502 LIBERTY AVENUE, PITTSBURGH, PA. 



27 



Flowers 



Grow 

 Your Own 



w 1 



'HETHER your taste runs to great masses 

 of brilliant color or artistic plantings of 

 the rarer and more delicate shades, whether 

 you want blooms to beautify your borders or to 

 cut for vases and table decoration, you will find 

 flower growing intensely inteiesting and delight- 

 ful, as well as an easy and inexpensive recreation. 

 With hundreds of easily grown varieties from 

 which to choose (and many of the lesser known 

 sorts are fully as beautiful and just as easy to 

 grow as the old favorites), there is endless op- 

 portunity for creating new effects and discovering 

 new beauties. 



ANNUALS, BIENNIALS, and PERENNIALS 



are indicated by the letters A. B. and P, respect- 

 ively, after each sort. Annuals grow, bear flowers 

 and die in one season. Most of our common gar- 

 den flowers, such as Nasturtiums, are m this class. 

 Biennials require two years to bloom. Holly- 

 hocks are biennials. The life of perennial flow- 

 ers is not limited to one or two years but is 

 indefinite. Some perennials produce flowers the 

 first season, but most of them do not commence 

 to bloom until the second season after sowing. 

 Coreopsis is a well-known perennial. 



HARDY, HALF-HARDY, and TENDER sorts 

 are indicated by the letters H, HH, and T. Hardy 

 varieties can stand a considerable amount of cold 

 weather and may be sown outdoors early in the 

 Spring, usually about mid-April. The hardy bien- 

 nials and perennials require very little Winter 

 protection. Half-hardy varieties should not be 

 sown outdoors until soil and weather are warm, 

 about May 15th. They will bloom earlier if the 

 seed is started indoors in March or April and the 

 plants set out in the garden late in May. Half- 

 hardy biennials and perennials should be wintered 

 in a coldframe. The tender sorts are subjects for 

 conservatory culture, although some of them, 

 notably the Begonias and Geraniums, may be set 

 outdoors in warm weather. 



TIME TO SOW. Biennials and Perennials, 

 which do not bloom the first season, are generally 

 sown in a seed-bed in June, July or August, and 

 transplanted in late Summer to the places where 

 they are to bloom the following season. Peren- 

 nials which bloom the first season should be sown 

 in a box indoors in February or March, and trans- 

 planted to the garden late in May. 



SOIL AND PREPARATION. Flowers can be 

 successfully grown in practically all soils. Some 

 good fertilizer, such as well-rotted stable manure, 

 pulverized sheep manure, or bone meal should be 

 dug in and thoroughly mixed with the soil when 

 it is prepared for planting. The surface should 

 be made as fine and level as possible. 



PLANTING. The first thing to remember in 

 planting flower seeds is not to plant them too 

 deeply. The very fine seeds such as Petunia, 

 Snapdragon, etc., should be scattered on the sur- 

 face and pressed into the soil with a flat board. 

 Sow larger seeds in shallow drills. 



TRANSPLANTING AND THINNING OUT. With 

 but a few exceptions, notably Poppies, young 

 flower plants may readily be transplanted, so that 

 they may be started in a hotbed or cold-frame, or 

 even in boxes in a sunny window, for later trans- 

 planting to the place where plants are to bloom. 



As soon as the seedlings are large enough to 

 handle they should be transplanted or thinned out 

 to prevent overcrowding. Set plants slightly 

 deeper than they were before lifting and be sure 

 to firm the soil around the roots. A good rule for 

 spacing plants in the garden is to set them apart 

 half their full grown height; however, a distance 

 of 1% feet is ample space between very tall- 

 growing plants. 



All Plower Seeds Are Sent Postpaid 



