A Rainy Day in October

All summer long the out-of-door gardens kept us busy, planting, weeding and watering. When we had had a week or two of sunshiny weather we began to wish a cloud would sail over the blue sky and bring the rain our thirsty flowers needed. We could see the reason for rainy days in summer-time. Now, however, it is different; a rainy day in autumn is so cold and disagreeable. It settles down to work in a business-like way—not like a summer shower, which has, all through, a hint of the sun behind the clouds. No, an autumn rain is chilly and gray and lasting, and the best way to forget it is to find something interesting to do indoors.

Suppose we plan an indoor garden. There are the plants that were brought in from the garden the other day—geraniums, heliotropes, lobelias and begonias—all need our care and attention. A boy with a taste for woodworking can make a shelf and put up brackets in a window where the sun will reach them. Even a plant table may not prove too difficult for him.

There is one particularly interesting thing that both boys and girls can do, and that is to plan Christmas gifts of budded or blossoming plants for their family and friends. How is it to be done? Why, by planting bulbs in October. You have seen bulbs, of course, at the florists; they are mostly dingy brown or yellow and look like onions. If anyone in the family had a garden last summer there will be sure to be catalogues of seeds and bulbs in the house, and you can begin by making a list of the bulbs you wish to send for. Such a number as you have to choose from—tulips, crocuses, lilies, hyacinths, narcissus, daffodils, and plenty more. They are not costly either. Hyacinths can be bought for from six to fifteen cents each; these are the ordinary ones. Roman hyacinths, which have beautiful white flowers, cost only four or five cents. Chinese lily bulbs are more expensive; one can be bought for ten cents or three for twenty-five cents, but they are large and the blossoms are so fragrant and beautiful that they are well worth it. These are grown among pebbles in a dish of water. They will look well in a glass dish or in a shallow pottery bowl—such as you can buy for ten or fifteen cents at a Japanese store. For hyacinths, tall, slender glasses are to be had at the florist's for fifteen cents. They come in several colours, but the dark green is best—and that reminds me that there is a case you can make of rattan and raffia around one of these glasses to enable you to hang it beside a window. This you can do some other rainy day.

The Chinese lily bulbs are put into a dishful of tepid water which has a few small pieces of charcoal in it. A number of small stones are fitted around the bulbs to keep them upright and steady, and then they are put near a window where the sun comes. Hyacinths may be grown in the glasses or in flower pots, just as one chooses. A mixture of good soil from the garden and sand is best if they are to be grown in pots. Be careful in taking the garden soil to sift it through your fingers, making sure that no worms are lurking in it, to trouble the bulbs later on. Put stones for drainage and some pieces of charcoal at the bottom of each pot. The bulb is planted so that about one-third of it is left above the earth. If it is to be grown in water, use rain water and fill the glass so that the base of the bulb will just touch it. However they are planted, in pots or in glasses, they should be left in a dark, cool place like an airy cellar, until they are rooted. This will take about two weeks for those in glasses and six for the potted hyacinths. If it is possible, bury the pots in the open ground about six inches deep, or cover them with soil, for about five weeks. They can then be put into the window garden. Consult the bulb catalogues for suggestions as to the care of your plants.

Basket Case for a Hyacinth Glass

After you have bought your hyacinth glasses, and before the bulbs are put into them, you may like to make for each a simple case of basket work by which it can be hung against the window frame.

It is made of rattan rings bound together with raffia of some colour that will look well with the hyacinth blossoms. A dark green glass with a covering of black and the natural-coloured rattan bound with copper-coloured raffia is a good combination, if the hyacinth is to be white.

Make two rings of black rattan like those described in the directions for making a sponge bag (see Chapter IV). One should be large enough to slip over the glass, down to about half an inch from the bottom of it, the other to three inches from the bottom. This second ring must be made on the glass, as the flaring top will not allow so small a ring to slip over it. This will not be difficult to do. Tie the rattan around the glass just below where you wish it to be placed (about two and three-quarters inches from the bottom), then slip it up where the glass is narrower and twist the ends around this foundation ring twice, as shown in Fig. 22. This makes a ring of three circuits, the foundation ring counting as one. Make four rings of the natural-coloured rattan, each measuring two inches and a quarter in diameter on the inside. These are made with two circuits; that is, after tying the foundation ring the ends are twisted all the way around it once, instead of twice as the black ones were, and are cut just so that they will lap. Bind these four rings together in a hollow square with bindings five-eighths of an inch long of raffia in buttonhole stitch (see Fig. 67). Fasten the ends of the rings by making the binding come over them. Slip this square over the top of the glass and down between the two black rattan rings. Here each of the four light rings is bound with raffia in buttonhole stitch to the black ring above it, as well as to the one below. To make a loop to hang it by, tie a ring of black rattan around the neck of the glass, twist its ends twice around it, and then without cutting the ends tie them into another ring an inch and a quarter in diameter, inside measurement, which stands out from the glass and forms a loop. This ring is made with two circuits.

Growing Plants in Fibre

Later on, in November and December, there may come days when you are kept indoors, and then perhaps you will like to do some more gardening with bulbs. Shall we begin with the spring bulbs—tulips, crocuses and daffodils? It is wonderful, isn't it, to think of being able to plant them when out of doors the earth is covered thick with snow? This is how it is done: Buy from a florist or seedsman a fibre mixture which they sell for this purpose. Take a large tub or pail and put some fibre into it, add plenty of water and stir the fibre thoroughly with a stick. Let it remain in the water for two days, stirring it from time to time so that it shall get water soaked. It will then be ready for use. If you plan to give the plants away when they are in bud they should be started in jars or bowls that can be included in the gift. Japanese or Spanish pottery bowls can be bought for from ten to twenty-five cents each, and one of these with a daffodil or narcissus growing in it will make a delightful birthday gift for someone you love. If you are not planning to give them away, of course you will be able to collect about the house enough bowls and jars of china and pottery to hold them. Put a few pieces of charcoal at the bottom of each dish—these are to keep the water pure and the fibre wet. Put into each bowl some of the wetted fibre until it is about two or three inches deep, depending on the depth of the bowl. Place the bulbs on the fibre so that they just touch and fill all in with the wet fibre. Put more fibre over them and press it gently down and around them—not too hard. Fill the dish in until it is nearly solid. Now put the bowls away in a cellar or any dark but airy room where they will not get frostbitten and watch them day by day to see that the fibre does not get dry; it must be kept moist but not soaking wet. Be especially careful that the bulbs do not get dry. When they are all rooted and have grown perhaps an inch, bring the bulbs into a lighter room and let them have plenty of air. Put them on the window sill or even in the garden in the middle of the day, if it is not too cold, and as they begin to show some buds water regularly and often.

Planting Indoors in February

As early as February you can begin to plan your out-of-door flower garden and start some seeds indoors. Tuberous begonias, Canterbury bells, verbenas, single dahlias, scarlet sage or salvia, tufted pansies and cosmos can all be started now. First of all you will need some flats or low wooden boxes—they should be about three inches deep and not too large to handle. If it is possible to get such shallow boxes at your grocer's so much the better, otherwise you can have a soap box or two sawed down to the required height. If they have no cracks or holes for drainage, bore some and partly cover them with pieces of an old flower pot, rounded side up. Put pebbles or other rough material in the bottom of the box. Now you are ready for the soil. Get good, rich loam from the garden and sift it into the boxes. You can then begin planting. The large seeds should be planted about half an inch deep, medium sized ones as deep as four times their own width; the very small ones are just pressed into the earth, and the smallest should have a piece of glass placed over the box so that they will not dry out entirely. Wet the soil until it is quite moist and press it with a level board after planting. Set the boxes in a sunny window, one that faces south or southeast, and keep them moist, but not wet, with a bulb sprinkler (see Fig. 68).

March Planting

This blustery month of bad weather out of doors you can have a delightful time with your indoor garden. The bulbs you started in fibre should be in bloom by this time, and while you are enjoying them you can start some flower seeds for your out-of-door garden.

This is the time to plant what are called annuals—that is, plants that live just a year—like batchelor's-buttons, sweet peas, nasturtiums, four-o'clocks, marigolds and zinnias. Use flats or shallow wooden boxes, like those already described, to plant in. Choose good garden soil and, before filling the boxes, heat it in the oven, very hot—this will kill the weed seeds. Sow the seeds in rows an inch and a half apart and three-quarters of an inch apart in the row. When all the seeds are up, thin the little plants out so that they will be an inch and a half apart in the row. Put them in a sunny window as close to the glass as possible and keep the shades rolled high. If you do not give them enough sun they will become thin and spindly—like children who never go out. Turn the boxes now and then so that all sides will get the sunlight. You will need to put some labels into each box, bearing the names of the seeds that are planted there. The best ones are made from the covers of old grape baskets. Cut them into strips, write on each the name of the seed and the date, and stick it into the earth.

Gradually as the weather gets warmer you can give the little plants more air by opening the windows, and later by putting them out of doors in some sheltered but sunny spot. When there is no longer any danger from frost, the boxes can be set out of doors day and night, only taking them in in case of a severe storm.

The seedlings may need to be separated and transplanted indoors before it is warm enough to set them in the out-of-door garden. Common grape baskets do very well for this purpose and hold about a dozen little plants—flats may also be used. Allow as much space between the seedlings as possible, for if they are too close the roots will twine about each other and make it very hard to transplant them later on. When they are large enough to be transplanted put them into a basin of lukewarm water and plant them in their new box one at a time. Do not put them in the sun for a few days, but keep them shaded until they have taken root.

Starting Gourd Vines in the Indoor Garden

Of course you have seen gourds, perhaps not growing, but surely you know how they look when dried. Hard, smooth-shelled things of a beautiful golden brown colour, they grow in the strangest shapes. Some are round or oval with a queer twisted stem (see Fig. 69). They have many uses—to hold the stockings open and smooth (so that grandma can darn them easily), as bird houses, match holders, and even for drinking cups.

They are the fruit of a vine which would be charming to train on a trellis or arbour in your out-of-door garden, and then when harvest time came you would have the interesting gourds to dry and use as you chose.

If you would like to raise them, sow the seeds in shallow wooden boxes indoors in March. Plant them a quarter of an inch deep, and when the little plants crowd one another and are strong enough to transplant remove them to larger boxes and plant them six inches apart. When planting the vines out of doors in May or June put plenty of manure about them and give them ample space. If the vines bear many gourds, and all small ones, pinch off some and the others will develop better. Do not pick the gourds until they are quite ripe; that is, when they begin to look slightly yellow. They need plenty of hot sun in order to come to perfection. Leave them as long as possible on the vines, only being careful that they are not touched with frost. In the South they are sometimes left on the vines all winter.

After picking them, hang them in an airy place in the house or out of doors. Leave a little of the vine on each one and they can then be hung by strings tied to these handles. If you follow these few rules your gourds should dry smooth and hard.

How to Start Lavender Indoors

Do you know the smell of lavender—that sweet, refreshing perfume that clings to some of grandmother's treasures of linen and embroidery? One catches a whiff of it in old gardens sometimes, and it is always welcome. You can buy the seed from a florist or seedsman—Lavandula vera is what the true English lavender is called, and that is best. If it cannot be had, Lavandula spica is next best. It takes time to raise either, but it will be such an addition to your out-of-door garden that you will not regret the time spent. About the first of March the lavender seed should be sown, in window boxes or flats. Make shallow drills with your finger, drop the seed in and cover lightly. Sprinkle them every day with your bulb sprinkler until they come up. When the little plants each have four leaves they may be transplanted. Before starting to transplant them they should be thoroughly wet. Set them five inches apart. In the winter protect the plants with litter—leaves, straw, etc.—six inches deep. The next year, in March, they should be set in rows three feet apart.

When the plants are in full bloom the sprigs are cut, and then dried in a cool, darkened room or closet. Lay them on paper so as to save all the blossoms. The lavender flowers may be made into the daintiest of sachets by filling with them sheer linen bags or pale lavender silk ones.

The sprigs that are left after the blossoms have fallen may be used like Chinese incense to sweeten a room, by lighting the blossom end of a single piece and letting it burn in a vase or incense holder.