250 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



flower-pot into the soil. In the latter case he can, of course, 

 form larger or smaller rings by using different sizes of pot. 

 Whichever plan he adopts, let him avoid getting the clumps too 

 close together. It is a mistake very easily made, especially in a 

 large bed. There seems to be such an immense area of soil that 

 it can never get filled. The rings or patches should be at the 

 least a foot apart for small things, and two feet for large ones. 

 The object should be to provide for a clear space up to the time 



that the plants reach the flowering 

 stage, in order to facilitate keeping 

 down weeds and encouraging rapid, 

 healthy growth by the regular use of 

 the hoe. 



There is room for the exercise of 

 considerable taste in associating the dif- 

 ferent plants in a bed of mixed Annuals. 

 The colours may be contrasted, for one 

 thing. Then, different height and habit 

 ANNUALS-SOWING SEEDS may be considered. It is not wise to 



A shows how to sow seeds in drills ; B shows p u t fa\\ things in the centre and arrange 



how to sow them in patches or clumps ; r 



and C shows the seeds scattered thinly {foe Others in regular tierS tO the edge, 



on the prepared soil. 



as that may look stiff. Certainly we 



would not so far depart from this the common plan as to have 

 short things in the centre and tall ones at the edges ; but a tall, 

 loose-growing plant may be used here and there to impart light- 

 ness to a group of short, compact plants. The amateur will see 

 this principle adopted in the flower-beds in the various public 

 parks and gardens, although the plants employed may not be 

 Annuals. For instance, he will see a Fuchsia, or a Grevillea, 

 drooping over a mass of compact Begonias. 



The seed should be sown very thinly. If small, it may be 

 covered half an inch deep ; if large, an inch. 



For some unexplained reason a practice has grown up of 



