274 THE CULTURE OF FLOWERS FROM SEEDS 



considerable proportion of the annuals that are usually sown in 

 autumn are particularly adapted for producing rich and varied dis- 

 plays in spring. A type of this class is found in the well-known 

 Erysimum Perowskianum, one of the cheapest, hardiest, and most 

 resplendent plants of the kind, cheap enough for the humblest 

 amateur to employ freely in his borders and beds, and at the same 

 time so effective in its colouring as to be adapted for the most com- 

 plex and highly finished examples of geometric work. Amongst the 

 annuals are many such as, for example, Erysimum arkansanum, a 

 lighter tone of yellow than the species just named ; Nemophila 

 insignis, well known for its lovely blue flowers, and the white variety, 

 alba, of the same ; Saponaria calabrica, exquisite rosy pink, and the 

 white variety, alba, of the same ; Silene pendula, lively rose, and its 

 dwarf variety, compacta, and white variety, alba Virginian Stock, of 

 which the distinct varieties are remarkably well adapted to form bands 

 and masses of red, white, and yellow, and also to make a delightful 

 groundwork for enhancing the splendour of late Tulips and clumps of 

 Aubrietia, Yellow Alyssum, and other of the more distinctive plants 

 that are employed in high colouring in first-class geometric gardening. 

 A list of such plants will at once indicate that there is yet a field of 

 enterprise for the practitioner of spring flower gardening ; and while 

 cheap and effective materials are thus brought into the service, there 

 is no interference with the later summer bedding, because, if the 

 annuals are well managed, they will give their plentiful bloom when 

 the garden is most in need of colour, and may be cleared off in 

 time to make way for the plants that are generally employed in the 

 summer display, and which are known as ' bedding plants ' par 

 excellence. 



In the management of annuals for an early bloom, it is of great 

 importance to sow them at a proper time, so that they will be strong 

 enough to perform what is required of them, and yet not so forward 

 (or, as we may say, * winter proud ') as to suffer from the severity of 

 the weather. In the North the middle of July is none too early for 

 a general sowing in beds, and in the South the middle of August is 

 none too late. In some few sheltered spots in the extreme South- 

 West the middle of September is a suitable time. As a rule, how- 

 ever, the sowing should be made as early as those familiar with the 

 soil and climate of the place may deem safe, the main point being to 

 have the plants as forward as possible without being in such a 

 succulent state as to be seriously injured by the weather. We prefer 

 sowing in drills on a rather poor soil well broken up to a kindly state, 



