Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants require more water and ventilation. Due attention must be paid to shifting well-rooted plants into larger pots; and, if space is desired, many kinds of hardier plants can be safely put out in cold frames. Towards the end of the month it may be necessary slightly to shade the glass of the greenhouse. All herbaceous plants and hardy shrubs may be planted in the garden. The covering of leaves or litter should be taken off bulbs and tender plants that were covered up for winter, so that the beds can be lightly forked and raked. Sow tender annual flower seeds in boxes inside.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been covered up with straw or leaves should be relieved around the plants, leaving the covering between them. Special care must be exercised that the mulch be not left on too long; the plants should not become whitened or “drawn.” Raspberries, grape vines, &c., that have been laid down may now be uncovered and tied up to stakes or trellises, and all new plantations of these and other fruits may now be made. Fruit trees may be grafted.
Vegetable Garden.—Asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, &c., should be uncovered., and the beds hoed or dug lightly. Hardier sorts of vegetable seeds and plants, such as beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, turnip, &c., should all be sown or planted by the middle of the month if the soil is dry and warm, and in all cases, where practicable, before the end of the month. It is essential, in sowing seeds now, that they be well firmed in the soil. Any who expect to get early cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce or radishes, while planting or sowing is delayed until the time of sowing tomato and egg plant in May, are sure to be disappointed of a full crop. Frequent rotation of crops should be practised in the vegetable garden, in order to head off insects and diseases; and also to make the best use of the land. Every three or four years the vegetable garden should be laid out in some new place; but if this cannot be done, the crops should be rotated on different parts of the old garden.
May
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants should be in their finest bloom. Firing may be entirely dispensed with, though care must still be exercised in ventilating. If weather is cold and backward, however, and in very northern regions, care must be taken not to stop firing too soon, or the plants will mildew and become stunted. Every precaution must be used to keep the air moist. “Moss culture” may be tried, the common sphagnum or moss of the swamps, mixed with one-twentieth of its bulk of bone-dust, being laid as a mulch on the top of the earth of the flower-pots; its effect is to shield the pots from the sun, and at the same time stimulate the roots to come to the surface. By the end of the month all of the plants that are wanted for the summer decoration of the flower border may be planted out, first loosening a little the ball of earth at the roots. If the weather is dry, water freely after planting. When the greenhouse is not to be used during the summer months, camellias, azaleas and plants of that character should be set out of doors under partial shade; but most of the other plants usually grown in the conservatory or window garden in winter may be set in the open border. Flower-beds should be kept well hoed, and raked, to prevent the growth of weeds next month.
Pelargoniums, pinks, monthly roses and all the half-hardy kinds of flowering plants should be planted early, but coleus, heliotrope and the more tender plants should be delayed until the end of the month. Annuals that have been sown in the greenhouse or hotbed may be planted out, and seeds of such sorts as mignonette, sweet alyssum, Phlox Drummondii, portulaca, &c., may be sown in the beds or borders. The china aster is now one of the most popular of summer and fall plants. The seed may be sown in the north as late as the middle of May, or even the first of June, with good results for fall blooming. If the plants are started early in the greenhouse, they are likely to spend themselves before fall, and therefore a later sowing should be provided.
Lawns should be mown, and the edgings trimmed.
Fruit Garden.—The hay or leaf mulching on the strawberry beds should be removed and the ground deeply hoed (if not removed in April in the more forward places), after which it may be placed on again to keep the fruit clean and the ground from drying. Where it has not been convenient before, most of the smaller fruits may yet be planted during the first part of the month. Tobacco dust will dislodge most of the numerous kinds of slugs, caterpillars or worms that make their appearance on the young shoots of vines or trees. Fruit trees may be planted this month, if they were not planted in March or April. If they have been kept fresh and dormant, they should still be in good condition. The broken roots should be cut back to fresh wood, and the tops should be headed back in proportion.
Vegetable Garden.—Attention should be given to new sowings and plantings for succession. Crops sown last month will have to be thinned out if large enough. Hoe deeply all transplanted crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, &c. Tender vegetables, such as tomatoes, egg and pepper plants, sweet potatoes, &c., can be planted out. Seeds of Lima beans, sweet corn, melon, okra, cucumbers, &c., should be sown; and sow for succession peas, spinach, lettuce, beans, radishes, &c., every ten days.
June