170 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



There are some annuals, such as Nemophila, which 

 become spring flowers of the greatest value if they 

 are sown in autumn. 1 There are others, such as Corn- 

 flowers, Sweet Sultan, Eschscholtzia, Poppies, and 

 the annual Saponarias and Silenes, which very sel- 

 dom do so well from a spring as from an autumn sow- 

 ing. But the sowing must not be too late. The plants 

 must have time to get some strength before the winter 

 comes, and, therefore, most of them should be sown 

 in September as early as possible. It is, of course, 

 but little use to sow them when the weather is hot 

 and dry, unless they can be thoroughly and frequently 

 watered. Therefore, when there is a September 

 drought, it is best to wait until it breaks up. Then 

 sow annuals, not in great masses where they will leave 

 a blank space when they die, but in any vacant patch 

 in the border, and particularly in places occupied 

 by dormant bulbs, such as Tulips, Daffodils, Spanish 

 and English Irises. The lower growing annuals will 

 do no harm to these, and, if the bulbs in their spring 

 growth overshadow them a little, it will not matter 

 much. Then, again, those annuals which are best 

 sown in spring, such as Nasturtiums, can also be sown 

 among bulbs, and the bulbs will often give them pro- 

 tection from late frosts, while afterwards their flowers 



1 Autumn sowing of annuals is not generally to be advised in the United 

 States. In an interesting experiment, however, near Chicago in the spring 

 of 1916, seeds of the following autumn-planted annuals were highly suc- 

 cessful; Delphinium, Hunnemannia fumarisefolia, Calendula, Calliopsis 

 Drummondi, Antirrhinum, Brachycome iberidifolia, Candytuft, Erysimum 

 Perofskianum. L. Y. K. 



