Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-05-08
Plant Flowers.

MANY persons fancy that they
cannot afford a flower garden; they
say that they cannot spare the
money required to purchase seeds
and plants; nor the time to cultivate
them. 1t is true that a great deal of money
may be spent on the flower garden; but it
is also true that much may be done with
very little judiciously expended.
l had beautiful garden my first sum-
mer in the country, and it cost me less
than two dollars, all told. My flowers
were mostly ANIMALS, and | did all the
work myself My seeds were collected
with care; did not indulge in "novel-
ties" my watchwords in hunting through
the catalogues were hardy and fragrant"
Cheapness, too, had to be considered.
studied catalogue one winter, thorough
ly; planned my garden on paper while
the snow was on the ground; then in
April l went to work, and my garden was
a success.
Anybody can learn to garden, and one
soon comes to love the work for itself
apart from the charming results.
In that first garden Of mine there was a
small bed of that exquisite little flower ne
mophlla, seven varieties, all from one
packet Of mixed seed; cost five cents. For
ten cents | had a gorgeous border of Yin
Mas of all colors. Ten cents also gave me
hedge OF the sweetpea, one OF the lowell
est flowers that grows. Then there were
nasturtlums, candytuft, scabiOsa, snap
dragon, Mexican ageratum, Drummond
phloX, erysimum, mignOnette, and t1ora's
paint thrush. These flowers are all good
and all cheap; none costing over ten cents
packet, and some only five.
Five cents worth of mignonette will
sweeten whole garden; that is my expe-
rience with it. | have it everywhere, it
sows itself; but always buy packet of
seed to make sure, for as to passing a
summer without my "little darling,n l
could not do it. Besides these, / had a
little bed of pansies; they cost twenty
cents. | sowed the seed in cold-frame
in April. The pansy is one of my favor
ties; 1t has so much 'countenance," as
Jane Austen says, somewhere, Of one of
her people. The Germans call it ''little
step-mother.' Pansies bloom the first
year from seed, and as soon as most an
nuals; but they are perennial, and the sec
ond year begin to bloom in April and con
tinue all through the summer, and quite
into the edge of winter. They do not en-
dure heat very well, and the blossoms are
always finest in spring and autumn. a
little shade in July and August, and
mulching and watering are useful
My bed of Japan pinks (dianthus Chi
nenses), too, cost twenty cents; they, like
the pansy, bloom the second year. and
sometimes longer; they are very hardy,
and bloom late in the fall ] had some
daises, too dear little things; | can see
their baby faces at this moment, as they
used to look cudding down in the grass.
Candytuft, when used with other annu-
ais, should be sOwn later, as it comes into
bloom before anything else, and will be
gone before the others are out; it makes
pretty edging for a border of perennials,
as most perennials bloom earlier than an
nuals. Nemophila, too, is an early bloom
er, and does best when sown quite early
in a seed bed or cold frame.
When a garden is once under way it
goes on almost of itself Many flowers
are very hardy, and SOW themselves year
after year: but most will deteriorate after
a while, and it is best to buy new seed fire.
quently. | never plant my own zinnia
seed; | get it fresh every season; but
candytutt, mignonette, and Drummond
phlox, and petunias come up in my gar
den OF themselves every spring, and l can
see no change in them. Portulacca, too,
when once established. in a garden, is as
reliable as perennial.-CAristiap Union.