The after-cultivation consists in thorough tillage until the time of “handling” or earthing up the plants. This process of handling is accomplished by drawing up the earth with one hand while holding the plant with the other, packing the soil well around the stalks. This process may be continued until only the leaves are to be seen. For the private grower, it is much easier to blanch the Celery with boards or paper, or if the Celery is not wanted until winter, the plants may be dug up, packed closely in boxes, covering the roots with soil, and placed in a dark, cool cellar, where the stalks will blanch themselves. In this manner Celery may be stored in boxes in the house cellar. Put earth in the bottom of a deep box, and plant the Celery in it. An ounce of seed will furnish about three thousand plants.
Centaurea. Showy annuals and perennials. C. Cyanus is the Corn Flower or Bachelor Button, familiar to every flower lover, and always seen in old-fashioned gardens. This is a fine plant for borders or mixed beds, and also gives good flowers for bouquets. A bunch of the Corn Flower, with a sprinkling of yellow marigolds or California poppy, makes a rich effect. These Centaureas are easy of culture, seeding themselves after once being planted, and coming up year after year in great profusion. There are blue, white and rose varieties. Annuals. 2-3 ft. Hardy.
The silver-leaved Centaureas are used only for foliage effects. They are excellent for ribbon beds or border lines. The seed of these should be started in a hotbed or box in March, the young plants being set out where wanted when the ground becomes warm. These species are perennials, and are sometimes grown from cuttings. C. candidissima and C. gymnocarpa are among the best white-leaved bedders.
Centranthus. Low-growing hardy annuals in two colors, red and white. They make very effective covering for low rockwork, and are also suitable for vases or lawn baskets. Sow where the plants are to stand, or start indoors if early bloom is wanted. 1 ft. Thin to 10-12 in. apart.
Century Plant, or Agave. These are fine ornamental plants for the window-garden or conservatory, requiring but little care and growing slowly, thus needing repotting only at long intervals. When the plants have outgrown their usefulness as house plants, they are still valuable as porch decorations, for plunging in rockwork or about rustic nooks. The striped-leaved variety is the most desirable, but the common type, with its blue-gray leaves, is highly ornamental.
There are a number of dwarf-growing species of Agave that are not so common, although they may be grown with ease. Such plants add novelty to a collection, and may be used through the summer as noted above or plunged with cactus in a bed of tropical plants. All succeed well in loam and sand in equal parts, adding a little leaf-mold in the case of the small varieties. The more common species are propagated by suckers from around the base of the established plants. A few kinds having no suckers must be grown from seed. As to watering, they demand no special care. Agaves will not stand frost.
Cereus. Under the name of Night-blooming Cereuses, several species of Cacti are cultivated. The name is sometimes applied to species of Phyllocactus, the flowers of which, in white and shades of red, sometimes open at nightfall. Phyllocactuses are easy to grow. [See Cactus.] The true Night-blooming Cereuses, however, are species of the genus Cereus. The commonest one is C. nycticalus, but C. grandiflorus, C. triangularis and others are occasionally seen. These true Night-blooming Cereuses all have long rod-like stems, which are cylindrical or angular. These stems often reach a height of 10 to 30 ft., and they need support. They should be trained along a pillar or tied to a stake. They are uninteresting leafless things during a large part of the year; but in midsummer, after they are three or more years old, they throw out their great tubular flowers, which open at nightfall and wither and die when the light strikes them next morning. They are very easily grown, either in pots or planted in the natural soil in the conservatory. The only special care they need is good drainage at the roots, so that the soil will not become soggy.
Sweet Cherry
Cherry. Of Cherries there are two common types, the sweet Cherries and the sour Cherries. The sweet Cherries are larger and taller-growing trees. They comprise the varieties known as the Hearts, Bigarreaus and Dukes. The sour Cherries include the various kinds of Morellos and pie Cherries, and these usually ripen after the sweet Cherries. The sour Cherries make low, round-headed trees. The fruits are extensively used for canning. Cherry trees should be planted when 2 and 3 years old. Too rich soil tends to make growth at the expense of fruit, particularly in the sweet Cherries. For the sweet types, a strong, gravelly loam is best. Sour Cherries thrive well on clay loams.