Evening star., 1953-01-04
BY w. H. Younemon
Garden Editor.

Editor.
window and porch boxes. Fast to
grow, 1t Is the outstanding red
and rich colored petunia to date.
Early Orders Urgent.
All dealers can supply seed Of
these two new annual flowers. this
first year of distribution. How
ever. there is never enough seed Of
a new All-America Selection to
meet the demands. Early order
ing is recommended. e
Seeds of the alyssum should
be sown in their permanent To-
cations as soon as the new leaves
begin to appear on trees in the
spring (early ApriD. Thin the
plants to 6 or inches apart.
1t takes about two months for
alyssum to reach full bloom.
Paintings for fall bloom may be
be made as late as August.
Petunia seeds may be sown in
place out-of- doors and thinned,
but they are usually started in
doors in pots. pans or fats for
transplanting out-of- doors as soon
as frost danger is past IN the
spring. Petunia seeds are very
small so should be barely covered
or merely pressed into the surface
of the propagating media, watered
from beneath or with a fine spray
so as not to dislocate the tiny
seeds until they get a start.
Give 6 to 8 Weeks Time.
Pulverized spaghnum moss is
one of the best media for starting
such seeds indoors. Seedlings may
be lifted and set in transplanting
flats with a pen-knife blade-set
then an inch or two apart. Small
pots or bands are very useful since
they do not disturb the roots when
tranSplanting to beds or borders.
The seeds should be started from
six to eight weeks before time
to plant out-of- doors, which over
much Of the Washington area is
the first of May.
Seed of the 1852 winners. Fiesta
cosmos, Ballerina petunia and Per-
sian Carpet zinnie, are in larger
supply this year. They are still
the best of their types.
There were no new 1853 vege-
table introductions considered
sufficiently outstanding to rate
All-America awards. Under past
standards half a dozen entries re-
ceived enough points for at least
minimum award consideration.
However, reports Of the 20 vege-
table trial grounds judges failed
to recommend them for their To-
cations as sufficiently superior or
important to become All-America
selections.
2O-Year Choices Made.
A poll Of the All-America judges
revealed the six past All-America
vegetables winners believed to be
the most important and valuable
to date. This covers a score of
years. since the first selections
were announced in 1888. A second
six, a dozen in all, gives a grand
garden collection to plant in 1858.
Even though covering the choice
of 20 years and three of them be-
ing about 20 years old, the average
date of introduction is 1916. This
shows that the finest new variety
may be superseded in about five
years. Some are surpassed sooner.
While some wonderful old vari-
eties will be difficult to displace
for long time, it should be noted
that most Of the popular old vari-
eties as we grow them today, are
quiet different from their original
strains. Modern strains (varieties)
have been greatly improved, even
though the old familiar names are
retained. .. .--.
In the order of the number Of
votes received, here is the all-time
selection with the years of intro
duction.
Lima bean. Fordhook 242-1945
Squash, Early Prolific Straight.
neck-1938
Beet, Perfected Detroit-1934
Carrot, Imperator-1933
Radish, Cherry Belle-1949
Snap Bean, Topcrop-1950
Cucumber, Early Surecrop, Hy-
brid-1951
Spinach, America-1952
Tomato, Pritchard-1933
Lettuce. Great Lakes-1944
Sweet Corn, Iochief, Hybrid
1851
Cabbage, Chieftain. Savoy-1938