CHEAP GARDENING 107 



to grow from seed. But a few of them will suflSce for 

 examples. Larkspurs, Columbines, Hollyhocks, Pan- 

 sies. Campanula persicifolia, C. carpatica, C. lacti- 

 flora, nearly all the perennial Flaxes, Catananche, 

 Lychnis Haageana, Oenothera macrocarpa, Anchusa 

 italica, Coreopsis lanceolata. Geranium grandiflorum 

 and other Cranesbills, Gypsophila paniculata, Pent- 

 stemons and Scabiosa Caucasica. Many of these, if 

 sown as soon as the seed is ripe, will flower the next 

 year like biennials. All or nearly all will flower the 

 next year, if sown in spring; and all can be raised 

 from seed without any difficulty. But even those 

 gardeners who do raise perennials from seed often take 

 more trouble than they need, and with worse results 

 than a simpler method would produce. It is common, 

 for instance, for Hollyhocks to be raised from seed 

 in frames and to be moved at least twice before they 

 find their permanent quarters. The finest plants of 

 Hollyhocks are those which have never been dis- 

 turbed since the seed was sown in the ground. The 

 best and easiest way of growing them, therefore, is 

 to sow two or three seeds where the plant is wanted to 

 grow, and when they are well up to pull up all but one 

 of them. It is not easy to treat Snapdragons thus, 

 because their seed is much smaller than that of Holly- 

 hocks. But there is no need to raise them in boxes 

 or frames. The best plan is to sow them out of doors 

 towards the end of April. They will come up in hun- 

 dreds, and can be shifted to their permanent quarters 

 any time after a good downpour of rain. Pentstemons, 



