Make a Hotbed Now for Annuals— By John Dunbar, 



Rochester, 

 N. Y. 



HOW TO RAISE MORE, BETTER AND EARLIER ANNUAL FLOWERS WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE— A NEW 

 WAY OF GROUPING THESE FLOWERS WHICH GIVES MUCH PURER AND STRONGER MASS-EFFECTS 



EVERY home ought to have a hotbed in 

 order to gain a month on vegetables 

 and annual flowers. A hotbed enables you 

 to overcome the chief drawback to annuals, 

 viz. that they do not, as a rule, bloom before 

 July. Moreover, you can really lengthen 

 the season of petunias, verbenas and a few 

 other flowers, because with good manage- 

 ment they will bloom until frost. 



The accompanying picture shows a novel 

 method of grouping annuals, which secures 

 greater purity and strength than mixed beds 

 ever have. We use only one variety in a bed 

 and are careful to place the plants far enough 

 apart for each one to become a perfect speci- 

 men, without leaving any bare ground. Thus 

 we get more and better flowers than if several 

 plants were allowed to occupy the space which 

 one will cover if grown to perfection. 



THE BEST WAY TO GROW 



At Highland Park, Rochester, I use annuals 

 in large masses as foregrounds to shrubbery, 

 instead of isolating them in formal flower 

 beds, which is often distracting and inhar- 

 monious. I believe that this Idea will be 

 welcomed on country estates and that the 

 following practice may be adapted to places 

 of any size. 



Most of the annuals are raised in hotbeds 

 from the end of March until the middle of 

 April, according to the varieties and the time 

 they take to attain the necessary size to plant 

 out. Space cannot be afforded for them in 

 the greenhouse, and even if space could 

 be spared, I think that better annual plants 

 can be raised in hotbeds for planting out, as 

 the plants are grown close to the glass and 

 are not liable to be spindled or drawn out as 

 they are apt to be under greenhouse treat- 

 ment. I sow the seeds in small flats 

 which are about three inches deep. The 

 ' soil is specially prepared, being a mixture of 

 well-rotted light sod, leaf-soil, and well-rotted 

 manure and a little sharp sand incorporated. 



The soil should always be light enough 

 not to bake or cake on the surface. Sow the 

 seeds thickly on a very smooth surface of 

 finely sifted soil. Fine seeds, such as 

 petunia, lobelia and tobacco (Nicotiana) 

 should be pressed firmly in the soil, and 

 receive only the merest dusting of soil cover- 

 ing. I prefer to use a flour sifter for this 

 operation. 



Carefully shade the seeds until well ger- 

 minated, with newspapers on the tops of the 

 boxes, or thin muslin screens, on the outside 

 of the sashes. Great care has to be exercised 

 in ventilating hotbeds where annuals are 

 germinating. A well made hotbed generates 

 large quantities of ammoniacal vapor and, if 

 the frame is not carefully ventilated to allow 

 this vapor to escape, thousands of seedlings 

 may damp off in a few hours. Even with 

 the best of care a web of fungus threads will 

 appear amongst the seedlings; hot sand or 



wood ashes should immediately be sprinkled 

 freely on the flats wherever it is seen. Stir- 

 ring the soil also helps to check the progress 

 of the fungus. This fungus is a most in- 

 sidious enemy and constant vigilance must 

 be exercised against it. 



As soon as the plants are large enough to 

 handle conveniently they are transplanted 

 into flats of a uniform size. The size I 

 prefer is fifteen inches wide, twenty-two 

 inches long and three to three and one-half 

 inches deep. A flat of this size usually holds 

 about 150 plants. If only a small quantity 

 of annuals are used is it a good plan to pot 

 them in small flower pots, but as I raise from 

 50,000 to 60,000 annual flowering plants, 

 potting them off is out of the question. I 

 find that flats are the most convenient and 

 the easiest way of handling the seedlings. 

 They must never be allowed to suffer from 

 the want of water and as soon as they are well 

 rooted in the second flats, they should receive 

 abundance of air to keep them stalky. To- 

 ward the first of May the sashes should be 

 gradually removed and on mild nights left off 

 entirely. About the middle of May, many 

 annuals will be in good condition for plant- 

 ing out. 



HOW TO PLANT 



Enrich the areas, spaces, or beds which 

 the plants are to occupy with a liberal dressing 

 of well-rotted manure, and thoroughly spade 

 or fork it in to a depth of one foot. In plant- 

 ing it is always important to thoroughly soak 

 the flats to saturation. To remove the 

 plants from the flat place the point of a trowel 

 down the side of the flat, between the wood 

 and the soil, and as the plants usually form 

 a solid mass of roots, the mass of plants will 

 raise in such a way that they can be easily 

 separated with a small ball of earth, and all 

 the roots intact. A beginning made in a 

 flat in this way, the other plants are easily 

 removed. One good workman, expert in 

 the use of the garden trowel, can handle and 

 plant from 2,500 to 3,000 plants in one day. 



The distance apart must be regulated 

 entirely by the nature of the plants. No 

 arbitrary rules can be laid down for distances, 

 as the vigor and size of the plants will depend 

 entirely on their food supply and care. The 

 main consideration is to plant them far 

 enough apart to allow independent in- 

 dividual growth, but yet sufficiently close to 

 form a solid mass not too late in the sea- 

 son. 



As soon as a group is planted immediately 

 soak the ground. No mere wetting or 

 sprinkling of the surface should be tolerated. 

 If the soil is in a dry state saturate it before 

 planting, and allow the soil to get into 

 condition to handle before putting the 

 plants in. 



The plants I sow in the hotbeds are sal- 

 piglossis, salvia, vinca, ageratum, stock, 

 69 



verbena, rhodanthe, Swan River daisy, nicoti- 

 ana, thunbergia, pennisetum, petunia, etc. 

 Some of the above are not really annuals but 

 treat them as such. 



On the other hand there are some annuals 

 such as the poppy, portulaca, and esch- 

 scholtzia, that do not bear transplanting 

 well; they are best sown broadcast where 

 they are intended to flower and thinned out. 

 The annual poppies are nearly all hardy, 

 and they do well if sown very late in the fall. 



KINDS TO GROW 



In procuring or buying seeds of the most 

 popular and showy annuals, such as the 



To breaK the line between the shrubbery and the 

 lawn use annuals. Use a single variety or color: 

 mass the plants but give sufficient room for indi- 

 vidual development 



petunia, aster, verbena, stock, zinnia, calen- 

 dula and Drummond's phlox, distinct vari- 

 eties or colors should always be obtained. 

 Mixtures are never satisfactory. A bold group 

 of Countess of Ellsmere petunia with its pink 

 red corolla and white throat, is worth a dozen 

 groups of mixed petunias, in its effectiveness. 

 A mass of yellow and orange-colored zinnias 

 flanked in the rear with the foliage of dog- 

 woods is an effective picture, but if the 

 zinnias are of all the colors of Joseph's coat 

 it would be another story. 



Careful judgment should be exercised in 

 planting low and tall growing annuals pro- 

 portionally to the heights of the shrubs 

 beside or behind them. Nicotiana syl- 

 vestris, Helianthus cucumerifolins, and cos- 

 mos planted in front of low growing shrubs 

 would hide them entirely when they attain 

 full size. Whatever the shrubs are that stand 

 in the rear, or whatever is intended for a 

 background, it should form a proportionate 

 relief to the mass in front. 



