Evening star., 1942-10-24

spring garden, the planting of bulbs
aof many ANIMALS is best done in the
lawn may be done in the late fall q
jobs may be done in the spring, but
and better, in the fall.
Fall bulb planting is too well an
here. With the exception of tulips
and the dubious irises, all bulbs
should be gotten into the ground as
early as possible. Most bulbs deteri-
crate while out of the soil, unless
given the best of storage conditions.
This is especially true of lilies. Get
the beds prepared as early as pos
sible and make sure that they are
deeply worked. Bulbs send their
roots down, not up, for moisture and
food.
Bulbous irises - Dutch, English
and Spanish, have a. habit Of send
ing up their leaves if planted too
early. Winter freezes injure the
foliage and while they will bloom in
spite of this injury, the functioning
of the leaves is curtailed and the
bulbs lose vitality.
Preparing the soil for shrub and
rose planting is well done at the
first opportunity. If we do It early
there will be plenty of time in which
to dig the soil deeply, incorporate
-humus and bone meal, and then
have time for the soil to settle be-
fore planting time mid November
or later. The main point is that If
we will do this job now there is
every reason for doing it well. A
l0-cent shrub will do surprisingly
well when set out in a first class
bed.
'Sop ANIMALS
In Fall
Most gardeners think only Of
spring as planting time for the an
nuals. Actually in many cases the
poorer results are obtained from
spring planting because we get the
seeds in so late that they do not
have sufficient time to become well
rooted before hot weather arrives.
If sown in the fall they will start
into growth at the proper time next
spring-long before we can get
around to sowing seed.
The list of ANIMALS that may be
sown in the fall is long And some
OF those not given in the books seem
to do surprisingly we'll when sown
late in the fall. l have had zinnias
come up from seed scattered when
they were pulled up the preceding
fall, although we usually consider
them too tender for fall planting.
Many ANIMALS, such as larkspur,
cornflower, portulaca, ETC., do much
better when they are fall planted.
Oftentimes, the stand from spring
Gown California poppies Eschscholt-
zia) and portulaca is very poor, but
from fall seeds the termination and
stand of growing plants is usually
excellent.
To enumerate few OF the COM
monty accepted list for fall plant
ing - Sweet alyssum, snapdragon,
calendula cornfower, clarkia, lark
spur, China pinks, California poppy,
candytuft, nigella, Shirley poppy.
Iceland poppy. portulaca. browallla.
coreopsis (calliopsis), cosmos, gall
lardia, godetia, balsam, morning.
glory, summer cypress, nicotiana,
petunia, marigold, and some OF the
zinnias.
The time for the sowing of these
ANIMALS is largely determined by
the time available for soil prepara-
ton, The bed should be carefully
prepared and in most cases. where
they are to grow, leaving the trans
planting for those that can be
moved, largely for the necessary
thinning. The soil is preferably
thoroughly pulverized, with humus
and bone meal worked into 1t. The
surface should be worked until 1t is
fine and smooth. If not thoroughly
nllverized the smaller seeds will
work down so deeply that they can
not come up. 1t is not necessary 10
cover these seeds except on slope
where there is danger OF surface
water carrying them away. TO pro-
tect against this the seeds may oe
covered with light layer OF SAND.
After the ground is frozen 1T may
be desirable to cover the bed WIN
nine boughs to keep it frozen. Ihls
Is especially desirable for those an
nuals which have germlnateo oe-
fore cold weather arrived
Look Ahead
TO Spring
The spring vegetable garden may
.,.,l come in for attention this fall.
AS soon as this summers crops are
ont of the way give the whole area
liberal dressing Of manure. Dump
all coarse material from the compost
nile IN it too. Then spade this ma
terial under. If necessary, have II
nlowed under, but get just as much
-of 1t under as possible. Do not mar
row or rake after the spadlng or
nloving. Leave the soil rough, as
the farmers describe it. Nature Will
pulverize the clods. In the spring
this soil will only need to be raKed
before the sowing OF seed.
If the soil is quite acid, lime may
be scattered over the ground after
'spading. For heavy clay soils 1t may
he desirable to add sand or ashes to
Improve the texture. This is neces-
.sarv If we are to grow the root crops
.-beets, carrots, radishes, etc.
One of the best ways to improve
1.-THE lawn is through a top dressing.
sFew gardeners ever get around to
sthis practice, although they all will
admit that it is of real benefit. The
getting together of compost, or we'll
rotted manure, top soil, fertilizer
etc, the mixing and spreading over
1.-THE lawn Is a sizable job, and If we
leave it until spring-well it doesn't
get done. However in the late fall
.or early winter, when the grass is
flic inln ko