74 
CHILDREN'S GARDENS 
in 
But the greatest work of all in the spring is 
the sowing of seeds. There are so many kinds 
of seeds that they cannot all be treated alike. 
First there are the seeds of perennial plants 
(those which live for many years), but most of 
these will not flower the first year. Then there 
are the seeds of annuals—plants which, if sown 
in the spring, flower in the summer, and die in 
the autumn. These last are very useful, as 
they so quickly will make the garden bright 
and supplement the more permanent plants, 
and it would be hard to get on without some 
of them, such as mignonettes or sweet-peas, 
But the perennials are most satisfactory in the 
end, as, if no showy annuals were sown for any 
cause, yet when the summer came the garden 
would still have the benefit of the work of 
other years, and there would be some flowers 
to enjoy. The treatment for plants which will 
not flower the same year as they are sown (such 
as larkspurs, lupins, columbines, oriental poppies, 
etc.) is to sow them in boxes if you can ; failing 
that, you must put them in the open ground, 
sowing in rows. The boxes should be well 
drained with bits of broken pots (or stones) 
and moss at the bottom, then filled in with 
some good soil mixed with sand. The seeds 
should be evenly scattered over the surface 
and lightly covered with earth. While the 
