which should not be disturbed afterward until the roots begin to grow anew, say, in three or four weeks, when it may be repotted with good rich soil.

In shifting plants turn them out of the pot without disturbing the ball of earth. This may be done by placing the hand over the pot, reversing it and giving it a sharp tap on the edge of the table, which will loosen it. Sometimes, when a plant has become pot bound, it will stick to the sides of the pot, when a stick inserted in the drainage hole against the stone in the bottom will usually loosen it. Having removed the plant from the pot, take out the old drainage material carefully, place in a pot a size or two larger an inch or two of broken charcoal covered with a little sphagnum moss to prevent the earth working into the drainage and clogging it. Fill in as much earth as the difference in the size of pot seems to require, working it well up around the sides with the trowel; press the old pot into this to make a hole the proper size and shape; place the plant, press the earth around it, and add more if needed. Water well and return to its place on the shelf or in the sand-box.

In potting some plants will require to have the soil pressed much more firmly around the roots than others. Those which make a soft growth, such as Impatiens sultana, various Primulas, Cinerarias, and most tuberous plants, like Begonias and Gloxinias, may be potted rather loosely, that is, with the earth pressed down lightly. Geraniums should be potted much more firmly, while such hard-wooded plants as Roses, Hibiscus, Otaheite Orange and Fuchsias, should be potted very hard indeed. Many failures in plant growing may be traced to neglect of this rule.

Cuttings of common house-plants are so easily rooted that it seems almost superfluous to give directions for handling them. Geraniums, Petunias, Coleus, and the like will rarely fail to root if stuck in the ground by the side of the plant; they will do still better if placed in the sand-box. On the whole I prefer to set them in small pots of earth plunged in the sand-box and kept moist, as by this method they do not suffer the shock of disturbance when ready to pot off.

A word about the selection of cuttings will not be amiss, as failure to choose wisely often results in the loss of the cutting, or in a poor or straggly plant. Quick, tender growths are not suitable for cuttings, except in the case of the Chinese Hibiscus, where the extreme tips are used for rooting; hard or woody growths are equally undesirable. The part where the new wood begins to harden and will break with a snap is best. No cutting should be over two or three inches long. The little, stubby side branches on Geraniums are best, and as soon as growth begins these should be pinched back to within an inch of the ground, or to the lowest buds on the stalks; this insures a stocky plant, branching close to the ground. Heliotropes do not root readily and should be started in wet sand in full sunshine and covered with a glass, which should be lifted occasionally to allow the surplus moisture to pass off, or in a bottle of water hung in a sunny window. Rose cuttings are so easily and so quickly rooted in the sand-box that it seems a waste of time to try any other way. In cutting Roses for bouquets, during summer, one should be generous with stems, cutting down to a robust leaf-bud in the axil of a leaf. After the Roses have faded the stems may be used for cuttings, dividing them into as many lengths as the buds allow, leaving two or three buds to a cutting. By this method one may have a large number of young Rose plants with little trouble and no expense. Coleus cuttings are quickly rooted by putting them in a glass dish filled with water and set in a warm place. If in the fall it is desired to save choice varieties growing on the lawn, large cuttings may be taken of the finest plants. Grouped together in a bowl, they are sightly and root readily. As the plants begin to grow they are likely to lose their large leaves—the new growths starting at the axils of these push them off—injuring the appearance of the plant. They should be potted off as soon as possible, the tops pinched out, and the plant encouraged to grow vigorously. To this end a warm, even temperature is necessary, sudden chills being fatal.

Gloxinias may be started in the sand-box by laying a leaf flat on the sand, in partial shade, covering the stem end with the sand. A callus will soon form, followed presently by a bulb. This may be as large as a hazel-nut before top growth begins. When tiny leaves appear the plant may be lifted and potted and grown until it blooms. It is not necessary to rest Gloxinias—either from seeds or cuttings—before they have bloomed. Begonias and Achimenes are rooted in the same way. Umbrella-plants are started by placing face down in a dish of water in the sun. Rubber and any other hard-wooded plants may be rooted by making an incision in the under side of a branch near a leaf, at a point where the wood has begun to harden, and wrapping the wound in a quantity of sphagnum moss, kept constantly wet. A thread should be tied to the branch on the side farthest from the main stalk and attached to a limb above to hold the cut slightly open that it may quickly become calloused. After a time roots will make their appearance through the moss, when the branch may be removed and potted. A method sometimes employed, when it is desired to save the crown of a plant which has a leggy or unshapely undergrowth, is to partly sever the stem at the point at which it is desired to root the plant, cutting out a wedge-shaped piece and packing with sphagnum moss. Or a small flower-pot, divided in halves, may be fitted around the cut, the bottom of the pot resting on a lower limb or other support, and filled with earth or sand kept constantly moist.

Cuttings liable to decay, as are some of the Cacti, may often be saved by tying them to a bit of wood and inserting that in the ground so that the end of the cutting just rests on the surface. In this way the air will reach and harden it so that a callus can form. Without the formation of the callus the sap escapes and the branch withers or decays. When the callus forms the imprisoned sap goes to the formation of roots. Some plants form more pronounced calluses than others—particularly the Gloxinia and Rose.