62 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 



faintly tinted whitish seed, the pink is a trifle deeper, the 

 red and purple are a deep brownish tone. The white fox- 

 glove seeds are white, the purplish red foxglove seeds are al- 

 most black. The poppy and morning-glory show the same 

 difference. Many other plants follow this distinction, which 

 it is well to remember if you buy a package of mixed seed; for 

 you may pick out the seeds by their different tones, and plant 

 them separately. I find the same differences exist in the stems 

 of plants. White varieties are of a pale green in asters, cos- 

 mos, columbine and stock; the pink varieties have a slightly 

 reddish tone, often a mere streaking of color on the stem, while 

 the red or deep blue or purple varieties have a deep red, ma- 

 hogany or almost brown stem. If your eye is quick to dis- 

 cern differences, you can discover these peculiarities while a 

 plant is still a young seedling. 



There are many seeds that are offered only in mixed colors, 

 yet I have secured pure color from them by planting them in 

 some corner, and then separating them in the following man- 

 ner. Among the flowers that bloom first I choose one or more 

 heads which show great perfection and note the exact color, 

 tying the stem before the petals fall in order not to lose track 

 of it. As the later seed-vessels form they are cut off so that 

 the vitality of the plant may be given to further bloom, and to 

 that single seed vessel. To maintain pure color, I had to de- 

 vise some way by which I could distinguish the exact tone rep- 

 resented by the marked seed-vessels, as well as of these mixed 

 seeds. First I tied the stems with colored strings, but they 

 faded; then I fell upon the simple device of using black and 

 white darning cotton as the least noticeable way to mark a 

 stem. I cut off short lengths, not over three inches long, and 

 tie them about the stem close to the seed-vessel according to 

 the following code. A double tying of white cotton denotes a 

 pure white variety, and so on. 



