Plant Houses.—The various pot plants should now be put in their winter quarters. Keep up moderate temperatures in the stove, and merely repel frosts in the greenhouse, guarding against damp, by ventilation and by the cautious use of water. Pot hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs for forcing; and propagate half-hardy plants by cuttings. Begin the housing of the main stock of chrysanthemums.
Flower Garden, &c.—Sow in the beginning of this month all half-hardy annuals required for early flowering; also mignonette in pots, thinning the plants at an early stage; the different species of primula; and the seeds of such plants as, if sown in spring, seldom come up the same season, but if sown in September and October, vegetate readily the succeeding spring. Put in cuttings of bedding pelargoniums in boxes, which may stand outdoors exposed to the sun, but should be sheltered from excessive rains. Continue the propagation of herbaceous plants, taking off the layers of carnations, picotees, pansies and chrysanthemums, by the end of the month; choice carnations and picotees may be potted and wintered in cold frames if the season is wet and ungenial. Plant evergreens; lay and put in cuttings of most of the hard-wooded sorts of shrubby plants.
October
Kitchen Garden.—Sow small salading and radishes in the first week, and lettuces in frames on a shallow hotbed for planting out in spring. If the winter prove mild they will be somewhat earlier than those sown next month or in January. Plant parsley in pots or boxes to protect under glass in case very severe weather occurs. Plant cabbages in beds or close rows till wanted in spring; and cauliflowers in the last week, to receive the protection of frames, or a sheltered situation. Store potatoes, beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and parsnips, by the end of the month. Band and earth up cardoons.
Fruit Garden.—Such fruit trees as have dropped their leaves may be transplanted; this is the best season for transplanting (though with care it may be done earlier), whether the leaves have fallen or not. Protect fig-trees, if the weather proves frosty, as soon as they have cast their leaves. Plant out raspberries. The orchard-house trees should be got under glass before the end of the month. Gather and store all sorts of apples and pears, the longest-keeping sorts not before the end of the month, if the weather be mild.
Forcing.—Maintain the heat in hotbeds and pits by means of fresh dung linings. Give abundance of air in mild bright weather. Dress vines and peaches. Clean and repair the forcing-houses, and overhaul the heating apparatus to see it is in good working condition. Plant chicory in boxes or on hotbeds for blanching. Sow kidney beans. Make up successional winter mushroom beds.
Plant Houses.—Replace all sorts of greenhouse plants. Fill the pits with pots of stocks, mignonette and hardy annuals for planting out in spring, along with many of the hardy sorts of greenhouse plants; the whole ought to be thoroughly ventilated, except in frosty weather. From this time till spring keep succulent plants almost without water. Begin to force roses, hyacinths and a few other bulbs, for winter and early spring decoration. Plant hyacinths in glasses for windows. The last of the pot chrysanthemums should be housed by the end of the first week.
Flower Garden.—Sow a few pots of hardy annuals in a frame, or on a sheltered border, for successional spring use if required. Plant the greater part of the common border bulbs, as hyacinths, narcissi, crocuses and early tulips, about the end of the month, with a few anemones for early flowering. Transplant strong plants of biennials and perennials to their final situations; also the select plants used for spring bedding. Protect alpine plants, stage auriculas, and choice carnations and picotees with glass frames; and tea roses and other tender plants with bracken or other protective material. Take up, dry and store dahlias and all tender tubers at the end of the month; pot lobelias and similar half-hardy plants from the open borders. Transplant all sorts of hardy evergreens and shrubs, especially in dry soils, giving abundance of water. Put in cuttings of all sorts of evergreens, &c. Plant out the hardier sorts of roses.
November
Kitchen Garden.—Trench up all vacant ground as soon as cleared of its crops, leaving the surface as rough as possible. Sow early peas and Early Dwarf Prolific beans in the second week, for an early crop; also in frames for transplanting. Protect endive, celery, artichoke and sea-kale with stable-litter or fern, or by planting the former in frames; take up late cauliflower, early broccoli and lettuces, and place them in sheltered pits or lay them in an open shed; earth up celery; manure and dress up asparagus beds.