n8 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



crinkled silk seem to flush and pale with the tremulous 

 colour of an opal as you look at them. Plant Esch- 

 scholtzias as a border, but sow Iceland and the Orient- 

 al Poppies, which are hardy perennials, by themselves ; 

 otherwise they are easily destroyed in the clearing-up 

 time which comes after blossoming. There is a fine 

 yellow Poppy, Hunnemannia fumariaefolia, which 

 should not be overlooked. Poppy seed sown in Au- 

 gust gives richer coloured flowers than spring-sown 

 seed. Seeds of Eschscholtzia and Hunnemannia 

 should always be sown in May. Sow broadcast as 

 thinly as possible on soil that has been worked mellow 

 and fine, pressing it into the ground with a board. 

 As it is difficult to sow the seed thinly enough it is a 

 good plan to mix it with fine sand a teaspoon ful or 

 less of seed to a teacup of sand and scatter that as 

 thinly as possible. It will, even then, be found that 

 the plants will come up too thickly and will need to be 

 thinned to stand a foot apart each way. Poppies 

 grown too closely will throw up one or two slender 

 stems with only a few blossoms, while, given plenty of 

 room, they will branch freely, producing dozens of 

 flowers and remaining in bloom for weeks. Mark the 

 finest blossoms on the plant from which you wish to 

 save seed, removing all others as they fade, that they 

 may not self-sow or check the bloom. If self-sown 

 they are apt to come up so quickly as to be trouble- 

 some. Pull up the plants as soon as they have done 

 blooming to add to the compost heap, and prepare 



