Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-22
IF YOUR FLOWERS DON'T GROW


another.
IF YOUR FLOWERS DON'T GROW
They may be too near trees.-Garden-
ers have a quite unnecessary panic If
the bole of a tree is not hidden by
shrubbery, and if nothing whatever is
planted beneath, and yet half of
trees beauty is in the outline of stem
and branches balanced by the quiet
stretch of greensward beneath. If
grass will not grow the trees when left
to themselves will usually provide
very charming carpet of brown dead
leaves and little hardy ferns; but to
attempt flower beds underneath them
is mistake-both trees and plants
will be unhappy, and the trees will do
their best to prevent you.
Plants in the wrong place.-Be sure
to find out the situation a plant likes
before sowing the seed or setting out
the root. 1t is useless to expect sun
loving plants to bloom in the shade;
they won't do it; but there are many
plants that not only like, but require,
partial shade, such as tuberose be-
gonias, many varieties of lilies, petu-
Mas, coreopsis, California poppies.
And mignonette has no objection to it.
If there are shady places which must
be planted, you can always put in
ferns or German iris, pansies or for
get-me-nots.
Wrong soil.-Any one knows that
some flowers grow wild in moist,
shady places, others in dry, barren
spots; therefore, one cannot expect
that within a garden all will like the
same diet. The wise gardener will
do one of two things: either he will
plant such things as will like his soil,
or else he will fit his soil to the plants
nj in Oor a
clayey soil and plenty of manure, one
can have roses, dahlias, zinnias, in
abundance; with a light sandy soil
one can have poppies, nasturtiums and
tea roses in luXuriance, but not sweet
peas. Therefore, before planting. find
out what manner of soil your plants
prefer, and whether you can meet
their preferences.
Wrong watering.-All plants like to
have their leaves sprinkled, but to
sprinkle the soil about them as a
means of giving the roots drink does
very little good, and a thorough soak
ing once a week is infinitely better
than a slight daily wetting. When
flowers or vines are planted near a
house they are in especial danger of
suffering from lack of water and
should have much more than in other
situations. Among the plants which
are heavy drinkers are dahlias, hello
trope, forget-me-nots, Japanese iris.
Nasturtiums and poppies both will
starve and go thirsty contentedly, only
blooming the better.
Overcrowding.-T Is a frequent
cause of i'll health. Probably more
plants fail to realize the gardeners
expectations from lack of thinning in
early life than from any other one
cause When sweet peas turn yellow
and look blighted, overcrowding in in
fancy is almost always the reason. 1t
requires quite a little heroism on the
part of the gardener to properly thin
plants, a Brutus-like firmness to pull
up the infant ANIMALS that their fel-
lows may have enough to eat.
Lack of picking-It is the seeding,
not the Towering, that exhausts
plants vitality, and many flowers
sweet peas. cornflowers, pansies-will
bloom continuously if kept picked and
not allowed to go to Seed
These are a few of the rocks where
on ones gardening adventure is most
likely to meet shipwreck, and to note
dangers beforehand is one of the surest
ways of avoiding labor and sorrow
Harper's Bazaar.