February, 1922. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



23 



Selecting Seeds for the Garden 



Ella C. Morton, Niagara Falls, Ont. 



TF seeds for next summer's flower 

 J garden have not yet been selected, 

 no more time should be lost, for 

 February is the start-off month for 

 seed sowing and seed growing. Some 

 kinds of perennials will bloom the first 

 season, if .started now, and annuals 

 that are wanted in bloom earlier than 

 usual in summer must be forced in ad- 

 vance. Various kinds of seeds should 

 be started in a window, hotbed or 

 greenhouse at the end of this month or 

 early in March. The gardener who de- 

 lays will miss one of the greatest de- 

 lights of gardening — having things a 

 little earlier and perhaps a little differ- 

 ent from those of friend or neighbor 

 gardeners. 



Summer Decorative Plants. 

 Among the annuals and perennials 

 that should be started indoors are pe- 

 tunias, verbenas, antirrhinum (snap- 

 dragon), Pentstemon gloxiniodes, sal- 

 via (scarlet sage), ageratum. dusty 

 miller, golden feather pyrethrum and 

 lobelia. There are few summer decora- 

 tive plants that can be raised from seed 

 that will make a finer and more con- 

 tinuous display in the flower graden 

 than those named, if the seed is started 

 early and the plants given ordinary 

 lare and attention. If sown out-of- 

 oors even as soon as spring opens they 

 re very late in flowering. Petunias 

 erbenas, and snapdragons especiallv 

 ive good results if sown early. All 

 he plants named will be found very 

 useful also for helping to fill window 

 and verandah boxes, hanging baskets 

 and rustic stands. 



The pentstemons are very similar to 

 snapdragons in growth, but far pret- 

 tier when grown well. The seed must, 

 however, be sown early — not later 

 than the end of February. For early 

 flowers, the salvia seed should also be 

 sown about the same time. Seeds of 

 the other kinds mentioned should be 

 sown in March. Earlier sowing is not 

 necessary, excepting in very warm 

 localities. Pansy seed also may be 

 started in March indoors. 



If a few tall plants for the centre of 

 a bed or the back of a large border are 

 required, plant of few seeds, of castor 

 oil bean some time in March, or even 

 earh^ April, in shallow boxes in the 

 house and transplant singly, when 

 three or four leaves are started, into 

 small flower pots or even berry boxes 

 made tight. One may even start single 

 beans in small pots and allow the 

 plants to grow there until time for 

 planting outside. Some eosmos seed 

 and ^ome of the small-flowered sun- 

 flowers (helianthus) may also be 

 started indoors at about the same 

 time. These plants, and all the others 

 mentioned, when started as suggested, 

 should be transplanted, when four to 

 six leaves have been produced, singly 

 into good soil in small pots or be set 

 about two inches apart in well-drained 

 boxes. 



Annuals and Annual Climbers. 



Most of the annual climbing plants 

 must be sown outdoors where they are 

 to grow,, as they do not transplant well, 

 but there is one that should be start- 

 ed inside in March — -Cobaea scandens 



A Lily Pond and Bird Bath In a Dundaa Garden. 

 These attractive garden featurng were arranKed in the garden of J. A. Kyle, secretary of 

 the Dundas Horticultural Society. (See artlclf, "An Attractive Garden, " on page 24.) 



(cup and saucer vine). The others, if 

 started inside at all, will transplant 

 best from pots. Cobaea is one of the 

 best climbers for trellises and veran- 

 dahs. Transplant to a medium-sized 

 pot when four to six leaves have start- 

 ed, grow indoors until ,all danger o' 

 frost has passed and then stand out- 

 doors in partial shade and keep pro- 

 tected imtil warm weather comes. 

 This plant and the castor oil plant are 

 very easily chilled and should not be 

 planted out until the ground is quite 

 warm. In fact, all plants started in- 

 doors should be set out in cold-frames 

 or in some other sheltered spot when 

 weather permits, so that they may be- 

 come hardened to outdoor conditions 

 before being planted in permanent 

 quarters. 



Common Annuals. 



A few varieties of the common an- 

 nuals, such as asters, Chinese pinks, 

 Phlox Drummondii, zinnias, balsams, 

 marigolds, coreopsis, scabiosa, calen- 

 dula (pot marigold), mignonette, and 

 sehizanthus, may be started either in- 

 side or in the open. For earliest 

 bloom, sow the seed indoors in March, 

 even as late as early April in coldest 

 districts. Many annuals, such as pop- 

 pies, nasturtiums, ten weeks' stocks, 

 silene, gypsophila, love-in-a-mist, lark- 

 spur, and portulaca, do not transplant 

 or .succeed well when sown indoors. 



Besides the various plants mention- 

 ed, one may find many others describ- 

 ed and illustrated in the seed and plant 

 catalogues for 1922 that every good 

 gardener will have at hand by this 

 time. There's a wealth of information 

 and many surprises in these annual 

 catalogues, if one only looks well. In 

 the space here available, it would be 

 impossible to mention all the good 

 things that one may select from them 

 for a flower garden. Perhaps it would 

 be helpful if a list of the best of them 

 are given in order of some of the uses 

 to which they may be put. The; plants 

 marked with an asterisk (•) are per- 

 ennials, those with a double asterisk 

 may be had both as annuals and peren- 

 nials, and those unmarked are annuals 

 only. Some of them, such as Canter- 

 bury bell, foxglove, sweet william, 

 hollyhock, forget-me-not, are either 

 biennials or have biennial forms which 

 are treated as annuals or perennials, 

 according to variety. Tuberous be- 

 gonia, feverfew, and maurandia are 

 perennials that are treated as annuals. 



For Special Purposes and Places. 



For Beds and Masses. — Achillea.* Aster,** 

 Begonia (Tuberous),* Bachelor's Button, 

 Balsam, Bleeding Heart*, Calendula, Can- 

 terbury Bell,* Califomla Poppy, Celosia 

 (CockBcomb), Clarkia, Coreopsis,** Four 

 O'clock, Foxglove,* Gaillardia,** Godetla, 

 Heliotrope,* Love-Lies-Bleedlng, Love-ln-a- 

 Mist, Lupine,** Marigold, Nasturtium 

 (dwarf), Nicotlana, Pansy, Pentstemon,* 



