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The Mary Frances Garden Book; or, Adventures Among the Garden People

Chapter 27: CHAPTER VII Early Spring Garden
By Jane Eayre Fryer
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About This Book

A young girl named Mary Frances and her brother Billy learn gardening through playful episodes in which anthropomorphic garden folk—roosters, fairies, and other helpers—explain soil preparation, planting seeds and bulbs, parts of flowers, pollination, pest remedies, and care for vegetables, annuals, perennials, and roses. Interwoven with the narrative are clear, practical instructions, lists of recommended plants for children, methods for making hotbeds, and a month-by-month outline to guide seasonal garden work.

CHAPTER VII
Early Spring Garden

LIST No. 1
Five Bulbs* for Early Spring Hardy Garden

See Mary Frances Garden Cut-Out No. 1.

Plant the following named bulbs in the Fall. See Chapter LVI.

Names. Remarks.
Snowdrops.
Pure white small bells, blooming late in February or
early in March, whenever the snow leaves the ground.
Leave bulbs in the ground over Winter, covered with leaves.
Plant 4 inches deep.
Nar-cis-sus or Daff-o-dils.*
Daffodil bulbs are very hardy, and increase in number from year to year. They should be covered with leaves over Winter.
The best varieties are “Emperor”* and “Empress.”
Plant 4 inches deep.
Barii Conspicuus, a Star Narcissus, is beautiful for cutting.
Poet’s Narcissus have beautiful white petals, with golden and red center.
Cottage Garden* (May-flowering) Tulips.
Beautiful large flowers of all colors, making the Spring garden bright and gay.
Plant bulbs 4 inches deep.
Plants grow 18 to 24 inches high.
Darwin Tulips.
These beautiful, stately tulips grow two feet high and more. Large globe-shaped brilliant blooms.
They come in all colors except yellow.
Plant 4 inches deep.
Hy-a-cinths.
Plant only a few hyacinth bulbs, because they do not “winter over” well; new bulbs should be added every year, as the old ones deteriorate.
Colors: pink, purple, white.
* If garden space is small, select only the names marked with a star.

Seven Hardy Perennial Plants which Bloom in the Early Spring

As pictured in the Mary Frances Garden Cut-Out No. 1.
Common Name. Botanical Name. Remarks. Height.
Rock-cress.
Ar-a-bis
Al-pi-na.
Little white flowers blooming in early Spring.
 6-8 inches.
English Daisies.
Bel-lis
Per-en-nis.
Little white and pink flowers, blooming in April and May.
Pretty among Poet’s Narcissus, or mixed in an edging.
 3-6 inches.
Bleeding Hearts.*
Di-el-y-tra.
Pink heart-shaped drops on graceful stem.
Raised from plants only.
Buy clumps in the Fall.
 24 inches.  
Moss Pinks.
Phlox
Sub-u-la-ta.
White, rose, lilac, little flowers blooming in April and May.
Blooms make a carpet of flowers.
Buy only a few plants as they soon spread.
 4-6 inches.
Violets.  
There are native and double Russian varieties.
Buy plants of sweet-scented double Russian variety.
 4 inches.
Yellow Alyssum “Basket of Gold.”
A-lys-sum
Sax-a-tile.
Little yellow clustered heads of flowers.
Pretty for edging flower beds.
Sow seed in August.
 12 inches.
Wallflower.
Not perfectly hardy in all places.
Fragrant brown and yellow flowers.
Plant seeds in August, in a protected southern corner, where they may “winter over” if the weather is not very severe. Plant needs sun.
 15 inches.
In order to obtain good Spring blooms, plant these flowers in August of the Summer before, or earlier.
* If garden space is small, select only the names marked with a star.

MARY FRANCES GARDEN CUT-OUT
No. 1
For description of the flowers shown here see Chapter VII.

List of flowers shown in the Early Spring Hardy Garden
  • Snowdrops,
  • Narcissus or Daffodils,
  • Cottage Garden Tulips,
  • Darwin Tulips,
  • Hyacinths,
  • Rock-cress,
  • English Daisies,
  • Bleeding Hearts,
  • Moss Pinks,
  • Violets,
  •  
  • Yellow Alyssum
  • Wall Flower.
  •  
  • Sundial
MARY FRANCES GARDEN CUT-OUT
No. 2
For description of the flowers shown here see Chapter VII.

List of flowers shown in the Early Summer Hardy Garden
  • Yellow Alyssum,
  • Columbine,
  • German Iris,
  • Lily-of-the-Valley,
  • Anchusa,
  • Lupines,
  • Tufted Pansies,
  • Bleeding Hearts,
  • Hardy Candytuft,
  • Forget-me-not,
  • Perennial Cornflower.