Planting Indoors in February
As early as February you can begin to plan your out-of-door flower garden and start some seeds indoors. Tuberous begonias, Canterbury bells, verbenas, single dahlias, scarlet sage or salvia, tufted pansies and cosmos can all be started now. First of all you will need some flats or low wooden boxes—they should be about three inches deep and not too large to handle. If it is possible to get such shallow boxes at your grocer's so much the better, otherwise you can have a soap box or two sawed down to the required height. If they have no cracks or holes for drainage, bore some and partly cover them with pieces of an old flower pot, rounded side up. Put pebbles or other rough material in the bottom of the box. Now you are ready for the soil. Get good, rich loam from the garden and sift it into the boxes. You can then begin planting. The large seeds should be planted about half an inch deep, medium sized ones as deep as four times their own width; the very small ones are just pressed into the earth, and the smallest should have a piece of glass placed over the box so that they will not dry out entirely. Wet the soil until it is quite moist and press it with a level board after planting. Set the boxes in a sunny window, one that faces south or southeast, and keep them moist, but not wet, with a bulb sprinkler (see Fig. 68).
Fig. 68
March Planting
This blustery month of bad weather out of doors you can have a delightful time with your indoor garden. The bulbs you started in fibre should be in bloom by this time, and while you are enjoying them you can start some flower seeds for your out-of-door garden.
This is the time to plant what are called annuals—that is, plants that live just a year—like batchelor's-buttons, sweet peas, nasturtiums, four-o'clocks, marigolds and zinnias. Use flats or shallow wooden boxes, like those already described, to plant in. Choose good garden soil and, before filling the boxes, heat it in the oven, very hot—this will kill the weed seeds. Sow the seeds in rows an inch and a half apart and three-quarters of an inch apart in the row. When all the seeds are up, thin the little plants out so that they will be an inch and a half apart in the row. Put them in a sunny window as close to the glass as possible and keep the shades rolled high. If you do not give them enough sun they will become thin and spindly—like children who never go out. Turn the boxes now and then so that all sides will get the sunlight. You will need to put some labels into each box, bearing the names of the seeds that are planted there. The best ones are made from the covers of old grape baskets. Cut them into strips, write on each the name of the seed and the date, and stick it into the earth.
A little garden for a little girl