GAY FLOWERS OUTDOORS THIS 
SUMMER FROM SEED 
E. BADE 
Hardy and Half-hardy Annuals That Furnish the 
Novice with Prompt Delight and Fill Garden 
Gaps With Bloom in the Dull Midsummer Season 
M^HE r E is a certain fascination in the growing of annuals, 
wiWv ( an d such biennials and perennials which flowering the 
first year from seed are culturally regarded as such) and 
'sFJ'TsT in following their swift cycle of life—in watching them 
germinate, mature, flower, ripen seed, and, like all things beloved 
of the gods, die in full beauty of a life matured. Some other 
kinds, really perennials which would live but for the cold, have 
life snuffed out by the first sharp pinch of frost and are regarded 
as annuals in practice. For the beginner who has still to learn 
the lesson of long patience and a slacking of mood to meet 
nature’s leisurely ways they are the most encouraging of 
playthings. The seasoned gardener knows their possibilities 
and depends upon them for certain quick and brilliant effects 
hardly to be gained in any other way. They make splendid 
CHILDS 
CHINESE 
WOOL- 
FLOWER 
A gobular 
Cockscomb 
(see page 44) 
Summer-cypress (Kochia trichophylla), Rosemoss (Portulaca 
grandiflora), Mexican Flossflower (Ageratuni mexicanum) and 
Cockscomb (Celosia), all of which perpetuate themselves by 
seed and reappear year after year. 
Annuals which bear transplanting, and nearly all do, may be 
sown in the hotbed or indoors in seedboxes or paper pots at the 
end of February or first of March and moved to their places in 
the summer garden in May as soon as warm enough. 
Because they mature quickly and bloom luxuriantly annuals 
need plenty of good food and do best in a sunny, protected 
situation. A soil which is fertile (but not freshly fertilized), 
loose, and more dry than moist, encourages full flowering; in 
too rich and heavy a soil they are apt to run to stalk rather than 
flower. This is particularly true of Asters, Cockscomb, and 
their like. 
As a filler-in for beds of Iris or other early flowering plants, 
Annuals (Phlox, Zinnias, Malope, Clarkia, Calliopsis, etc.) may 
be sown with success in May and as late as the middle of June. 
Height and habit and color are all to be duly considered, of 
course, whether annuals are used merely as fillers-in or in larger 
plantings where they are, so to speak, the whole show or at any 
rate the main part of it. Avoid the tiresome precision of rows 
by sowing in circular rills or by broadcasting freely in masses of 
irregular outline. 
Tobacco (Nicotiana). One of the taller summer plants with (lowers 
(usually white) which exhale a delicate perfume that fills the garden at 
dusk. The hybrid Nicotiana Sanderae (various shades of rose) flowers 
during the daytime. The Tobacco should be placed in a sunny location 
although it also does well in light shade. The soil must be fertile if the 
plant is to thrive, and water plentiful during the warmer season of the 
year. This Annual can be cultivated in the hotbed or in seedboxes. 
intermediaries among the slower growing peren¬ 
nials after the passing of Daffodils, Tulips, and 
other spring-flowering bulbs and are the stand¬ 
by for outdoor flowers during the summer slump 
of the perennials. 
Generally speaking, annuals are best sown 
rather thickly and thinned out later if need be, 
as they carry more convincingly in mass than as 
solitary or scattered specimens. Seed is usually 
sown outdoors during April and May; or if ear¬ 
lier bloom is wanted, sow under cover in Febru¬ 
ary and March. Of course, seeds sown early get 
a headstart and as a rule yield flowers earlier. 
A number of annuals self-sow and all that is nec¬ 
essary is to transplant the larger seedlings wher¬ 
ever desired—among these are the common 
BUTTERFLY-FLOWER (Schizanthus) 
Dainty and fascinating in its diversity of colors and color combinations this 
annual flourishes best in regions where the summers are cool and moist 
42 
