For winter and early spring flowering in pots seed should be sown in August or September. There must be no attempt at forcing, or attenuated worthless plants will result. A further sowing may be made in January for blooming in the later spring months.
Like the seed of Verbena, Furze, and some other subjects, the germination of Nemesia under artificial conditions is somewhat capricious, but no difficulty will be experienced with open-air sowings.
NICOTIANA
Tobacco. Half-hardy annual
The delicious fragrance of the Tobacco plant, especially during the morning and evening, has made it a great favourite in the greenhouse and conservatory, as well as in beds and borders near frequented paths.
As a pot plant too, the Nicotiana is exceedingly useful, the large sweet-scented white, soft pink, and rich red coloured flowers being very attractive. A group of plants placed in the porch will, in the earlier and later hours of the day, as the door is opened, fill the house with their delightful perfume. Seed may be sown from January to June, and a continuance of bloom may thus be secured during nearly nine months of the year. Prick off the seedlings as soon as they are fit to handle, for if sown too thickly they are liable to damp off rapidly. Gradually harden off if required for planting out in May or June. In some places, more especially in the South of England, Tobacco seed sown on an open sunny border early in May will produce fine plants that will flower freely in August.
Viola tricolor. Hardy perennial
The popularity of this flower has been greatly extended and the culture simplified since it became the practice to raise the required number of plants every year from seed. For all ordinary purposes the trouble of striking cuttings and keeping stocks in pots through the winter is mere waste of labour and pit-room. The Pansy is a little fastidious, but not severely so. It thrives in a cool climate, with partial shade in high summer, and in a rich, moist, sandy soil. Notwithstanding all this, the Pansy will grow almost anywhere and anyhow; but as fine flowers of this old favourite are highly prized, the plant should be treated with reasonable care to do justice to its great merits.
A thick sowing is very liable to damp off: therefore sow thinly, either in pots or boxes, in February and March. The thin sowing, moreover, renders it possible to take out the forward plants without disturbing the remainder. In due course transplant into pans or boxes of good soil, and place in some cool spot where the plants may gradually harden off. When they have become stocky, remove to beds or borders, with balls of earth attached to the roots. Should the surrounding soil become set by heavy rain or by watering, a slight stirring of the surface will prove beneficial.