28 o 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
April, 1913 
Snapdragon, though not really an annual, 
is treated as such. One of the best 
yellows is Golden Queen 
anywhere and for almost anybody, 
however indifferent a gardener he may 
be. But even annuals appreciate a 
good home, and will respond to good 
culture. Therefore it is wiser to give 
them a little more consideration than 
they commonly receive —to make their beds with care, and tend 
them according to their needs, until the plants are big enough to 
look out for themselves, without further trouble on your part. 
Each year the earth must be spaded 
thoroughly and worked over to a depth 
of eight inches or more. This insures a 
mellow soil for deep-reaching roots, and 
though it seems unnecessary, perhaps, 
after several seasons of culture, I always 
feel that it is better to make no excep¬ 
tions to this rule. Wet or stiff soil will 
need deeper work than this, especially if 
it is newly broken up, but a foot is deep 
enough for all summer flowering an¬ 
nuals. Vegetables and sturdier things 
may need greater depth, but we are con¬ 
cerning ourselves only with the plants 
which will not. Well rotted and broken 
up stable manure should be worked in 
with this spading—and finally, the sur¬ 
face must be raked smooth and fine. 
Ordinarily I do not feel that it is worth 
while to start annuals indoors in pots or 
fiats—but perhaps that is because I al¬ 
ways have so many other things which 
require the space which these would take 
up. As a matter of fact, however, there 
is not enough time actually gained to 
make up for the extra trouble; and for 
the inexperienced it is far easier to sow 
the seed where the plants are to grow 
and thin them out as they come up, than 
to undertake to transplant them when 
small and tender. Some will not submit 
to transplanting. 
The poppy is one of these ; the poppy 
has long tap roots. It must be sowed 
out of doors where it is to grow. 
Poppy seed are very small—conse¬ 
quently they must be covered lightly 
with earth; and when the seedlings 
begin to prick through the ground, 
you will find that you have several 
million more plants than seemingly 
there is room for anywhere on earth. 
They are quick to germinate and the 
time to pluck up the superabundance 
of them is as soon as they are above 
ground, leaving enough space so that 
they will stand about four inches apart 
all over the part of the garden re¬ 
served for them. Some find it easier 
to sow them by mixing the seeds with 
some finely sifted earth, but this is a 
matter of choice. The one thing es¬ 
sential is not to drop them in clumps, 
but to scatter them as evenly as pos¬ 
sible, avoiding waste. One packet of 
seed will sow a large space, properly 
broadcast. Choose a cloudy day, just 
after a rain if possible rather than just 
before one, for a rainfall will be likely 
to wash the seeds about distressingly 
and leave spots perfectly bare. Press 
the seed into the ground after scatter¬ 
ing them, using a flat strip or block 
of wood and patting the bed with it. 
I usually sprinkle the ground surface with a light sifting of earth 
after thus pressing them down, to prevent evaporation; but such 
a sifting must be very light and not touched after it is applied. 
The snapdragons, Antirrhinum majus, 
hybrids, are really perennials or biennials, 
which, like so many of their kind, are 
treated as annuals. They will not be ready 
to blossom until the middle of summer if 
they are not started in the house, but from 
midsummer on they will give constant 
bloom, even though sown directly out of 
doors. The soil for them should be light; 
that is, well lightened if it is clay to start 
with, by mixing coal ashes through it as 
well as manure, and perhaps some lime. 
This should be applied some time before 
sowing the seeds, however, in order to 
give it a chance to leach through the earth 
and do its work. Whether you start them 
indoors or out, see that the plants are 
eight inches apart in the beds finally, and 
four inches back from the edge of them. 
The height of the variety named—“golden 
queen” — is about a foot and a half, this 
being one of the low-growing, dwarfish 
varieties. 
African daisies will usually be in bloom 
on the First of July if the seeds are planted 
by the First of May. Wait until the ground 
is surely warm before putting them in 
though, for remember that this is a plant 
from a hot land. It germinates within a 
week — five days is the exact time usually— 
and the plants ought to stand a foot apart 
at least, as they grow to be anywhere from 
two to three feet high and are much 
branched. This will bring the foremost 
The annual larkspur is a very beautiful substitute for 
the perennial sort, and its blue blossoms appear in 
July if seeds are sown late in April 
Clarkia, an old-fashioned beauty, should be 
revived. Salmon Queen grows early and in 
the shade 
