Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-06-18
WORK WITH THE FLOWERS
By JOSEPHINE DE MARI.

Do not neglect the winter garden,
even though the plants are at their
best. Turn the plants once week;
stir the surface soil; wash the pots
with strong soapsuds; give plenty of
fresh air daily; shower the plants
once week; watch for pests; see
that the warm sunshine does not
scorch your plants on warm after
Moons. .......
Plants that are intended for bedding
should be shifted as they fill their
pots with roots, and give plenty Of
sunshine and air. Otherwise they
will be leggy and weak.
II you wish to get specimen cannas
and dahlias, start few in the house
early. Remove roots. stalks, and un.
necessary fiber and cut into single
eyes. Then pot in four-inch pots in
rich soil; shift when the pots fill with
roots. The Gamma, like corn, needs
moisture and heat to develop properly.
Let the hedge take the place of the
fence where possible about the house
grounds. II the fence is imperative,
let 1t be hidden by drapery Of vines,
Honeysuckle is the best permanent
vine.
California privet leads the hedge
plants in popularity; then comes bar
berry, Japanese ounce, althea, buck.
thorn and some varieties Of roses.
For utility the Usage.
A flower friend says she rid her lemon
tree of scale by applying a strong
lather of soap suds with stiff brush
to both sides OF the leaves, stems and
trunks. This was. allowed to remain
for half q day and then washed of
with clear water. The scale was then
easy to brush of.
If you got gloxinia bulb this spring,
when 1t blooms save the seeds, and
next spring experiment growing these
gorgeous boomers. Fill a we'll.
drained, shallow pot or box with fine.
light soil; even it carefully and scat
ter the seeds on it. Press the seeds
into the soil with fiat block Of wood.
Put pane of glass on the pot and
water from the bottom. They will
bloom the first year, but the second
year will greatly improve them.
Don't transplant into the garden any
sort of tender plant, or hardy one that
has been tenderly coddled, until Jack
Frost Is gone. a. Il.
Don't forget that rotation in the
flower bends and borders is as neces-
sary as in the fields and gardens.
Such hardy flowers as pansies, for.
get-me-pots and phlox, and the like,
that have been grown in cold frame
and hardened, may be planted out
six weeks before tender or hot house
plants.
Go over the lawn and II you find
moss, rake it out. Cut well below
the crowns Of dandelions and plan.
tains. II possible, top-dress the lawn
with leaf-mold or thoroughly rotten
straw or manure. ~ b,
Is II you have tree about the place
that is dying, and you wish to renew
Its youth, plant woodbine at its base
and in a very few years the tree will
be covered with foliage and have
waving banners more beautiful than
in it's prime of life.
Dig deeply and thoroughly If early
crops OF flowers or vegetables are
wanted. No matter, what the texture
Of the soil, light or heavy, 1t is always
improved by spading deeply. ,,.s. s..
. When planting trees in clay or other
heavy soils not well drained, follow
this method: Dig holes feet wide
and 20 inches deep; place in them s
or 10 inches Of drainage. rocks, bricks
or cinders we'll packed. Upon this put
= or inches Of sod. grass side down,
then plant the tree as usual. rt.a.:
@a Early In April is the time to trim
the early roses; that Is, II the winters
cold has not cut down the stalks so
that further pruning Is necessary.
Cut out all the dead wood and weak
shoots. Keep the center Of the plant
open. Leave four to six eyes on each
shoot. s " B3,i
The generation Of seed requires
three essentials; heat, moisture and
air. Therefore It IL folly to put seeds
into the ground until Il has been.
warmed ~ the sun. Corn planting
II N q