Sow Seeds Now For Next Year's Flowers

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 287, 4 December 1941, Page 19

Sow Seeds Now For Next Year's Flowers

THE best season for sowing 1 most hardy biennials and 1 f a • a r 1 perennials tor flowering the following year is during November and December. It may be neces,1 _ 1 c r sary to sow the seeds of a few choice or rare kinds in a greenhouse or frame, but most of them arp .sown in =, are sown in a border of prepared soil in the open air. The seedlines will thrivp hp«t in small odd of ground she? tered from the hot middav Their removal to th™ nllces in which they are to flower is best done in the early autumn. Desi aone tti__ . j _ .bor moist and partially-shaded as well as for sunny flower Canterbury bells are most attractive summer-flowering plants, {? r winte £ flowering is + P°PPy> which has been improved to so great an extent kw? T 1 m ., uar / WI .H fiofiaiiv w . h vf n a garden is other flowers. The wallflower is again becoming popular. It is one of the most useful of the hardy biennials for fur-

nishing beds and borders with S ass + e ® of , colour during the spring. Planted alone, or interspersed with tulips or daffodils, they produce a feast of rich colours. The new varieties evolved during recent years are as easy to grow from seed as the common mixed varieties, Wallflowers are inclined to be " le ggy" unless properly treated. Give them plenty of room and make the soil firm when pricking out . Sweet Williams nave been immense]y improved during the past 10 years " w £ ether Planted in beds or g rou P s > the colours are always effective - Many, however, will pre- £ r t to t gr °7 and £ lant |L roups S f distinct colours. Sow the seeds thinly in drills and cover lightly with fine soil, pricking the seedlings out to six inches apart prior to transferring them to their permanent quarters. popular hardy perennials to raise from seeds sown m the open during the next few weeks include hollyhock, delphinium, the peach-leafed bell-flower (campanula persicifolia), lupin, lychnis, chalcedonica, gaillardia and coreopsis grandiflora. The last-named, a fine cutting flower, is best treated as a biennial.