ANNUALS WORTHY AND UNWORTHY 83 



its other qualities. The blue cornflower is best sown 

 in a long border or bed of unconventional shape, and 

 may be treated like a biennial, one sowing being made in 

 September so that the seedlings will make sturdy tufts 

 before cold weather. These, if lightly covered with 

 salt hay or rough litter (not leaves), will bloom in May 

 and June, and if then replaced by a second sowing, 

 flowers may be had from September first until freezing 

 weather, so hardy is this true, blue Kaiser-blumen. 



All the poppies are worthy, from the lovely Shirley, 

 with its butterfly- winged petals, to the Eschscholtzia, 

 the state flower of California. 



One thing to be remembered about poppies is not 

 to rely greatly upon their durability and make the 

 mistake of expecting them to fill too conspicuous a 

 place, or keep long in the marching line of the garden 

 pageant. They have a disappointing way, especially 

 the great, long-stemmed double varieties, of suddenly 

 turning to impossible party-coloured mush after a bit 

 of damp weather that is most discouraging. Treated 

 as mere garden episodes and massed here and there 

 where a sudden disappearance will not leave a gap, 

 they will yield a feast of unsurpassed colour. 



To me the Shirley is the only really satisfactory annual 

 poppy, and I sow it in autumn and cover it after the 



