Natural history object lessons: a manual for teachers (1891) PDF by George Ricks
1000 hints on flowers and birds
Excerpt from The Art of Growing Flowers
No country in the world is quite so well adapted to the culture of flowers as America. Even in a crowded city, flowers are possible. The conditions of growing them are more trying but still they can be grown, and in the city, the efforts required to produce them will receive far more appreciation than in the country or suburbs. Then why should not Americans have gardened for their art?
We have unlimited space; we have a wonderful variety of climatic and soil conditions, suitable for a wide variety of flowers, and somewhere in this country flowers of every known species can be grown. Every flower is worthy of cultivation. Few flowers there are which will not give marvellous results if carefully tended, and some of the commonest weeds under careful cultivation will produce glorious garden plants. Indeed some of the rare plants of one section of the country are weeds in another section and the great majority of our flowers were once grown wild.
A great many who might readily grow flowers with great success hesitate to attempt their cultivation because of limited space, such as the tiny city backyard, or because of what they consider unfavourable climatic conditions resulting in a short season. The first-mentioned obstacle should be no obstacle. A small space well kept is far preferable to a large plot which cannot have the desired attention given it, and though city back yards often get little sunlight there are a number of plants that thrive best in shady or partially shady places. A list of some of these flowers will be found elsewhere in this book by referring to the index.
Where there is no yard at all, as for instance, in the city apartment, window boxes are possible, and even if the windows are on the north side of the house, flowers that require little sunlight will flourish. The lily of the valley, for one, has no superior in fragrance or appearance, and it grows and multiplies rapidly in a shady, damp location, and is just as suitable for a window box as for an outdoor garden. Then there are house plants galore for the winter months when window boxes, as well as outdoor gardens, must be abandoned. One little plant will lend an air of cheerfulness to a room, even if it be not a flowering variety, and anyone can have some sort of house plant.
A list of plants suitable for potting can be found by referring to the index. In the city apartment, there arises the problem of obtaining earth but a bag of heavy cotton, or thick paper, and a suitcase, on a day when one wants to take a journey into the woods, will solve this problem, and soil taken from a spot where vegetation is more or less rank can be depended upon to be fertile. Then there are fertilizers to be purchased in commercial form, and a very small package of fertilizer will go a long way with a few house plants.
Whatever obstacles there may be, flower growth is possible in every home if one will but take the pains it cannot be called trouble to have them. Where there is more than one member of the family able to spend a little time on gardening, competition should be encouraged, for then the flowers will be sure to receive attention and there will be an added zest in watching them grow.
Children should be trained to have a love of flowers and to study the habits of plant life. It is a wonderfully broadening subject and one which never fails to give pleasure, and the results forever justify the labour expended. The cost of flowers is small, very small, in comparison to the study of any other art. A package of seeds that will produce a hundred or more plants can be purchased for ten cents and most packages give directions for planting. Small plants of three or four inches in height also are very inexpensive, though the pleasure is greater to watch the plants develop from seedlings. Then there is the pleasure to be derived from developing wildflowers which can be had in the woods for the gathering. Wildflowers of pretty foliage carefully nurtured will grow and often produce wonderful results.
Some contents:
THE ART OF GROWING FLOWERS . . . i
ESSENTIALS IN GARDENING .... 8
ESSENTIALS IN GARDENING .... 8
SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE GARDEN . . 16
Hints on Growing Flowers, Alphabetically
Hints on Growing Flowers, Alphabetically
Arranged 25
Suggestions for Vines . . .143
General Plan of the Garden . . .150
Soil . . 156
Fertilization 157
Seed 172
Transplanting and Thinning . . .180
Cultivation . . . . . .187
Cultivation . . . . . .187
Weeds ....... 190
Watering 193
Cut Flowers 195
Water Plants 197
The Rock Garden 198
House Plants 199
The Hotbed 207
THE LAWN ....... 213
The Care of the Lawn . . . .219
Grasses ...... 222
SHRUBBERY AND TREES .... 224
Shrubbery . . . . . .231
Shrubbery . . . . . .231
Trees 241
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