HOW TO GROW SEEDS 
When sown outdoors, most seeds should be scattered over well pulverized ground then covered lightly 
with a layer of finely pulverized soil or sand. Large seeds should be covered about twice their thickness. 
Keep ground moist during germination and while plants are small. Thin if plants are too thick. 
If seeds are started in boxes or flats, be sure that the bottom of the flat provides good drainage. 
The soil should be made up of equal portions of leaf-mold (or peat), sand, and good garden loam. 
This should be screened to remove any hard lumps, stones or other coarse material. Wet the soil, prefer- 
ably with boiling water the day before planting. When the soil has dried out sufficiently to permit plant- 
ing, loosen the top slightly and plant seeds, not too close together. Barely cover with light soil, then 
firm the ground with a smooth board. Cover the top of the flat with a newspaper or cheesecloth. If the 
ground is moist at time of planting, it will not be necessary to water at planting time. Too much water 
is apt to cause trouble. The ground should be kept "moist" not "wet."" When the seeds begin to come 
up, gradually lift the paper or cheesecloth to permit air and light. 
DAMPING OFF will occur only if flats are kept too wet in a greenhouse without proper ventilation. 
Watering with a weak solution of clorox, about four to six per cent, we have found to be the best cure 
and preventive. 
The plants should be transferred to other boxes when they begin to show the second pair of leaves. 
Prepare the soil as when seeds are just planted, but add a little well decayed manure to stimulate the 
growth. Transplant to open ground when the young plants are two to four inches high, depending on 
the natural growth of the various plants. 
When seeds are sown directly in the ground in dry climate, it will be necessary to use a very light 
covering of peat moss or other good mulch to hold the moisture—otherwise the small plants will perish 
for lack of top moisture. 
GENERAL LIST 
OF SEED SPECIALTIES 
ABBREVIATIONS—A. A. S., All-America Seed Selections; B. M., Bronze Medal; S. M., Silver Medal; 
H. M., Honorable Mention; A. M., Award of Merit; (a) annual blooms for one year; (b) biennial blooms 
for two years; (p) perennial blooms the first or second year and continues indefinitely. 
ALSTROEMERIA 
Ligtu—angustifolia hybrids (p) 
New 
These unusually beautiful flowers are 
both gay and attractive in the garden 
where they give in bloom much the effect 
of deciduous azaleas and as cut flowers 
they keep in fine condition for as long 
as ten days. ‘Their parents came from 
Peru but the strain offered was bred in 
England and imported by the University 
of California Botanical Garden from 
which we secured our seed. Sow in late 
summer or early fall in flats and trans- 
plant when small or, more easily, sow 
in the open ground where they usually 
germinate in very early spring. They 
make a growth of narrow herbaceous foli- 
age the first year but thereafter in June 
and July the tall stiff stems are crowned 
with large umbels of funnel shaped flow- 
ers in many shades of pink, rose, red, 
buff and yellows. Once established they 
are best left alone as their deep growing 
tuberous roots resent moving. Successful 
all along the Pacific Coast and in the 
southeastern states, but not hardy in cold 
climates. The flower heads are often 10 
inches across, bearing up to 50 blossoms 
each. Flower stems 214 to 4 feet high. 
Pkt. 50c 
AGERATUM (a) 
Dwarf all-summer blue annuals produc- 
ing dense heads of fluffy flowers in dif- 
erent shades of blue. Used for edgings, 
bedding, rock gardens and pot culture. 
Grows in sun and half shade. Sow early 
in flats or in the open ground, thinning 
to 4 or 6 inches apart. 
Blue Ball. Deep blue ball-shaped plants. 6 
inches highs: *.-...<oe Pkt. 15¢; 4 oz. 50¢ 
Midget Blue. S. M., A. A. S. 1940. Uniformly 
dwarf, 2 to 3 inches, covered with small 
true ageratum blue flowers. 
Pkt. 25c; 1/16 oz. 60c¢ 
ALYSSUM, Madwort 
One of the daintiest flowers for edgings 
and rock gardens. Sow thickly all the year 
‘round for good masses of bloom and cut 
back after each successive flowering. 
Carpet of Snow (a). 3 inches tall. This alys- 
sum is true to its name as the flowers pro- 
duce a solid mass of white. So short it can 
be planted between stepping stones and 
also grown in pots and window boxes. 
Pkt. 15¢; 4 oz. 45c¢ 
Violet Queen (a). New 6-inch plant, com- 
pact of growth and full of unfading 
bright violet flowers....Pkt. 15¢; V4 oz. 50¢ 
ALYSSUM (p) 
Saxatile Compactum (Gold Dust) (p). The 
plants are of spreading growth and cov- 
ered all spring with bright golden flower 
heads. 8 to 10 inches tall. 
Pkt. 10c¢; /4 oz. 40c 
ANTIRRHINUM—See Snapdragon. 
AQUILEGIA, Columbine (p) 
A graceful, hardy perennial that grows 
well in part shade. Blooms late in the 
spring and early summer. The long 
spurred flowers are beautiful for cutting. 
Seeds started in early summer will bloom 
the following spring. 2 to 3 feet tall. 
Blue Shades. Long spurred. Beautiful clear 
blue. 
Pink Shades. Long spurred. In various 
shades of delicate pink. 
Mixed Hybrids. Orange, pink, rose, white. 
Pkts. of any of the above 25c¢ each; 1/16 
oz. 60c. 
Longissima. (A. M., R. H.S.) . Delicate pale 
yellow, spurs often 4 inches long..Pkt. 35¢ 
a a 
CARL SALBACH 
25 
