Few flowers approach the splen¬ 
dor of color and airiness of 
petal displayed by the annual 
poppy 
Larkspur seems best in the blue 
shades and should be massed 
to secure the most brilliant 
effects 
The colors of the California 
poppy range from cream 
through the orange shades to 
vermilion 
Pansies will almost grow them¬ 
selves, but the best blooms 
are the rewards of care and 
attention 
Annuals That Do Better When Fall Sown 
A POPULAR GROUP OF ANNUAL FLOWERS THAT ARE HARDY ENOUGH TO WEATHER 
THE WINTER AND COME UP EARLIER AND MORE LUXURIANT IN THE SPRING 
BY E. O. Calvene 
P hotographs by N. R. Graves and Chas. Jones 
I T is just another of the garden’s little ironies that we never find 
out until the warm spring day yvhen the seed is triumphantly 
borne home and there, on the packet, it stares at us, “for best re¬ 
sults and finest bloom, seeds of this should be sown in the fall!” 
Sometimes, indeed, it has the audacity to say “the previous fall” 
which is surely nothing short of criminal. 
Of course the only annuals that will go through the winter are 
the exceptionally hardy ones, and these must be protected if 
growth above ground has advanced at all, or else they must be 
wintered in a cold frame. Some biennials which are usually 
treated as annuals, and regarded as annuals generally, are also 
sown in the fall, but even including these the list is not a long 
one. At least, there are not many that are worth while, although 
it is likely that one could find fifty things that might be treated 
this way, if the effort were made and there were any reason for 
doing so. Only those, however, which are definitely better for fall 
planting will be considered here. This list contains such examples. 
Annual larkspur ( Del¬ 
phinium Ajacis), California 
poppy (Eschscholzia Ccili- 
fornica), pansies (viola tri¬ 
color), annual poppies ( pa- 
paver Rhoeas and somnifer- 
um ), sweet peas (lathyrus 
odoratus ), pheasant's eye 
(Adonis aestivalis ), the so- 
called Flos Adonis (Adonis 
autumnalis ), and catchfly 
( Silene) make up a fairly 
popular group, which, for 
one reason or another, 
should be sown now if they 
are intended to grace next 
summer’s garden. 
Larkspur, whether annual 
or perennial, is surely one of 
the loveliest flowers in the world, and in the blue shades which 
alone seem typical to me, it is unrivalled by any other annual. 
There are pinks, buffs, fawn and white for those who want 
variety, but a mass of the various dazzling blues by themselves 
is far better than a mixture. Have the other colors, too, if they 
seem desirable, but the “blue flower” — keep it apart from the rest, 
in the purity of its radiant sky color. 
Annual larkspurs like a cool soil that is moist, and though 
they may bloom from seed sown in the spring, the seed is so 
slow in germinating that fall sowing is recommended. Prepare 
the earth by deep digging and enriching, and sow late. They will 
not sprout until spring, so protection is unnecessary, other than 
the light covering of earth that is put over them when they are 
sown; four times the seed’s diameter is the rule for out-of-doors. 
Thin out the seedlings in the spring, so that they are six inches 
apart, and as the plants grow, thin them still more, if it seems 
necessary in order to give each room to develop. They should 
not stand distinctly apart 
from each other, but some 
varieties require more 
space than others. Just 
how much room to give 
each must be determined 
by their growth; none 
should ever be crowded. 
Their height is from one 
to two feet. 
The California poppy is 
offered in many varieties by 
seedsmen, the colors rang¬ 
ing from cream or cream 
white through yellows of 
many degrees, down to 
orange and finally to ver¬ 
milion. All of these are 
(Continued on page 260) 
Catchfly should have its seeds sown early in the fall to produce an 
abundance of its rosy pink flowers 
(224) 
