The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-03-15

CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE cuLTI-
WALTON OF ANNUAL, BIENNIAL, AND Pc
RENNIAL FLOWER SEEDS.

RENNIAL FLOWER SEEDS.
"Flowers," said Henry Ward Beecher,
arc the sweetest things God ever made,
and forgot to put soul into" The love
of flowers is inherent in man. Ii is the
seed of which love is the fruit, an element
of true religion. Flowers have been APPLY
called the smiles of God.
THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION.
The best soil for annual, aud for most flower
ing plants, whether biennials or perennials, IS
a light, rich loan. In such they grow rapidly,
and attain great perfection of bloom, with but
little care. BY the application of proper ma
nures, or sand or clay, they can be brought to
such condition as to answer all the purposes
of q flower garden. Deep and thorough trench
ing in the autumn, if possible, and the appllca-
ton OF old decayed manure or leaf-mould, will
give the amateur well prepared and suitable
soil, ...r
clay, if to be had, should be spread over the
surface in the autumn, and dug in, after being
pulverized by the winter frosts, in the spring.
This, with the use of thoroughly decayed ma
nure, will keep the garden in good condition
No unvarying rules can be given; much must
be left to the Judgment of the amateur: dc
must u0QeTSlhuu tldb tuO coi VI bNou E"t
den should be deep, well pulverized, friable
and rich
Our hints are intended for the mass of the
people who love flowers, and do not wish to
incur great expense in the qualification of their
taste. To these we recommend, amongst other
works published, Brecks "New Book OF
Flowers Buist's "Flower- Garden Directory"
Bgidgeman's "Florists' Guide and Gardeners
Assistant and Henderson's "Practical Ftori-
culture" .I
PERIOD FER SOWING. ,3.t
y This must depend much upon the season,
as we'll as the locality. As 2 rule, the
proper time to commence sewing is about the
middle of April, though few sorts may be
planted as soon as the ground can be got ready;
and, for succession, the sowing should be
continued until June. Ia the Southern States,
of course, January, February, or March will
be the time to sow, as they correspond with
April, May, and June of the North. 10 avoid
all danger Of injury, the sowing may be de-
ferred till the last of April. Because we recon-
mend April, it is not to be understood the sow,
ing must be made at that time. Ii sown in
any part of May they will flower later, but
abundantly, throughout the latter part of the
summer.
1t is the great error to cover too deep; and
the cause Of more than half of the complaints
against seedmen of selling old and worthless
seeds comes from inexperience or want Of
Judgment in sowing. As general guide, al !
| large seeds, such as sweet peas, lopins, etc. /,
| may be sown two inches deep. 1t is absolutely
necessary, when sowing flower seeds, all
thoughts of corn and potatoes should be dis
missed from your mind. l have known the
most delicate seed, fine as dust, planted two
inches deep. Be sure cit is up" the plants
wish to grow. Think for moment; these
fragile plants having. to lift two inches OF, it
may be, wet sodded soil, or possibly hard baked,
and then do not wonder the seed did not grow.
There are no laws, like some stereotyped cata-
logues, that change net, but as the nearest APP
proach to perfection / would recommend the
seed be sown eight times the depth of itself I;
avoid fancy rings, unless to please the children,
but sow the seed level over the surface, cover
ing as directed. S' a-
Another advantage is to cover the seeds with
the clipping from the lawn it prevents the
seed from drying, and the rain from washing IL
up. Neither sow too thick, as it causes a fee
BILE growth, and poor, weakly, sickly flowers.
Sow as careful as you will, they will in all
probability come up too thick; if SO, thin them
out literally; if varieties that will bear re-
moval, plant them out in vacant places, and ii
more than you require, give some to your
poorer nesghbor8 having the taste but not the
means. Encourage a love for flowers in your
neighborhood. Another fault, too common,
would point out tall flowers are often put in
front, and dwarf ones behind this is easily
border into four parts, in width, and mark
each packet before sowing, l, 2, 8, 4. No. l,
of course, would be the dwarf, and No. the
tall, and the intervening numbers of interme-
date height. The height of each variety is
given in my catalogue.
AS soon as the seedlings have made three or
four leaves, and are an inch high, they should
be thinned out. Tall-growing plants with
spreading branches will require more room
than er-growing dwarf kinds Stir the
soil around the plants from time to time and |,
If they appear crowded, q second thinning will
be of great benefit to those that remain. If the
growth is not strong, from the nature Of the
soil, apply occasionally very small amount of
guano or bone-dust.
Transplanting should, if possible, always be
done in cloudy weather, and towards evening.
If the soil is dry, the plants will require water
ing to settle the earth around the roots and,
ii warm sunny days succeed the operation,
they win root all the better to have shade for
a day or two. All large-growing plants should
be transplanted singly, but many of the small
err may be removed in patches, without any
trouble. After the plants are established they
will need no other care than to tie up the taller
growing sorts to stakes, to prevent the wind
and rains from beating them down, and ipjar-
ing their blossoms. CAS- Z
1t seems almost superfuous to describe hot
bed; yet there may be some to whom the
information may be of service. Select south
east aspect as preferable, taking out the soil
to the depth of eighteen inches, the size you
require, few rough boards as a frame, foot
or eighteen inches high, filling it up with stable
manure, well shaken as it is placed in, cover
with six inches of good mellow loan, or light
soil, allowing it to stand two or three DAYS till