Eugene Labiche and Edouard Martin - "Le Voyage De Monsieur Perrichon"

Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] - "Don Juan, ou le Festin de pierre"

Coleridge - "Specimens of the Table Talk of S.T.Coleridge"

Lucy M. Rossetti - "Mrs. Shelley"

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Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. Bailey

L >> L. H. Bailey >> Manual of Gardening (Second Edition)




_Aquarium._

A pleasant adjunct to a window-garden, living room, or conservatory, is
a large glass globe or glass box containing water, in which plants and
animals are living and growing. A solid glass tank or globe is better
than a box with glass sides, because it does not leak, but the box must
be used if one wants a large aquarium. For most persons it is better to
buy the aquarium box than to attempt to make it. Five points are
important in making and keeping an aquarium:

(1) The equilibrium between plant and animal life must be secured and
maintained;

(2) the aquarium must be open on top to the air or well ventilated;

(3) the temperature should be kept between 40 deg. and 50 deg. for ordinary
animals and plants (do not place in full sun in a hot window);

(4) it is well to choose such animals for the aquarium as are adapted to
life in still water;

(5) the water must be kept fresh, either by the proper balance of plant
and animal life or by changing the water frequently, or by both.

The aquatic plants of the neighborhood may be kept in the
aquarium,--such things as myriophyllums, charas, eel-grass, duckmeats or
lemnas, cabomba or fish grass, arrow-leafs or sagittaria, and the like;
also the parrot's feather, to be bought of florists (a species of
myriophyllum). Of animals, there are fishes (particularly minnows),
water insects, tadpoles, clams, snails. If the proper balance is
maintained between plant and animal life, it will not be necessary to
change the water so frequently.



CHAPTER VIII

THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS--INSTRUCTIONS ON PARTICULAR KINDS

In the preceding chapter advice is given that applies to groups or
classes of plants, and many lists are inserted to guide the grower in
his choice or at least to suggest to him the kinds of things that may be
grown for certain purposes or conditions. It now remains to give
instructions on the growing of particular kinds or species of plants.

It is impossible to include instructions on any great number of plants
in a book like this. It is assumed that the user of this book already
knows how to grow the familiar or easily handled plants; if he does not,
a book is not likely to help him very much. In this chapter all such
things as the common annuals and perennials and shrubs and trees are
omitted. If the reader is in doubt about any of these, or desires
information concerning them, he will have to consult the catalogues of
responsible seedsmen and nurserymen or cyclopedic works, or go to some
competent person for advice.

In this chapter are brought together instructions on the growing of such
plants commonly found about home grounds and in window-gardens as seem
to demand somewhat special or particular treatment or about which the
novice is likely to ask; and of course these instructions must be brief.

[Illustration: XVII. The peony. One of the most steadfast of garden
flowers.]

It may be repeated here that a person cannot expect to grow a plant
satisfactorily until he learns the natural time of the plant to grow and
to bloom. Many persons handle their begonias, cacti, and azaleas as if
they should be active the whole year round. The key to the situation
is water: at what part of the year to withhold and at what part to apply
is one of the very first things to learn.

ABUTILONS, or flowering maples as they are often called, make good
house plants and bedding plants. Nearly all house gardeners have at
least one plant.

Common abutilons may be grown from seed or from cuttings of young wood.
If the former, the seed should be sown in February or March in a
temperature of not less than 60 deg.. The seedlings should be potted when
about four to six leaves have grown, in a rich sandy soil. Frequent
pottings should be made to insure a rapid growth, making plants large
enough to flower by fall. Or the seedlings may be planted out in the
border when danger of frost is over, and taken up in the fall before
frost; these plants will bloom all winter. About one half of the newer
growth should be cut off when they are taken up, as they are very liable
to spindle up when grown in the house. When grown from cuttings, young
wood should be used, which, after being well rooted, may be treated in
the same way as the seedlings.

The varieties with variegated leaves have been improved until the
foliage effects are equal to the flowers of some varieties; and these
are a great addition to the conservatory or window garden. The staple
spotted-leaved type is _A. Thompsoni._ A compact form, now much used for
bedding and other outdoor work, is _Savitzii,_ which is a horticultural
variety, not a distinct species. The old-fashioned green-leaved _A.
striatum,_ from which _A. Thompsoni_ has probably sprung, is one of the
best. _A. megapotamicum_ or _vexillarium_ is a trailing or drooping
red-and-yellow-flowered species that is excellent for baskets, although
not now much seen. It propagates readily from seed. There is a form with
spotted leaves.

Abutilons are most satisfactory for house plants when they are not much
more than a year old. They need no special treatment.

AGAPANTHUS, or African lily _(Agapanthus umbellatus_ and several
varieties).--A tuberous-rooted, well-known conservatory or window plant,
blooming in summer. Excellent for porch and yard decoration. It lends
itself to many conditions and proves satisfactory a large part of the
year, the leaves forming a green arch over the pot, covering it entirely
in a well-grown specimen. The flowers are borne in a large cluster on
stems growing 2-3 ft. high, as many as two or three hundred bright blue
flowers often forming on a single plant. A large, well-grown plant
throws up a number of flower-stalks through the early season.

The one essential to free growth is an abundance of water and an
occasional application of manure water. Propagation is effected by
division of the offsets, which may be broken from the main plant in
early spring. After flowering, gradually lessen the quantity of water
until they are placed in winter quarters, which should be a position
free from frost and moderately dry. The agapanthus, being a heavy
feeder, should be grown in strong loam to which is added well-rotted
manure and a little sand. When dormant, the roots will withstand a
little frost.

Alstremeria.--The alstremerias (of several species) belong to the
amaryllis family, being tuberous-rooted plants, having leafy stems
terminating in a cluster of ten to fifty small lily-shaped flowers of
rich colors in summer.

Most of the alstremerias should be given pot culture, as they are easily
grown and are not hardy in the open in the North. The culture is nearly
that of the amaryllis,--a good, fibrous loam with a little sand, potting
the tubers in early spring or late fall. Start the plants slowly, giving
only enough water to cause root growth; but after growth has become
established, a quantity of water may be given. After flowering they may
be treated as are amaryllis or agapanthus. The roots may be divided, and
the old and weak parts shaken out. The plants grow 1-3 ft. high. The
flowers often have odd colors.

Amaryllis.--The popular name of a variety of house or conservatory
tender bulbs, but properly applied only to the Belladonna lily. Most of
them are hippeastrums, but the culture of all is similar. They are
satisfactory house plants for spring and summer bloom. One difficulty
with their culture is the habit of the flower-stalk starting into growth
before the leaves grow. This is caused in most cases by stimulating root
growth before the bulb has had sufficient rest.

The bulbs should be dormant four or five months in a dry place with a
temperature of about 50 deg.. When wanted to be brought into flower, the
bulbs, if to be repotted, should have all the dirt shaken off and potted
in soil composed of fibrous loam and leafmold, to which should be added
a little sand. If the loam is heavy, place the pot in a warm situation;
a spent hotbed is a good place. Water as needed, and as the flowers
develop liquid manure may be given. If large clumps are well established
in 8-or 10-inch pots, they may be top-dressed with new soil containing
rotted manure, and as growth increases liquid manure may be given twice
a week until the flowers open. After flowering, gradually withhold water
until the leaves die, or plunge the pots in the open, in a sunny place.
The most popular species for window-gardens is _A. Johnsoni_ (properly a
hippeastrum), with red flowers. Figs. 257, 261.

Bulbs received from dealers should be placed in pots not much broader
than the bulb, and the neck of the bulb should not be covered. Keep
rather dry until active growth begins. The ripened bulbs, in fall, may
be stored as potatoes, and then brought out in spring as rapidly as any
of them show signs of growth.

Anemone.--The wind-flowers are hardy perennials, of easy culture, one
group (the _Anemone coronaria, fulgens,_ and _hortensis_ forms) being
treated as bulbs. These tuberous-rooted plants should be planted late in
September or early in October, in a well-enriched sheltered border,
setting the tubers 3 in. deep and 4-6 in. apart. The surface of the
border should be mulched with leaves or strawy manure through the severe
winter weather, uncovering the soil in March. The flowers will appear in
April or May, and in June or July the tubers should be taken up and
placed in dry sand until the following fall. These plants are not as
well known as they should be. The range of color is very wide. The
flowers are often 2 in. across, and are lasting. The tubers may be
planted in pots, bringing them into the conservatory or house at
intervals through the winter, where they make an excellent showing
when in bloom.

The Japanese anemone is a wholly different plant from the above. There
are white-flowered and red-flowered varieties. The best known is _A.
Japonica_ var. _alba,_ or Honorine Jobert. This species blooms from
August to November, and is at that season the finest of border plants.
The pure white flowers, with lemon-colored stamens, are held well up on
stalks 2-3 ft. high. The flower-stems are long and excellent for
cutting. This species may be propagated by division of the plants or by
seed. The former method should be employed in the spring; the latter, as
soon as the seeds are ripe in the fall. Sow the seed in boxes in a warm,
sheltered situation in the border or under glass. The seed should be
covered lightly with soil containing a quantity of sand and not allowed
to become dry. A well-enriched, sheltered position in a border should
be given.

The little wild wind-flowers are easily colonized in a hardy border.

ARALIA, _A. Sieboldii_ (properly _Fatsia Japonica_ and _F.
papyrifera),_ as it is sometimes called, and the variety _variegata,_
with large, palmlike leaves, are grown for their tropical appearance.

Sow in February, in shallow trays and light soil, in a temperature of
65 deg.. Continue the temperature. When two or three leaves have formed,
transplant into other trays 1 in. apart. Sprinkle them with a fine rose
or spray; and do not allow them to suffer for water. Later transfer them
to small pots and repot them as they grow. Plant out in beds after the
weather has become warm and settled. Half-hardy perennials in the North,
becoming 3 ft. or more high; a shrub in the South and in California.
Used often in subtropical work.

ARAUCARIA, or Norfolk Island pine, is now sold in pots by florists
as a window plant. There are several species. The greenhouse specimens
are the juvenile state of plants that become large trees in their native
regions; therefore, it is not to be expected that they will keep shapely
and within bounds indefinitely.

The common species _(A. excelsa_) makes a symmetrical evergreen subject.
It keeps well in a cool window, or on the veranda in the summer. Protect
it from direct sunlight, and give plenty of room. If the plant begins to
fail, return it to the florist for recuperation, or procure a new plant.

AURICULA.--A half-hardy perennial of the primrose tribe _(Primula
Auricula),_ very popular in Europe, but little grown in America on
account of the hot, dry summers.

In this country auriculas are usually propagated by seed, as for
cineraria; but special varieties are perpetuated by offsets. Seeds sown
in February or March should give blooming plants for the next February
or March. Keep the plants cool and moist, and away from the direct sun
during the summer. Gardeners usually grow them in frames. In the fall,
they are potted into 3-in. or 4-in. pots, and made to bloom either in
frames as for violets or in a cool conservatory or greenhouse. In April,
after blooming has ceased, repot the plants and treat as the previous
year. As with most annual-blooming perennials, best results are to be
expected with year-old or two-year-old plants. Auriculas grow 6-8 in.
high. Colors white and many shades of red and blue.

AZALEAS are excellent outdoor and greenhouse shrubs, and are
sometimes seen in windows. They are less grown in this country than in
Europe, largely because of our hot, dry summers and severe winters.

There are two common types or classes of azaleas: the hardy or Ghent
azaleas, and the Indian azaleas. The latter are the familiar
large-flowered azaleas of conservatories and window-gardens.

Ghent azaleas thrive in the open along the seacoast as far north as
southern New England. They require a sandy peaty soil, but are treated
as other shrubs are. The large flower-buds are liable to injury from the
warm suns of late winter and early spring, and to avoid this injury the
plants are often protected by covers or shades of brush. In the interior
country, little attempt is made to flower azaleas permanently in the
open, although they may be grown if carefully tended and well protected.

Both Ghent and Indian azaleas are excellent pot-plants for bloom in late
winter and spring. The plants are imported in great numbers from Europe
in fall, and it is better to buy these plants than to attempt to
propagate them. Pot them up in large-sized pots, keep them cool and
backward for a time until they are established, then take them into a
conservatory temperature in which carnations and roses thrive. They
should be potted in a soil of half peat or well-decayed mold and half
rich loam; add a little sand. Pot firmly, and be sure to provide
sufficient drainage. Keep off red spider by syringing.

After blooming, the plants may be thinned by pruning out the straggling
growths, and repotted. Set them in a frame or in a semi-shaded place
during summer, and see that they make a good growth. The wood should be
well ripened in the fall. After cold weather sets in, keep the Indian or
evergreen kinds half dormant by setting them in a cool, dull-lighted
cellar or pit, bringing them in when wanted for bloom. The Ghent or
deciduous kinds may be touched with frost without injury; and they may
be kept in a cellar until wanted.

BEGONIAS are familiar tender bedding and house plants. Next to the
geranium, begonias are probably the most popular for house culture of
the entire plant list. The ease of culture, great variety of kinds,
profusion of bloom or richness of foliage, together with their
adaptability to shade, make them very desirable.

Begonias may be divided into three sections: the fibrous-rooted class,
which contains the winter-flowering, branching kinds; the rex forms, or
beefsteak geraniums, having large ornamental leaves; the
tuberous-rooted, those that bloom through the summer, the tuber resting
in the winter.

_The fibrous-rooted kinds_ may be propagated by seed or cuttings, the
latter being the usual method. Cuttings of half-ripened wood root
easily, making a rapid growth, the plants flowering in a few months.

_The rex type,_ having no branches, is propagated from the leaves. The
large mature leaves are used. The leaf may be cut into sections, having
at the base a union of two ribs. These pieces of leaves may be inserted
in the sand as any other cutting. Or a whole leaf may be used, cutting
through the ribs at intervals and laying the leaf flat on the
propagating bench or other warm, moist place. In a short time young
plants having roots of their own will form. These may be potted when
large enough to handle, and will soon make good plants (Fig 125).

Rex begonias usually grow little during winter, and they should
therefore be kept fairly dry and no effort made to push them. Be sure
that the pots are well drained, so that the soil does not become sour.
New plants--those a year or so old--are usually most satisfactory. Keep
them away from direct sunlight. An insidious disease of rex begonia
leaves has recently made its appearance. The best treatment yet known is
to propagate fresh plants, throwing away the old stock and the dirt in
which it is grown.

_The tuberous-rooted begonias_ make excellent bedding plants for those
who learn their simple but imperative requirements. They are also good
pot subjects for summer.

The amateur would better not attempt to grow the tuberous begonias from
seed. He should purchase good two-year tubers. These should be able to
run for two or three years before they are so old or so much spent that
they give unsatisfactory results.

In the North, the tubers are started indoors, for bedding, in February
or early March in a rather warm temperature. They will fill a five-inch
pot before they are ready to be turned out into the ground. They should
not be planted out till the weather is thoroughly settled, for they will
not stand frost or unfavorable climatic conditions.

The plants should be given a soil that holds moisture, but is yet well
drained. They will not do well in water-logged ground. They should have
partial shade; near the north side of a building is a good place for
them. Too much watering makes them soft and they tend to break down.
Keep the foliage dry, particularly in sunny weather; the watering should
be done from underneath.

After blooming, lift the bulbs, dry them off, and keep over winter in a
cool place. They may be packed in shallow boxes in dry earth or sand.

Florists sometimes divide the tubers just after growth starts in the
spring, so that a good eye may be got with each plant; but the amateur
would better use the entire tuber, unless he desires to increase or
multiply some particular plant.

If the house gardener desires to raise tuberous begonias from seed, he
must be prepared to exercise much patience. The seeds, like those of all
begonias, are very small, and should be sown with great care. Start the
seeds in late winter. Simply sprinkle them on the surface of the soil,
which should be a mixture of leafmold and sand, with the addition of a
small quantity of fibrous loam. Watering should be done by setting the
pot or box in which the seeds are sown in water, allowing the moisture
to ascend through the soil. When the soil has become completely
saturated, set the box in a shady situation, covering it with glass or
some other object until the tiny seedlings appear. Never allow the soil
to become dry. The seedlings should be transplanted, as soon as they can
be handled, into boxes or pots containing the same mixture of soil,
setting each plant down to the seed-leaf. They will need three or four
transplantings before they reach the blooming stage, and at each one
after the first, the proportion of fibrous loam may be increased until
the soil is composed of one-third each of loam, sand, and leafmold. The
addition of a little well-rotted manure may be made at the last
transplanting.

CACTUS.--Various kinds of cactus are often seen in small
collections of house plants, to which they add interest and oddity,
being different from other plants.

Most cacti are easy to grow, requiring little care and enduring the heat
and dryness of a living room much better than most other plants. Their
requirements are ample drainage and open soil. Cactus growers usually
make a soil by mixing pulverized plaster or lime refuse with garden
loam, using about two-thirds of the loam. The very fine parts, or dust,
of the plaster, are blown out, else the soil is likely to cement. They
may be rested at any season by simply setting them away in a dry place
for two or three months, and bringing them into heat and light when they
are wanted. As new growth advances they should have water occasionally,
and when in bloom, they should be watered freely. Withhold water
gradually after blooming until they are to be rested.

Some of the most common species in cultivation are the phyllocactus
species, often called the night-blooming cereus. These are not the true
night-blooming cereuses, which have angular or cylindrical stems,
covered with bristles, while these have flat, leaf-like branches; the
flowers of these, however, are very much like the cereus, opening at
evening and closing before morning, and as the phyllocacti may be grown
with greater ease, blooming on smaller and younger plants, they are to
be recommended.

The true night-blooming cereuses are species of the genus Cereus. The
commonest one is _C. nycticalus,_ but _C. grandiflorus, C. triangularis_
and others are occasionally seen. These plants all have long rod-like
stems which are cylindrical or angular. These stems often reach a height
of 10 to 30 ft., and they need support. They should be trained along a
pillar or tied to a stake. They are uninteresting leafless things during
a large part of the year; but in midsummer, after they are three or more
years old, they throw out their great tubular flowers, which open at
nightfall and wither and die when the light strikes them next morning.
They are very easily grown, either in pots or planted in the natural
soil in the conservatory. The only special care they need is good
drainage at the roots, so that the soil will not become soggy.

The epiphyllum, or lobster cactus, or crab cactus, is one of the best of
the family, easy of culture. It bears bright-colored blossoms at the end
of each joint. When in flower, which will be in the winter months, it
requires a richer soil than the other cacti. A suitable soil is made of
two-thirds fibrous loam and one third leafmold; usually it is best to
add sand or pulverized brick. In fall and early winter, keep rather dry,
giving more water as the plant comes into bloom.

Opuntias, or prickly pears, are often grown as border plants through the
summer. In fact, all the family may be planted out, and if a number of
kinds are set in a bed together, they make a striking addition to the
garden. Be very careful not to bruise the plants. It is better to plunge
them in the pots than to turn them out of the pots.

CALADIUM.--Tuberous-rooted, tender perennial plants used for
conservatory decoration, and also for subtropical and bold effects in
the lawn (Plate IV). The plants commonly known under this name are
really colocasias.

The roots should be dormant in the winter, being kept in a warm cellar
or under a greenhouse bench, where they are not liable to frost or
dampness. The roots are usually covered with earth, but they are kept
dry. Early in spring the roots are put into boxes or pots and are
started into growth, so that by the time settled weather comes they will
be 1 or 2 feet high and ready to set directly into soil.

When set out of doors, they should be protected from strong winds, and
from the full glare of direct sunlight. The soil should be rich and
deep, and the plants should have an abundance of water. They do well
about ponds (see Plate X).

Caladiums are most excellent plants for striking effects, especially
against a house, high shrubbery, or other background. If they are
planted by themselves, they should be in clumps rather than scattered as
single specimens, as the effect is better. See that they get a good
start before they are planted in the open ground. As soon as killed
down by frost, dig them, dry the roots of superfluous moisture, and
store till wanted in late winter or spring.

CALCEOLARIA.--The calceolarias are small greenhouse herbs sometimes
used in the window-garden. They are not very satisfactory plants for
window treatment, however, since they suffer from dry atmosphere and
from sudden changes of temperature.

The calceolarias are grown from seeds. If the seeds are sown in early
summer and the young plants are transplanted as they need, flowering
specimens may be had for the late fall and early winter. In the growing
of the young plants, always avoid exposing them to direct sunlight; but
they should be given a place that has an abundance of screened or
tempered light. A new crop of plants should be raised each year.

There is a race of shrubby calceolarias, but it is little known in this
country. One or two species are annuals adaptable to cultivation in the
open garden, and their little ladyslipper-like flowers are attractive.
However, they are of secondary importance as annual garden flowers.

CALLA (properly _Richardia_), Egyptian lily.--The calla is one of
the most satisfactory of winter house-plants, lending itself to various
conditions.

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Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet regains citizenship
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Turkey is restoring the citizenship of its most famous 20th century poet Nazim Hikmet over 50 years after it branded him a traitor.

Hikmet, a communist who died in exile in Moscow in 1963, was imprisoned in Turkey for more than a decade. He was stripped of his Turkish nationality in 1951 because of his communist views, but despite a ban on his poetry which remained in place until 1965, has remained one of Turkey's best-loved poets. His work, much of which was written in prison, including his masterpiece Human Landscapes, has been translated into more than 50 languages.

"This is very good news," said Richard McKane, Hikmet's English translator. "The restoration of his Turkish citizenship is long overdue: the people of Turkey and his readers are owed that."

Immortalised by Pablo Neruda, with whom he shared the Soviet Union's International Peace Prize in 1950, with the lines "Thanks for what you were and for the fire / which your song left forever burning", Hikmet was also supported by Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, when given the editorship for a day of Turkish newspaper Radikal two years ago, used the example of Hikmet in his cover story to criticise the lack of freedom of expression in Turkey. In 2000, 500,000 Turks petitioned the government to restore Hikmet's citizenship rights and repatriate his remains.

Deputy prime minister Cemil Cicek told the Associated Press that it was time for the government to change its mind about Hikmet. "The crimes which forced the government to strip him of his citizenship at that time are no longer considered a crime," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Hikmet, whose remains are currently in Russia, had said that he wished to be buried in Turkey in his 1953 poem Testament, translated by Ruth Christie. "Friends if it's not my lot to see the day / of independence... / if I die before that day / - and it seems I will - / bury me in a village graveyard in Anatolia / and if it's fitting / and a plane tree grows at my head, / then there's no need for a gravestone or anything else."

Cicek said that Hikmet's family would now decide whether to ship his remains back to his homeland.

Hikmet introduced free verse to Turkey in the 1930s, with his themes ranging from war to love. Despite his imprisonment he retained a deep passion for Turkey. "I love my country", he wrote in one of his poems. "I swung in its lofty trees, I lay in its prisons. Nothing relieves my depression like the songs and tobacco of my country."

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