Earlier and Better Annual Flowers— By Edward J. Canning 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



STARTING SEEDS EARLIER THAN CAN BE DONE IN THE OPEN GROUND AND RAISING PLANTS OF 

 EXTRA GOOD QUALITY— AN EASIER AND BETTER WAY THAN HANDLING FLATS IN THE GREENHOUSE 



Photographs by the Author 



NEW plants give larger returns on the 

 small amount of money and labor in- 

 vested than the common garden annuals, 

 such as China asters, stocks, marigolds, ver- 

 benas, petunias, zinnias, etc. They are 

 called annuals because they grow from the 

 seed, flower, fruit and die within a year — 

 most of them within a few months. Some 

 are more persistent than others, that is, some 



will blossom all summer until killed by the 

 frost, while others flower but once and die — 

 often early in the summer. I need hardly 

 comment upon their value, either for filling 

 in the hardy perennial border, for massing 

 by themselves or for planting in lines for cut 

 flowers for indoor decoration. Most people 

 know how bright and attractive the flowers 

 of these annuals are. 



Seeds of annuals sown in a coldframe from April 1st to 10th will give strong plants much earlier and better 

 than those sown later in (he open ground. They do not suffer from storms 



Six weeKs after sowing the young plants are ready to be moved into the borders. Lift them by a trowel, 

 taking a little soil with the roots. Water copiously when set out 



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Some, like the poppies, mignonette, and 

 nasturtiums, which make but few roots and 

 do not transplant as readily in consequence, 

 are better sown in the garden just where they 

 are wanted to blossom. For the great ma- 

 jority this would be too late to obtain the best 

 returns from them, since we could not sow 

 the seeds in the open ground till the first 

 week in May at the earliest, and then heavy 

 rain may wash them away, so I am going to 

 tell the simple and easy way by which we 

 raise annuals, and what we do on a large 

 scale may be practiced in a small garden by 

 the most inexperienced person. It involves 

 the use of a coldframe, a structure which may 

 cost about ten dollars — an expense which 

 will be amply repaid by the betterqu ality of 

 flowers. 



We prepare the soil in a coldframe by 

 mixing leaf-mould, sand, well-rotted sod and 

 manure. Put plenty of good drainage in the 

 bottom, then the soil, the surface of which 

 should be very fine and smooth. 



Any time between April ist and ioth we 

 sow the seeds, quite thickly in shallow drills 

 eight inches apart. The drills may be made 

 by a marker which is made as follows: Take 

 a piece of inch board as long as the frame 

 and three or four inches wide, along the centre 

 nail a strip three-eighth inch square. To 

 make the drill press it into the soil. 



The frame is kept close and moist until the 

 seed-leaves appear above the soil, when air is 

 gradually admitted more freely as the seed- 

 lings increase in size and vigor and as the 

 days and nights grow warmer. (The first 

 photograph shows the seeds being sown). 



Choose a dull or moist day for transplant- 

 ing the young plants to the garden where 

 they are intended to flower, and they gen- 

 erally grow right along without the slightest 

 check. This plan of raising seedlings is 

 easier and better than the florists' method of 

 sowing in flats in the greenhouse. 



A two-sash frame which would be about 

 6x6 feet and made of two-inch chestnut 

 plank would cost about ten dollars, and with 

 ordinary care would last several years, be- 

 side which it can be used for other crops, as 

 raising salads, wintering pansies, etc. 



In a two-sash frame, nine seed drills may 

 be drawn at eight inches apart or a total of 

 about fifty feet of drill. Twenty-four seed- 

 lings may easily be raised in every foot, 

 which would be a total of 1,200 plants. 



The cost of the seed, even with a large 

 variety would probably not exceed two dol- 

 lars. Therefore, 1,200 annuals would cost — 

 plus the little trouble in raising — about 

 seventeen cents per 100 plants, and these 

 figures I am sure are a very low estimate of 

 the returns for the money invested. The 

 aspect of such a frame is unimportant, though 

 a southeastern one has some advant:i»es. 



