Gardening for Amateurs 



Sweet Peas are unsurpassed for room and vase decoration. 



Flowers to Sow for Gutting 



TO provide quantities of flowers for 

 use in the home annuals are worth 

 growing freely, for not only are they 

 quite easy, but for a comparatively small 

 outlay on seeds sufficient variety can be 

 secured to provide a succession of blooms 

 from the end of May to October. The 

 ground should be deeply dug and well 

 manured previous to sowing the seeds, or 

 planting out the seedlings. To obtain the 

 flowers of annuals over a long period, the 

 seeds must be sown in autumn and spring, 

 some out of doors, others in a cold frame or 

 greenhouse. Quite a number can be sown 

 in autumn out of doors, where they are to 

 bloom, or on a sheltered border, the seedlings 

 to be transplanted to the flowering place later. 

 Others succeed best if the seeds are sown in 

 shallow boxes in a cold frame. In spring a 

 cold frame, slightly heated greenhouse, or a 

 hotbed should be used to raise the seeds of 



Asters, Stocks, Zinnias, etc. The remainder 

 may be sown out of doors towards the end 

 of March or during April. Thinning out 

 seedlings of annuals is most important ; if 

 this is neglected the plants become weak, and 

 particular attention to this detail is necessary 

 to secure well-developed flowers with long 

 stalks suitable for cutting. 



Aster. There are so many sections of 

 Asters that it is somewhat difficult to name 

 the best for cutting. The shaggy flowers of 

 the Comet Aster, 15 to 18 inches high, may 

 be had in a variety of colours, and are in- 

 valuable ; so too are the large flowers of 

 the Victoria section, 18 inches high, the 

 Paeony flowered sorts, 2 feet high, with 

 incurved petals, and the large single-flowered 

 varieties, 18 inches high, with large yellow 

 centre. Sow the seeds in a heated green- 

 house, or cold frame, or on a hot-bed during 

 March. 



