76 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



appear. Portulaca, sweet alyssum, Shirley poppies, 

 and the annual gaillardias belong to this class, as well as 

 single petunias of the inexpensive varieties used to 

 edge shrubberies, and dwarf nasturtiums. 



Sweet peas, of course, are to be sown early and deep, 

 where they are to stand half an inch apart, like garden 

 peas, and then thinned out so that there is not less than 

 an inch between (two is better, but it is usually heart- 

 breaking to pull up so many sturdy pealets) and ree'n- 

 forced by brush or wire trellising. Otherwise I plant 

 the really worthy, or what might be called major annuals, 

 in a seed bed much like that used for the hardy plants, 

 at intervals during the month of May, according to 

 the earliness of the season, and the time they are wanted 

 to bloom. Later, I transplant them to their summer 

 resting places, leaving those that are not needed, for 

 it is dimcult to calculate too closely without scrimping, 

 in the seed bed, to cut for house decoration, as with the 

 perennials. Of course if annuals are desired for very 

 early flowering, many species may be started in a hotbed 

 and taken from thence to the borders. Biennials that 

 it is desired shall flower the first season are best hurried 

 in this way, yet for the gardenerless garden of a woman 

 this makes o'er muckle work. The occasional help of 

 the "general useful" is not very efficient when it 



