Instructions in gardening for ladies

by Mrs. Loudon

It is impossible in England to obtain the advantages so easily attainable by the Dutch, without incurring a very considerable expence. Our soil is generally so adhesive that it requires to be pulverized to a very great depth to admit of the descent of the roots; and even when the soil is sandy it is very different from the beautiful silvery sea-sand, called Dünensande by the Dutch. The only way in which we can imitate this sand is by mixing nearly in equal parts what we call silver-sand and peat, or by growing the plants in silver-sand, with a very slight admixture of fine vegetable mould. Whatever the soil may be, it can hardly be too light, as the Dutch say that the hyacinth will never thrive unless in sand so fine as to be blown away in separate particles by a high wind. When hyacinths are to be grown to the greatest perfection in England, a bed, or rather pit, should be dug three feet or four feet wide, and six feet deep, the length depending on the situation, and on the quantity of flowers to be grown. A layer of stale cow-dung, without any mixture of straw or litter, should be laid at the bottom of this pit at least a foot deep, and the pit should then be filled up to within three inches of the top, with equal parts of peat and silver-sand, or with a mixture of three parts of silver-sand to one of light vegetable mould perfectly fine and without any stones. About three inches from the top should be spread a layer of pure sand in which the bulbs are placed at regular distances, and each with the pointed end, which the Dutch call the nose, upwards; and the bed is then filled up with the same mixture as the lower part, and a layer about three inches deep of pure peat is laid over the whole, to form a relief to the flowers. Dry weather should always be chosen for the planting; and when planted, the bulbs should be entirely covered with the sand, and should be about six inches below the surface of the bed, which should be raised at least three inches higher than the surrounding garden, to allow for its sinking. The layer of pure peat on the surface is only to afford a dark background to the flowers when they expand, and may be omitted if thought unnecessary for this purpose. The bulbs are planted the last week in October, or the first or second week in November, and they are placed about four inches apart every way. After they are planted, a mixture of cow-dung and water is generally thrown with a scoop over the bed, so as to form a thin coating over the soil, but not to penetrate into it. When the weather becomes frosty, a covering of dry litter, reeds, or tan is put over the beds; or hoops may be fixed over them on which bast mats are stretched. In March the covering is removed and the beds are cleared of weeds, and covered with a fresh coating of cow-dung and water. In April, an awning of thin canvass, is erected over each bed, under which the plants are to flower; and by the middle of this month they will be in all their beauty. As soon as the flowers begin to fade the flower-stalks should be cut off and instantly removed. They should never be suffered to lie on the bed, and should not even be put where by any chance they can mix with the earth intended for a hyacinth bed in another year, as the exudations proceeding from them in their decay would cause the bulbs to rot. This is not only because the exudations from the hyacinths are of course poisonous to other bulbs of the same genus; but because the flower-stalks appear to contain a kind of corrosive juice, as the labourers employed in Holland to cut them off the bulbs, frequently find their hands and bodies become red and inflamed, and sometimes so painful as to prevent them from sleeping.

When the leaves turn brown at the points, which is generally about the middle of June, the bulbs should be taken up. When this is to be done the leaves are first pulled off, or if they will not come off readily by pulling, they are cut off close to the bulb. The bulbs are then taken out of the ground, and laid on the footpath in rows, so as to keep the different kinds distinct. The bed is afterwards raked smooth all over, and a strip about a foot and a half broad is made flat and firm, in the middle of the bed, by being pressed with a plank, or beaten with the back of the spade, and on this the hyacinth-roots are laid, still in distinct rows: earth is then drawn over them two or three inches thick, and they are left for two or three weeks. This the Dutch call lying in the Käuil, and the time of remaining in it varies according to the size of the bulb and the weather, the largest bulbs being removed soonest. When taken from the Käuil, the bulbs are placed on shelves or wooden trays to dry, with the root end of the bulb inclining towards the south.

Where it is not thought advisable to sink the bed so deep as six feet, it may be made four feet deep, and the layer of cow-dung at the bottom mixed with soil a foot deep, leaving only about three feet to be filled with a mixture of peat and river sand, with about the proportion of a third to the whole of vegetable mould. The other treatment is the same as that detailed above. In all cases the soil should be very light and fine, and only cow-dung should be used as a manure. The roots should also always be watered very sparingly, and with a mixture of cow dung and water, though not so thick as that used for coating the bed. When the bulbs are planted, and again when they are taken up, they should be carefully examined, and all that are at all specked or mouldy, should be laid on one side, as they would infect the others. When the infected part is large, the bulb should be thrown away, or burnt with the stalks; but where the speck is small it should be cut out with a sharp knife, and the bulb planted, in not more than four-and-twenty hours after the piece has been cut out. Hyacinths are propagated by offsets, by dividing the bulb, and by seed, in which last case they are five years before they flower. When planted in pots or boxes, the pot or box should be half filled with broken potsherds, or some other material to ensure perfect drainage, and the bulbs should be planted in a compost of peat, sand, and very rotten cow-dung. The bulbs should only be about half covered with soil; and if in boxes they should be kept, if practicable, in a greenhouse, till they are ready to flower. If in pots, they should be plunged into a hotbed, or into a tan-stove; or where this cannot be done they should be buried in the garden, so that the point of the bulb should be at least four inches below the surface. Here they should remain till about six weeks before flowering, when the pots should be taken out, and placed where they are to flower; the sides of the pots being kept warm with moss, and the flowers brought forward by daily waterings. All hyacinths grown in pots and boxes will require abundance of water to make amends for the unnatural situation in which their roots are placed. After hyacinths have flowered in pots or boxes, or in water glasses, the bulbs are generally planted in the open ground, and being covered with about an inch of soil they are left to take their chance. Thus treated, the finer kinds generally perish, but the hardier ones will live and flower for many years, if allowed every autumn to retain their leaves, till their new bulbs are matured. Hyacinths that have been flowered in glasses, or pots, seldom however flower so well afterwards, at least not for several years, as they scarcely ever quite recover the shock they have sustained from the unnatural position of their roots; whereas the Dutch florists, by allowing the roots of their hyacinths plenty of room to descend perpendicularly, and taking up the bulbs every autumn, have been known to keep bulbs of their finest flowers twelve or even twenty years, and to have them produce splendid flowers every year.

It must be observed that the exudations of hyacinths are very abundant, and very injurious to other plants of their own genus. For this reason, the Dutch never grow their hyacinths in the same bed two years consecutively. The usual rotation is, first year, hyacinths; second, tulips; third, polyanthus-narcissus; fourth, crocuses; and fifth, hyacinths again. The Guernsey lily, the bulbs of which are generally thrown away in England as soon as they have flowered, will live many years if treated like the hyacinth.

Crocuses may be grown in the open ground, and they do not require taking up every year like hyacinths or tulips. If they are taken up and replanted every third or fourth year, it will be sufficient. There are above a hundred named varieties, and they will produce a very good effect if planted so as to form figures with their various colours. When this is the case, however, the corms should be taken up and replanted every year; to prevent the figure from becoming confused by the spreading of the offsets. Crocuses may be grown in glasses, or in pots or boxes, with very little injury, if planted in the open ground as soon as they have done flowering, and suffered to mature their leaves. In all cases the leaves of the crocus should be suffered to remain till they wither, and not cut off; though many gardeners, from a mistaken desire for neatness, cut the leaves off as soon as the flowers have faded, and thus seriously injure the corms. All the kinds of gladiolus or corn flag, the Irises, the Ixias, and, in short all the Cape bulbs, are corms, and require the same treatment as the crocus. Charlwood’s, Covent-garden, and Carter’s, Holborn, are the best places in London for procuring all kinds of bulbs and corms.

The Ranunculus.—M. Triquet de Blanc, who had the kindness to send me directions for the culture of the carnation, has given me the following directions for the culture of the ranunculus:—“In November spread well-rotten cow-dung, or thoroughly-decayed leaves, four or five inches thick over the beds which are to be devoted to the ranunculus, and dig it into the ground about four inches deep, digging the bed over several times, so as to mix it well with the soil. The surface of the bed is then raked smooth, and lines, or rather drills, an inch and a half deep, are traced on it so as to form squares, four inches on the side every way. The ground is then left till the beginning of February, when the ranunculuses are planted four inches apart, just at the point of intersection of the lines, and they are covered about an inch and a half deep (rather less than more) with the compost described above, or with fine garden mould. The advantages gained by digging the earth in November, though the roots are not planted till February, are—that the ranunculuses are thus planted on a hard bottom, which suits them particularly; and that the gardener is not obliged to dig the earth to mix the cow-dung with it in February, when the ground is generally sloppy, and in a very unfit state for being worked.”—When the plants are about to flower, an awning may be erected over the bed to protect them from the effects of the sun, which is apt to destroy the brilliancy of their colours. In frosty weather, they should be protected by a mat, day and night, as the sun will do them a serious injury, if they have been at all affected by the frost. The plants may be watered with a weak solution of cow-dung in water, and they should be constantly watered in dry weather. The tubers should be taken up as soon as the leaves begin to turn brown, which will generally be in July. Groom, of Walworth, is considered to keep the best ranunculuses.

The Anemones of florists are of two kinds: those descended from the garden or star anemone (A. hortense), and those descended from the poppy anemone (A. coronaria). The poppy anemones, which are generally single, are planted in September or October, and under shelter are frequently in flower all winter: the splendid Dutch anemones, and all the varieties of A. coronaria, on the contrary, are not planted till February or March; the latter month, or even the beginning of April, being preferred for the Dutch anemones, which are apt to rot if planted too early. Anemones should be planted three inches deep, and five inches apart every way, in a fresh, sound, yellow loam, without any manure. Care should be taken to keep the frost from them; but they will not need any other attention till the leaves turn brown, when the tubers should be taken up, and treated like those of the ranunculus and tulip. Old varieties are propagated by offsets, and new kinds are raised from seed.

Dahlias are either raised from seed, or propagated by slips or cuttings, or dividing the tubers. The seed is sown in pots in a slight hotbed in February, and the young plants are transplanted into the open air in June, where they are suffered to remain till they flower. In October, those which are thought worth preserving are marked, and the others taken up and thrown away. When the stalks are killed by frost, the tubers are taken up, and kept in some dry place till the season of planting the following year. The slips are taken from the collar of the root in spring, and the cuttings from the tops of the young shoots early in summer. Both are planted in very small pots, in light, rich, sandy loam, and placed in a hotbed frame, and shaded. In a fortnight they will have struck root; but they should be shifted into larger pots, and placed for a short time in a greenhouse, before they are turned out into the open ground. Dahlias have large tuberous roots, but stems will only spring from the eyes or buds in the crown of the root. If these eyes should have been destroyed, or be wanting, the root is said to be blind; and though it will live for several years in the ground, it will not send up a single stem. For this reason, before dividing the root, it should be planted in a gentle hotbed to develope or start the buds or eyes; and when it is divided, care should be taken that each piece includes a portion of the crown, which has an eye in it. Sometimes eyes are grafted in the herbaceous manner on blind tubers.

The best soil for dahlias is a sandy loam, not too rich, as, in rich or moist soils, the plant will produce more stalks and leaves than flowers. Where the soil of the garden in which dahlias are to be planted is rich, or heavy, a quantity of sand or gravel should be mixed with it. Striped or variegated flowers will soon lose their markings if grown in rich soil. The tubers of the early kinds are planted in April, to flower in June; but those of the finer kinds are not planted till May and June. When they begin to grow, the side-shoots are removed from one foot to three feet from the ground; the principal stem is then either tied to a stake driven deeply and firmly into the ground, or the whole plant is drawn through a set of dahlia rings. Dwarf plants are frequently suffered to trail on the ground, and are pegged down, so as to cover the whole of the bed, with which treatment they look extremely well. In dry weather, the plants should be regularly watered, but not too abundantly. When the leaves and stalks are killed by the frost, they should be directly cut down; but the tubers may be left in the ground a little longer, as, if taken up too soon, they will shrivel, and often become rotten. When taken up, they should be kept in a dry place, and covered with a mat to exclude the frost.

All the dahlias now in our gardens, numerous as they are, have sprung from two kinds, both natives of Mexico, viz.—D. pinnata, or variabilis, all the varieties of which are purple, crimson, rose-coloured, lilac, or white; and D. coccinea, the varieties of which are scarlet, orange, or yellow.