502 LIBERTY AVENUE, PITTSBURGH, PA. 



23 



A charming border of Portulacas and Dwarf Zinnias 



Grow Your Own Flowers 



WHETHER 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 interesting 

 and delightful, as well as an easy and inexpen- 

 sive 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 opportunity for creating new effects and 

 discovering new beauties. 



ANNUALS, BIENNALS, and PEREN- 

 NIALS are indicated by the letters A, B, or P, 

 respectively, after each sort. Annuals grow, bear 

 flowers, and die in one season. Most of our 

 common garden flowers, such as Nasturtiums, 

 are in this class. Biennials require two years to 

 bloom. Hollyhocks are biennials. The life of 

 perennial flowers 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 biennials and perennials require very 

 little winter protection. Half-hardy varieties 

 should not be sown outdoors until soil and 

 weather are warm, about May 15. 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 conser\-atory 

 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 gen- 

 erally sown in a seed-bed in June or early July 

 and transplanted in late summer to the places 

 where they are to bloom the following season. 

 Perennials which bloom the first season should 

 be sown in a box indoors in February or March, 

 and transplanted to the garden late in May. 

 THE EASIEST VARIETIES TO GROW, 

 i All hardy and half-hardy flowers can easily be 

 grown by even the least experienced gardener. 

 ' Most half-hardy sorts are started in boxes in- 

 doors, just like cabbage seed, requiring only a 

 shallow box of fine soil, a sunny window, plenty 

 of moisture, and average house temperature. 

 I SOIL AND PREPARATION. Flowers can 

 ^ be successfully grown in practically all soils. 



Some good fertilizer, such as well- rotted stable 

 i manure, pulverized sheep manure, or bone meal 

 j should be dug in and thoroughly mLxed with the 

 ; soil when it is prepared for planting. The surface 

 i should be made as fine and level as possible. 

 ^ PLANTING. The first thing to remember in 

 j planting flower seeds is not to plant them too 

 I deeply. The very fine seeds such as Petunia, 

 Snapdragon, etc., should be scattered on the 

 surface and pressed into the soil with a flat 

 board. Sow larger seeds in shallow drills. 



TRANSPLANTING AND THINNING 

 j 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 coldframe, or even in boxes in a sunny 

 j window, for later transplanting to the place 



where plants are to bloom. 

 I As soon as the seedlings are large enough to 

 handle they should be transplanted or thinned 

 out to prevent overcrowding. Set plants slightly 

 I deeper than they were before lifting and be sure 

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

 j for spacing plants in the garden is to set them 

 apart half their full-grown height; however a 

 distance of i }4 feet is ample space between ver>' 

 I tall- growing plants. 



