Gardening for Little Girls Part 3

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

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

CHAPTER IV

Flowers that Live Through Two Years

In all places then, and in all seasons, Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, Teaching us by most persuasive reasons, How akin they are to human things.

--_Longfellow._

BETWEEN the flowers that we have to plant every year,--the annuals,--and those that after once being started continue to greet us summer after summer,--the perennials,--comes a little group of old favorites that has to be planted one summer (and then generally protected from the cold), in order to bring them to their full beauty the second year. And as few of them self-sow, it is necessary to plant and carry over every season.

The biennial seeds are best sown in the seed nursery, where they can be watched and protected. In the late summer the young plants will be big and strong enough to set out in the border, although you must give them a light covering of leaves and litter. The seeds started in July and August, however, better be left protected in the nursery and moved in the early spring.

The dainty blue forget-me-not, or myosotis, is one of the best loved of this cla.s.s. Some varieties are hardy, and often found growing wild. It generally does best in a damp, partly shaded location. It grows from 6 to 18 inches high, according to the different kinds, which blossom most of the summer. The seeds of biennials seldom produce flowers the first summer, but several--and among them the myosotis,--after being grown a few years in the same spot, come up like perennials, on account of sowing themselves.

The foxglove is another of the few biennials that are hardy, and it also likes a cool, shady spot. If the plants come up thickly, transplant part of them to any well-prepared, rich ground, and keep moist and well cultivated until the middle of September, when you should move them again to their permanent home. Foxgloves, like forget-me-nots, sow themselves, and the little plants coming up this way should be transplanted and given plenty of room to grow and become strong before their time to bloom. Do not forget to cover during the winter!

English daisies (which are tender perennials), and pansies (which generally are grown as annuals), can both be started in the seed nursery in August, thinned out and protected before cold weather sets in, and then moved to where you wish them to bloom, in the early spring.

Canterbury bells do best when the seed is sown the middle of April in ground that is rich, well prepared, moist, and partly shady. The middle of July move to a temporary place, and set the plants 6 to 8 inches apart. Then early in October transplant to where you want them to blossom the next season. But before the frost comes, protect these tender little plants with some old berry boxes, then straw or leaves over the top, and in the spring work a small quant.i.ty of fertilizer around the roots. Tie the stalks as they begin to get tall, to stout stakes, to prevent their being blown over by storms: and if you will keep cutting off the old flowers so they will not go to seed, you can coax your plants to bloom an extra month or six weeks. Properly treated, they will last from July to the middle of September. But to enjoy these lovely visitors regularly, it is necessary to plant the seed every year.

Of the border carnations, the Chabaud and Marguerite types are hardy enough to stand the winter if slightly covered, and will flower profusely the second year, but they make off-shoots, which bring to bloom a few weeks after sowing.

Hollyhocks from seed do not blossom until the second year, but they make off-shoots, which bring flowers every season thereafter. And as they sow themselves, people often mistake them for perennials. They come both single and double, and are especially lovely against a wall or a green background.

The evening primrose, tall and stately, with large yellow flowers, is easily grown in almost any soil. It thrives in almost any soil, and blooms the entire summer.

Of the wallflowers, the biennial variety will blossom most of the summer if grown in a moist, shady place and not allowed to go to seed. These come in yellows, reddish brown and purplish brown. They need winter protection.

The horned poppy, though a biennial, will flower the first year if started indoors in March. It likes an open, sunny spot, and if old flowers are kept picked off, will bloom all summer.

Sweet William is another old-fas.h.i.+oned garden favorite that is usually considered a perennial, but which does its best the second year from seed. As it self-sows, it goes on forever, like Tennyson's brook, once it gets started. In protecting, however, do not get fertilizer directly over the crown, or it will cause decay.

Mullein pink, or Rose Campion as it is often called, is another of our grandmothers' pets, and if started very early, will flower the first season.

Now all of the biennials I have described are easily grown, and sure to bring great pleasure. And really it is worth while to curb one's impatience, and wait, when necessary, until the second season, for the sake of these lovely hardy beauties.

FLOWERS THAT LIVE THROUGH TWO YEARS

A GUIDE TO THE COMMON BIENNIALS

NOTE.--English Daisies (a perennial), Forget-me-nots, Hollyhocks and Pansies are often started about the 1st of August. Most of the biennials need slight protection during the winter. Remember that in nearly every case seed must be sown every year in order to secure succession of bloom.

-----------------+-------+----------+---------+--------+--------+-----+-------- SOW SOW BLOOMING NAME COLOR HEIGHT INDOORS OUTDOORS GOOD FOR PLACE SEASON -----------------+-------+----------+---------+--------+--------+-----+-------- [A]Canterbury White 2 ft. March May Border Sun June, Bells Pink 1st June July (_Campanula Blue medium_) Purple [A]Carnation, White 1 to 2 ft. May Border Sun August Border Pink (_Dianthus caryophyllus_) [D]English Daisy White 4 to 6 in. July Border Sun April, (_Bellis Pink Aug. Bed May perennis_) Evening Primrose Yellow 5 ft. Many May Border Sun June to (_OEnothera varieties June Sept.

biennis_) Forget-me-not Blue 1 to 2 ft. Self-sows May Border Half April to (_Myosotis_) June shade Sept.

Foxglove Pinkish 3 to 5 ft. April to Border Half June, (_Digitalis_) purple June Clumps shade July White or Yellow sun Hollyhock White 4 to 8 ft. Self-sows May, Back of Sun July, (_Althaea Pink Also June or border Aug.

rosea_) Rose makes Aug. or Yellow offsets clumps Red Horned Poppy Yellow 6 in. May Border Sun July (_Glaucium Orange June to Sept.

luteum_) [C]Mullein Pink White 1 to May 1st Border Sun June, (_Lychnis to 2 ft. Rockery July coronaria_) Crimson Rose Campion, see Mullein Pink Wallflower Yellow 1 to May Border Sun May (_Cheiranthus to 2 ft. June Rockery or cheiri_) browns part and shad purples Pansy, more easily treated as an annual -----------------+-------+----------+---------+--------+--------+-----+-------

FOOTNOTES:

[C] Will blossom the first year from seed that is sown as early as possible.

[D] A perennial often started in August, so it will bloom the next spring.

CHAPTER V

Flowers that come up Every Year by Themselves (Perennials)

No, the heart that has truly lov'd never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close; As the sunflower turns on her G.o.d when he sets The same look which she turn'd when he rose.

--_Moore._

THAT big word ARISTOCRACY simply means "those who rise above the rest of the community in any important respect,"--and rightly, indeed, are the perennials called "the aristocrats of the garden." They are strong and st.u.r.dy (good points in both people and flowers), and can be depended on to appear about a certain time, make us a nice visit with all their loveliest clothes, and show their appreciation of our attention and care by returning every season with increased beauty and grace.

A few of the perennials, such as the peony and the iris, grow so slowly that generally people haven't the patience to wait for them to flower from seed, and instead try to get some roots from their more fortunate friends, or buy from a florist. But I will tell you more about this cla.s.s in connection with the bulb and tuber families.

THE SEED BED

While a small number of these beauties will bloom the first year if started early in the spring, most of them make their debut in garden society the second summer. Before that they have to be watched, or they might meet with accident. A good way, therefore, is to have a little bed (preferably a cold frame) for a seed nursery off to one side, in a safe place, where the baby plants can be cared for, protected from cold, and tended like the infants they are, until grown up and old enough to enter the society of bed or border. In such a place the seeds should be planted in fine, rich soil, preferably from the middle of May to the 1st of July, and all carefully marked. Sow thinly, and then cover the seed by sifting over with fine soil from 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Sprinkle very lightly by means of a whisk broom dipped in water, so as not to wash out the seed, and if you possibly can, cover with a piece of gla.s.s. Keep in the shade at first, and never let dry out. Some of this seed will germinate in less than a week, while some may take so long that you will think it is not going to grow at all! But don't give up; and maybe some day when you have forgotten all about it, you will discover a lot of new babies in your nursery.

TRANSPLANTING PERENNIALS

As soon as your seedlings are big and strong enough to be handled, they must be carefully lifted and set in another part of the nursery, not less than 3 inches apart, protected from the hot sun, and left until they become strong, st.u.r.dy children. Then early in the fall, before the middle of September, you can take them up very gently, without disturbing their tiny rootlets, and put them with their friends and relatives in the garden, wherever you wish them to bloom the following summer.

Of course you couldn't,--and you wouldn't want to grow everything you ever saw or heard about! Just think of the fun, however, of picking out a small number that will be sure to give you flowers, one after another, from earliest spring until cold weather! Yet the following list, suggested by one authority, is easy to get and little trouble to care for:

PERENNIALS FOR A WHOLE SEASON'S BLOOM

Creeping Phlox (_Phlox subulata_); white, rose, lavender; bloom April and May.

Lily-of-the-Valley (_Convallaria majalis_); white; May, June.

Bleeding Heart (_Dicentra spectabilis_); rose pink; April through June.

Iris (_Fleur-de-lis_); white, purple, yellow; April to July.

Peony (_Paeonia officinalis_); white, rose to crimson; May, June.

Larkspur (_Delphinium_); blues; June, July, September.