124 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



The number of seeds in a small packet ranges from two hundred 

 wallflowers and three hundred and fifty sweet-williams to one 

 thousand evening primroses. 



All these plants are hardy and they therefore require no 

 coddling. The seed should be sown in May or June in carefully 

 prepared seed-beds in the open. SiiiceTthe resulting plants are 

 not required for decorative effect during the ensuing summer, they 

 are usually allotted a small corner in the kitchen garden. Choose 

 a day for sowing when the soil is in a friable condition, after a few 

 days without rain. The seed should be sown in drills drawn from 

 one end of the bed to the other. It is a better method than broad- 

 cast sowing, for it enables one to keep the varieties distinct and 

 also facilitates thinning out. This is a most important matter, 

 and should on no account be neglected. 



By the end of the summer strong, vigorous plants will have been 

 formed, and they should then be transplanted to another bed 

 prepared for their reception. Here they may be left till early 

 spring, when they should be transferred to their flowering quarters. 

 In the case of wallflowers, however, autumn planting is more 

 satisfactory, since it enables the young plants to become thor- 

 oughly established before the severe frosts of winter arrive. 



If there be no room in the kitchen garden or in the flower 

 borders for a seed-bed for biennials, the seeds may be sown in 

 boxes or pans, and the seedlings afterwards transferred to a 

 suitable position in the open. The boxes should be placed in a 

 sunny position, and shaded on hot days until the seedlings are 

 well above the ground. 



Perennials may be treated in the same way as biennials. By 

 sowing seed in June or July it will be possible to secure in the 

 succeeding spring a fine collection of such subjects as : 



Arabis 



Campanula 



Columbine 



Delphinium I Primrose 



'Lupin Viola 



Polyanthus 





