Repot auriculas, and sow auricula seed in boxes under glass. Propagate herbaceous and other plants that have gone out of flower, by means of cuttings and slips, especially those required for spring bedding; propagate also the various summer bedding plants increased by cuttings. Increase roses and American shrubs, by layering, budding or cuttings, and go on with the layering of carnations and picotees. Stake and tie up dahlias and strong herbaceous plants.
August
Kitchen Garden.—Sow winter and spring spinach in the beginning and about the end of the month; parsley and winter onions, for a full crop, in the first week; cabbages about the middle of the month, for planting out in spring; cauliflower in the first half (Scotland) and in the second half (England) of the month; Hardy Hammersmith and Brown Cos lettuce in the first and last week; small salads occasionally; and Black Spanish radish, for winter crops. Plant out kales and broccoli for late crops; plant celery (earthing up the advancing crops as required), endive for succession, and a few coleworts. Take up shallots, garlic, &c.
Fruit Garden.—Proceed in training and regulating the summer shoots of all fruit trees as directed for the last three months. Net up, in dry weather, gooseberry and currant bushes, to preserve the fruit till late in the autumn. Make new strawberry beds if required. Preserve the ripening fruits on the wall and other trees from insects, and destroy wasp nests. Gather fruits as they ripen.
Forcing.—The routine of cultivation in hotbeds and pits may be continued. Sow tomatoes and cucumbers for a winter crop. Make up mushroom beds. In the forcing-houses, where the crops are past, part of the sashes may be removed, so as to permit thorough ventilation.
Plant Houses.—Attend to the propagation of all sorts of greenhouse plants by cuttings, and to the replacing in the greenhouse and stoves the more tender species, by the end of the month in ordinary seasons, but in wet weather in the second week. Sow half-hardy annuals, as Nemophila, Collinsia, Schizanthus, Rhodanthe, &c., to flower during winter.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow in the second and the last week, on a warm border of a light sandy soil, with an east aspect, any free-flowering hardy annuals as Silene pendula, Nemophila, &c., for planting in spring; and auricula and primula seeds in pots and boxes. Propagate, all sorts of herbaceous plants by rooted slips or suckers; take off layers of carnations, picotees and pansies. Plant cuttings of bedding plants, and of bedding pelargoniums in boxes for convenience of removal. Layer the tops of chrysanthemums, to obtain dwarf flowering plants. Transplant evergreens in moist weather, about the end of the month; and propagate them by layers and cuttings. Pot Neapolitan violets for forcing; or plant out on a mild hotbed. Clip box edgings.
September
Kitchen Garden.—Sow small salading for late crops; and lettuce and spinach, if not done last month, for spring crops. Plant endive and lettuce at the foot of a south wall to stand the winter; plant out cabbages from the chief autumn sowing. Plant cauliflowers on a warm border in spaces such as can be protected by hand-lights. Thin the winter spinach, when large enough, that it may have space to grow. If broccoli be too rank or tall to withstand the winter, lift and lay nearly up to the neck in the earth, the heads sloping towards the north. Lift onions, and lay them out to ripen on a dry border or gravel-walk. Lift potatoes and store them.
Fruit Garden.—Finish the summer pruning and training. Where the walls are heated, assist the maturing of peaches and nectarines, and the ripening of the young wood for next year, by fires during the day. Gather and lay up in the fruit-room with care the autumnal sorts of apples and pears. Prepare borders and stations for fruit trees during dry weather. Plant strawberries for a main crop. Repot orchard-house trees, disrooting if necessary.
Forcing.—Take care that late melons, cucumbers and tomatoes be not injured by getting too much water and too little air. Sow a few kidney beans for an early forced crop. Expel damp, and assist the ripening of late grapes and peaches with fires during the day. Prune early vines and peaches.
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.
Fruit Garden.—Plant all sorts of fruit trees in fine weather—the earlier in the month the better. Protect fig-trees. Commence pruning and nailing. Gather and store the latest apples and pears. Examine the fruit-room and remove all decayed fruit.
Forcing.—Keep up the requisite degree of heat in hotbeds and pits. Cucumbers and tomatoes will require more than ordinary attention. Force asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale, in the mushroom-house, in pits, or in the open border under boxes or cases surrounded and covered by well-fermented stable dung and leaves. Sow Early Horn carrot; also kidney beans and radishes, on hotbeds. In the forcing-houses prune and train the trees; fork over and dress the borders of such houses as have not been already done.
Plant Houses.—The directions for the greenhouse and conservatory in January apply also to this month generally. Continue the forcing of roses, hyacinths, &c. Houses containing large-flowered Japanese chrysanthemums will require to be kept dry, airy and moderately warm to prevent “damping-off” of petals.
Flower Garden, &c.—Plant dried tubers of border flowers, but the finer sorts had better be deferred till spring. Plant tulips in the early part of the month. Put in cuttings of bedding calceolarias, choosing the shoots that will not run up to flower. Protect such half-hardy plants as are not already sheltered. Plant deciduous trees and shrubs so long as the weather continues favourable, and before the soil has parted with the solar heat absorbed during summer. Dig and dress such flower borders and shrubberies as may now be cleared of annuals and the stems of herbaceous plants.
