90 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1909 



Some Garden Annuals that will 

 Self- sow 



ANYTHING that self-sows makes a 

 •*"*■ strong appeal to the amateur be- 

 cause of the saving of time, effort, and 

 expense for seed, with the certainty of re- 

 sults. Some annual flowers that may be 

 relied upon to reappear after having been 

 once sown are obviou3ly valuable in the 

 hardy border. The wisest way to start a 

 bed for these flowers is to set aside a strip 

 of ground about a yard wide and of any 

 length, procure the best possible seed, and 

 sow it not too thickly. As the plants 

 bloom all those showing flowers of un- 

 desirable shapes and colors should be pulled 

 out as soon as discovered. Keep the ground 

 well weeded and worked early in the season 

 so that as the seeds ripen they will have a 

 mellow spot upon which to fall. After the 

 ground freezes in the fall a covering of 

 coarse material should be placed over the 

 entire bed, removing it before the plants 

 start into life in the spring. After the late- 

 starting, sorts have had a chance to show, the 

 finest plants are transplanted to form rows 

 or borders elsewhere, the poorer plants, 

 properly thinned, being left in the bed to 

 supply cut flowers. 



Cornflowers furnish one of the rarest 

 colors seen in gardens — a bright, clear blue 

 — but the second generation often shows new 

 and attractive combinations. Twenty dif- 

 ferent shades have been counted in a self- 

 sown garden, among them pure white, 

 bright pink, a dark dahlia-like red, laven- 

 der, and stripes of every shade. Corn- 

 flowers have an early and long-continued 

 season of bloom; the seed germinates readily, 

 the plants are of great hardiness, they are 

 easy to transplant and to cultivate, and, 

 when not overcrowded, form strong, up- 

 right bushes, two feet or more in height, and 

 make a very satisfactory border if set out 

 in small clumps a half yard apart. A wider 

 and more striking border can be made with 

 a double row, one or two yards in breadth. 

 In July trim back severely the plants from 



which flowers are to be cut and on which 

 the seed is not to be permitted to ripen. 

 Preserve a few choice plants for next season's 

 supply of seed, and under these every fall 

 will be found dozens of seedlings which 

 will bloom the following May, a month be- 

 fore spring-sown seed will have reached 

 the flowering stage. A late planting of 

 cornflowers will bloom for weeks after 

 early frosts. 



Sweet alyssum, when full grown, is ac- 

 tually covered with bloom, a dome-like 

 mass of white, measuring a half yard across. 







V 'J ,-' 





Morning-glories persistent self-sowers, are useful 

 for screening unsightly objects 



Larkspurs, with pink, purple and white flowers, 

 from one parent plant were enough for a sixty- 

 foot border 



The plants begin to flower when an inch and 

 a half high, and keep at it until long 

 after the first frosts have blackened tender 

 annuals. They are not specially useful for 

 cutting, but make an excellent edging and 

 self-sow lavishly. 



Another plant of the same general size 

 and shape as alyssum is portulaca. Por- 

 tulaca makes a rather late appearance, 

 germinating after earlier plants have made 

 a good start, but the two will be blooming 

 simultaneously during a good part of the 

 season. If both be set out alternately, one 

 foot apart, the tender portulaca may be re- 

 moved after the early frosts have destroyed 

 it, and the alyssum will preserve the appear- " 

 ance of the border until severely cold 

 weather checks its growth. 



More than enough plants of annual lark- 

 spur were supplied by a small patch of seed- 

 lings, sown by one plant, to make a border 

 sixty feet long. They were pink, purple, and 

 white; in the second generation many pink 

 flowers, with decided purple streaks, ap- 

 peared. 



The poppy is splendid for an irregular 

 bed if it can be left where it starts. It 



Portulaca seed germinates rather late, but the 

 plants bloom profusely till frost 



is almost useless to attempt to transplant 

 it, for, unless the plants are lifted in clumps, 

 while very small, and on a wet day, the 

 roots will be exposed and they will either 

 die outright, or linger along, stunted and 

 yellow, an easy prey to aphides. It is much 

 better to sow the original plants where they 

 can self-sow and be left undisturbed the 

 following summer. Even those that ger- 

 minate in the fall will survive the winter 

 if covered lightly, and will be large, blooming 

 plants before the spring-sown seedlings are 

 more than a few inches in height. 



Morning-glories are persistent self-sowers 

 to the point of becoming weeds, but they 

 are attractive for screening unslightly places. 

 All the varieties seem to be equally reliable 

 in this respect. 



Nasturtiums do not self -sow as freely as the 

 plants already mentioned. 



Gourds are always useful as screen plants 

 to transplant when very small. Calendula 

 (all shades of yellow) blooms until snow flies, 

 the second generation showing stripes and 

 markings of darker color. The flowers of 

 coreopsis are rich in color and have a re- 

 markably airy appearance on their slender 

 stems. Marigolds, four-o'clocks, balsam, 

 verbenas, and petunias are commonly known, 

 and each one self -sows satisfactorily. 



A small patch of self-sowing vegetables 

 supplies a profitable experiment. Lettuce, 

 mustard, tomatoes, and squash frequently 

 yield a crop of importance from self-sown 

 seedlings. Pumpkins, potatoes and corn 

 also occasionally self sow. 



New York. I. M. Angell. 



A double row of alyssum, with a row of portulaca 

 between 



