Seeds of Hardy Flowers 
Perennials, Including Those Which are Biennials (Lasting but Two Years) 
How to Grow Them 
The hardy plants (perennials) will bloom the second year from seed and are permanent thereafter. 
They grow larger and stronger, and produce more flowers each year. Most of them are so hardy that they 
do not even require protection during winter. We find among them some of our most beautiful cut-flowers 
and a great many of the old-fashioned sorts dear to us from memory of grandmother’s garden. A hardy 
border, properly planned and planted, is a continual source of joy throughout the season; from earliest 
spring to late autumn days it will be resplendent with color and will yield an abundance of flowers for indoor 
decoration. Once established, such borders need no other attention than to be kept free from weeds and 
to be given an occasional top-dressing with fertilizer for nourishment. Everybody wants perennials and 
wants them in a generous measure. If you delay and finally buy plants, the cost is very high. An attractive 
E erennial border may require several hundred dollars’ worth of plants when exactly the same results can 
e secured with ten to fifteen dollars’ worth of seeds, and, aside from the money saved, you have the fascina¬ 
tion of growing your own plants and nursing them from the beginning and you will love them all the more. 
When to Sow 
Many of the hardy flowers will bloom the first year from seed if sown in the hotbed in February or March. 
Outdoors they may be sown any time from May 1 to August—the earlier the better, for the plants will then 
become stronger and better established before winter. A coldframe is an ideal place in which to sow Per¬ 
ennials. but, if you have none, prepare a seed-bed of finely sifted light soil, made rich by adding and mixing 
with it thoroughly well-rotted barnyard manure, sheep manure, or humus. Sow the seed in shallow drills 
or squares of suitable size, partitioned off with laths; cover Jds inch or more, according to the size of the seed— 
the very fine ones should only oe pressed into the soil; press down with a flat board; water gently but thor¬ 
oughly through a fine hose and do not allow the soil to become dry while the seed is in the process of germi¬ 
nation, for as soon as the seed has sprouted and until it becomes a plant with roots, its life depends entirely 
on soil-moisture. It is fatal to allow the soil to become dry for even five minutes during this period, and 
nearly all failures in growing perennials are attributable to this neglect. Seed-beds must, therefore, be 
shaded from the sun in summer and carefully watched and watered until the plants have made from four 
to five leaves. While most of the hardy flowers germinate in from eight to fourteen days, there are some 
which take a month or more before they come up, so do not become impatient. If seedlings come up too 
thick, pull out some and transplant elsewhere in boxes or other seed-beds, and when plants are finally large 
enough they will be ready for setting out in their permanent places. This, however, should not be done 
later than October 1, in order to allow sufficient time for them to take a firm hold in the soil before frost 
Cover over winter with leaves or salt hay, applied after the ground is frozen (about the middle of December;. 
Too early covering sometimes causes heating and consequent decay of plants, and it also encourages field- 
mice, who seek this protection for their winter quarters and often do harm to the plants. Explicit cultural 
directions will be found on each packet of our seeds. 
Formacide insures good seed germination. See page 103 61 
