Seeds 53 



ground where the plants are to remain. One bed is for pink 

 flowers shading into red, the other blue, and the tender varie- 

 ties of each color are grouped together in a small space. If the 

 weather is warm I let the beds alone, allowing the seeds to 

 take their time to germinate, and I water them very little, 

 which forces them to root deeper. If the weather turns cold 

 or a frost is impending, and especially after the seeds have 

 come up, I cover the beds temporarily with a double thickness 

 of cheese cloth, and the more tender plants with the storm 

 windows of the house. In this way I have brought my plants 

 through killing frosts, and they have the advantage of hardy 

 open-air growth, and deep roots that withstand prolonged 

 droughts. Many annuals that are recommended to be started 

 early in gentle heat, bloom under this treatment in July and 

 the first week of August, which is as early as they are ever se- 

 cured according to the catalogues. Seeds should be sown 

 thinly, and even then they will probably require further thin- 

 ning out, and may be transplanted elsewhere to cover vacan- 

 cies made by the departure of early perennials. Transplant 

 them early so that they may become established before hot 

 weather. This method involves almost no care and very 

 little watering; for one does not go over little tracts in many 

 beds; and, placed at the entrance of the garden, the annuals 

 make a conspicuous showing during the trying months of 

 July and August. I get my plants so early that the seeds of 

 the first heads of any variety have time to mature and drop, 

 and thereby I secure a quantity of self-sown plants of the most 

 vigorous growth the following spring. I shall never return to 

 the troublous, difficult problem of a hotbed for annuals. 



Nor do I find it any advantage for raising perennials in my 

 latitude, while the disadvantages are many. After I got out 

 my first consignment of annuals I was so happy in the success, 

 that by the middle of June I planted the bed full of perennial 



