Many flower-seeds require no more skill in planting than do peas or
beans, for they are as large and as easily germinated. But very many
are small, and some extremely small, and if planted too deeply, they
will not shoot, or will shoot very feebly.
Select a free-working and rich piece of ground—a sandy loam is best,
and a stiff clay the worst—let it be spaded deeply, incorporating very
thoroughly-rotted manure, _i. e._ manure full two years old and which
will crumble in the hand as fine as sand. With a fine-toothed rake
reduce every lump and bring the surface to the finest state of
pulverization. If the seed is very small, it had better be mixed with
a little sand, or dry soil, to increase the bulk. The sowing will be
easier and more equal. Scatter the seed upon the bed; then with the
hands or a fine garden sieve, sift fresh and mellow earth upon it from
a quarter to half an inch in depth. To bring the earth compactly about
the seed, spat the bed with moderate strokes with the back of a spade.
If the weather is very dry, water the bed at evening with a
watering-pot—to pour it from a pail or cup would wash up the surface.
Keep the plants from weeds, and when they are one or two inches high,
they may be transplanted to the places where they are to stand.
Balsams, larkspurs, poppies, and, indeed, most flowers do better by
being transplanted. The operation checks the luxuriance of the plant,
and increases its tendency to flower.
Sometimes seeds are planted where they are to remain; the treatment is
precisely the same as before, except they are _thinned out_ instead of
transplanted. No mistake is more frequent, among inexperienced
gardeners, than that of suffering too many plants to stand together.
One is reluctant to pull up fine thriving plants; or he does not
reflect that what may seem room enough while the plant is young, will
be very scanty when it is grown.
There is much taste to be displayed in arranging flowers in a garden
so that proper colors shall be contrasted. It is important that proper
colors should be matched in a garden, as on a dress.