48 FLOWER GARDENING 
a plant, or a straight one between rows, fill this 
with water two or three times and then put the 
soil back in place. A day or two afterward cul- 
tivate to keep the soil from baking. 
Potted plants, even when sunk into borders to 
fill up the empty places, dry out quickly and may 
be crying for water when their neighbors are not. 
This is particularly true of Hydrangea hortensis, 
one of the hardest of garden drinkers. Use a 
watering pot with a long spout and no spray. 
Seed gathering goes on all through the summer 
and into the autumn. It is worth while when there 
is a good strain and when the flower is one of as- 
sociation. It is not worth while, in many cases, 
going to the trouble for the sake of mere economy, 
for seed is comparatively inexpensive. Poppy seed, 
for instance, is easily saved, but gathering and dry- 
ing China aster seed is bothersome and it means 
the sacrifice of several blossoms to concentrate 
strength in one. 
Some seed, like that of the fraxinella, must be 
gathered before the pods split; or it will be scat- 
tered far and wide. Upright receptacles, such as 
the columbine and iris have, may be left until they 
have split a bit. Generally the seed is dead ripe 
when the pod, or in the case of composite flowers 
the head, is brown. Cut off pods carefully, so 
as not to spill any of the seed, and place in a 
saucer to dry; if the seeds are of the shooting kind, 
cover the saucer to prevent their escape. Usually 
they will dry sufficiently in a day. Shake out any 
