Gardening for Little Girls

by Olive Hyde Foster

CHAPTER III

Flowers that Must be Renewed Every Year—(Annuals)

And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.

Wordsworth.

If you want flowers that grow quickly, plant annuals! Some will bloom within six weeks, so if you can help out meantime with some transplanted roots and bulbs, you will have flowers from the first of the season.

"Plant thickly," says one writer. "It is easier and more profitable to grow flowers than weeds."

The following annuals can be sown outdoors late in April, as far North as New York, in ordinary seasons,—only remember that those marked with a * do not like to be transplanted:—

Alyssum

Aster

Candytuft

Chrysanthemum (Annual)

Coreopsis (Annual)

Cosmos

Godetia

Larkspur (Annual)

Marigold

Nicotiana

Pansy

Petunia

Phlox Drummondi

Pink, Chinese

Salvia

Stock, Ten Weeks'

Zinnia

* California Poppy

* Cornflower

* Mignonette

* Morning glory

* Nasturtium

* Portulaca

* Sweet Sultan

OUTDOOR PLANTING

Have the soil in your flower bed made fine and light with sand and fertilizer, and entirely free from sticks and stones. If it should happen to be already too sandy, add black loam or leaf mold. (Either father or brother will probably have time to help you get this right.)

Plant your seeds evenly, and rather sparingly if you do not want to pull up a lot later on account of being crowded. And you can plant either in lines or scatter in patches in bed or border, as you prefer, only be sure that the seed is covered about four times its own depth. A few things, like poppies and portulaca, have such tiny seeds that it is best to mix them with half a teaspoonful of fine soil, and scatter it where you wish, afterwards pressing down firmly with a small board.

TRANSPLANTING—ANNUALS

When your plants have developed a few leaves, and are big enough to handle, prepare to transplant them. This exercise does them good, and while a few resent it, the rest will grow better and be stronger. Choose morning or evening for the work, although it can be done at any time on a cloudy day. (One of my friends loves to do her transplanting in the rain!) Be sure that the ground is thoroughly damp, even if you have to sprinkle it well beforehand.

PUDDLING

Lift each seedling with a spoon, so as to keep a ball of the moist earth around the roots, set it in a hole made where you want your flower to grow, and then fill up this hole with water before you begin to put in the rest of the soil. This is called puddling, and will enable you to do your transplanting with the least possible disturbance to the roots. Next add all the soil necessary to fill up the hole, and press firmly around the plant. Then cover with an old can or berry box, or even a cone of newspaper held in place with stones, until the seedling has had time to get used to its new surroundings. And remember that this "puddling," followed by protection from the sun, will enable you to transplant almost anything you wish, successfully.

SWEET PEAS

Sweet peas require peculiar treatment for an annual. As early as the ground can be worked,—about the middle of March around New York,—get some one to dig you a trench (and it is best to have it run north and south), about fifteen inches deep. Have put in this trench a layer of well-rotted manure, then a layer of soil, a sprinkling of wood ashes, and then another layer of soil, filling the trench until it is left only six or eight inches deep. Soak your seeds over night in warm water to make them start more quickly, and then plant them two inches apart, in a double row. Cover with only a few inches of soil until they sprout, and then gradually fill up the trench as the vines grow. Train them on brush or chicken wire, and keep them well watered in order to get the best results.

The latest method I have had recommended for growing sweet peas,—but which I have not tried,—is to have the soil just as carefully prepared, but then to rake it smooth, make a straight drill only half an inch deep, and plant 3 seeds every 6 inches in the row. If all three grow, pull up the two weakest, leaving only the best plant every 16 inches apart. This way,—with plenty of water and cultivation, is said to produce the very finest kind of flowers. You might try a few on the side.

During the hot weather put grass clippings around the roots to help keep them moist and protected from the hot sun. Cut the flowers every day in order to prolong their blooming.

A word about names, though, before we go a step farther. I intended at first to give you only the common names, despite the protests of a very good friend,—an English botanist. To clinch her argument one day, she exclaimed with considerable heat, "Why, what they call 'baby's breath' here on Long Island might be 'infant's sneeze' up in Connecticut! But if you tell the children it's real name is GYPSOPHILA, they'll never be mistaken."

And later, when I found that foxglove (originally Folk's glove, alluding to the "little folk," or fairies) has been known also—according to Holland—as Thimbles, Fairy Cap, Fairy Fingers, Fairy Thimbles, Fairy Bells, Dog's Fingers, Finger Flowers, Lady's Glove, Lady Fingers, Lady's Thimble, Pop Dock, Flap Dock, Flop Dock, Lion's Mouth, Rabbit's Flower, Cottages, Throatwort, and Scotch Mercury, I concluded I would better urge you to remember its Latin name, DIGITALIS, by which the plant is known the world over.

The botanical terms will easily stick in your mind, too, because they are unusual. Then people who are familiar with flowers will know exactly what you are talking about, and you yourself will always have a certain pride in the scientific knowledge that enables you to call things by their right name.

You will see, if you study the lists given, what a simple matter it is to plan for a garden, big or little, and with reasonable care you will be rewarded with flowers throughout the season. The following list will give you more explicit information about the ones people like best:—

FLOWERS THAT MUST BE RENEWED EVERY YEAR

A GUIDE TO THE COMMON ANNUALS

Note.—The time that they will bloom and the quality of your flowers will depend on the time you sow your seed, on your soil, your location, and your care. The dates given apply to the locality around New York, and will be earlier if you are South, and later if North, of this section. Both the height and the flowering time of the same plants vary with the different varieties, so find out the particular kind you get. The richer the soil, the finer the flowers, as a rule, and therefore fertilizer of some kind should be applied at least once a season, about the time the buds are forming.

Name	Color	Height	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Good for	Place	Blooming Season
Ageratum (Ageratum conyzoides)	Blue White	8 in.	March	May	Edging	Sun	June to frost
Alyssum, Sweet	White	4 to 8 in.	March	April to Sept.	Edging	Sun	June to frost
Antirrhinum, see Snapdragon
Aster, China (Callistephus hortensis)	White Pink Violet	18 to 24 in.	March	April, May	Bed	Sun	Aug. to Sept.
Baby's Breath (Gypsophila)	White	1 to 2 ft.		April	Border	Sun	May (sow again)
Bachelor's Buttons, see Cornflower
Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)	White Red Yellow	1 to 2 ft.	March April	May	Border Bed	Sun	July to Oct.
California Poppy (Eschscholtzia Californica)	Yellow White Orange	12 in.		April (sow in succession)	Edging	Sun	June to frost
Candytuft (Iberis)	White Pink Red	6 to 8 in.		April, and every two weeks after	Edging	Sun	June to frost
Castor-oil Bean (Ricinus)		3 to 8 ft.		April	Tropical effects	Sun	Until frost
China Aster, see Aster
[A]Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)	Yellow	1 to 3 ft.		April	Border Bed	Sun	June to Oct.
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)	Blue	1 to 2 ft.		April	Border Bed	Sun	June to frost
Cosmos	White Pink Crimson	4 to 8 ft.	March	April	Back of border	Sun	July to frost
Cypress Vine (Ipomœa quamoclit)	Red White	10 to 20 ft.	April	May	Screen	Sun	June, July
Eschscholtzia, see California Poppy
[B]Forget-me-not (Myosotis)	Blue	6 to 18 in.		April to July	Bed	Half Shade	April to fall
Floss Flower, see Ageratum
Gilliflower, see Ten Weeks' Stock
Godetia	White Red	1 to 2 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Shade or sun	July to Oct.
Gypsophila, see Baby's Breath
Hyacinth Bean (Dolichos)	Purple White	10 to 20 ft.		May	Screen	Sun	July to frost
Lady's Slipper, see Balsam
Larkspur, Annual (Delphinium)	White Pink Blue	1 to 3 ft.		April	Border Bed	Sun	July to frost
Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)	Blue	6 to 12 in.	March	May	Edging	Sun	June to Nov.
Lupin (Lupinus)	Most shades	2 ft.	Successive sowing	From May on	Border Bed	Partial shade	From June on
Marigold, African (Tagetes erecta)	Yellow	2 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	Aug. to frost
Mignonette (Reseda odorata)	White Red Yellow	1 ft.		April and July	Border Bed	Sun	June to Oct.
Morning-glory (Convolvulus)	White Pink Purple	10 to 20 ft.		April	Vine	Sun	July to frost
Myosotis, see Forget-me-not
Nasturtium (Tropæolum)	Yellow to reds	1 to 10 ft.		April May	Climber Dwarf	Sun	July to frost
Nicotiana, see	Tobacco Plant
[A]Pansy (Viola tricolor)	No red	6 to 12 in.	Feb.	April May	Bed	Half shade	May to Oct.
Petunia (Petunia hybrida)	White to Magenta	1 to 2 ft.		On surface in May	Border Bed	Sun	June to frost
Phlox, Annual(Phlox Drummondi)	White Pink Red	1 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	June to frost
[B]Pink, Chinese (Dianthus Chinensis)	White Pink Rose	1 ft.	Feb.	March April	Border Bed	Sun	All summer
Poppy, Shirley (Papaver rhæas)	White Pink Red	1 to 2 ft.		March, April Later for succession	Bed	Sun	June to Oct.
Portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora)	No blue	6 to 9 in.		May 1st	Carpeting	In dry, sunny position	All summer
Rose Moss, see Portulaca
Sage, Blue or Scarlet, see Salvia
[A]Salvia	White Blue Scarlet	3 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	July to frost
Scarlet Runner Bean	Red	12 ft.		April	Climber	Sun	July to frost
[A]Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)	No blue	1 to 3 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	July to frost
Stock, Ten Weeks' (Matthiola incana)	White Pink Purple	1 to 2 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	July to frost
Sunflower (Helianthus annus)	Yellow	3 to 12 ft.		April	Back of bed	Sun	July to frost
Sun Plant, see Portulaca
Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus)	All Colors	3 to 6 ft.		March	Back of border vines	Sun	July to Oct.
[B]Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)	White Pink Red	12 to 18 in.		April	Border Bed	Sun	July to Oct.
Tobacco Plant (Nicotiana)	White Pink Red Purple	2 to 5 ft.		May	Border	Sun	July to Oct.
Verbena	No Blue	1 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	June to Oct.
Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)	Yellow to reds	1 to 2 ft.	March	May	Border Bed	Sun	June to Oct.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] A tender perennial, flowering the first year from seed sown early.

[B] A biennial, flowering the first year from seed sown early.

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