This we must have, for it is one of the most beautiful annuals
cultivated. So varied its hues! So abundant its blooms! Not a brief
season of flowering, and then naught but leaves, which are, not of
themselves attractive, but an increase of blossoms from June till
October, and it requires quite a severe frost to mar their beauty. They
have the best effect massing each color by itself, and beds of a
circular form cut in the lawn and filled with Verbenas, have a superb
effect. Seedlings are much the best for bedding out, they are so much
stronger and more bushy. Those plants offered for sale in pots, having
one tall slender stem, crowned with a cluster of flowers, are almost
worthless for the garden. True, if you get a healthy one, by layering
and pegging down, you can sometimes get good plants, but you had better
purchase seedlings by the dozen as they are offered in boxes and
baskets, or order them of the florist by mail or express, and you will
have plants that will grow compact, bloom early and profusely, with far
better foliage than the puny straggling ones rooted from cuttings. One
objection to purchasing seedlings by the clump is, I am well aware, the
fact that they are not labeled as to color, and everybody wants to know
that they will have at least one scarlet, one white, purple, and so on,
and unless the color is peeping through the bud, one must buy with the
risk of not knowing the desired color. This is the true state of the
case so far as my own observation extends. But it need not be so, and we
presume it is not so everywhere. Seedlings can be raised of course with
each of the leading colors separate, and those in greatest demand in
large quantities to meet the wants of the general public, while the
fancy sorts can be of mixed varieties. Those who raise their own
seedlings, usually buy a paper of mixed sorts, so in that case they are
no better off than those who purchase seedlings of the florist, and as
their facilities are far greater for raising early plants, it seems
preferable as a general thing, to buy of them, for these reasons. In
order to have good sizable plants for bedding out in May and June that
will bloom in August, seed must be sown the first of March, at the
latest, for it takes weeks for the little dry sticks to germinate, and
then they are such slow growers, unless under the most favorable
circumstances, they do not become strong vigorous plants by the time
you want to bed them out. Few can care for them properly while their
sunny windows are full of choice house plants, so that as a rule, we
should deem it preferable to wait until May, and then purchase the large
budded seedlings, which so quickly unfold their beautiful flowers to
brighten the garden, when it is almost barren of bloom. They do not cost
usually more than sixty cents per dozen, and one is saved from so much
care.
However, for the benefit of those who prefer to sow their own seed, we
will give directions for the best method. First, be sure that the seed
is new. Don't sow old seed for it will not germinate. If you have no hot
bed, make one in a box or pan by putting in a layer of quite fresh horse
manure for bottom heat; over this a layer of coarse sand; then fill the
box with finely sifted soil, mixed with at least one-third fine sand.
Make it smooth; then in little rows drop the seeds, not very sparsely,
for all may not germinate, and if too thick when they come up they can
be thinned out. Press the seed down with a bit of flat board, sift a
little soil over them and then dampen by light spraying with tepid
water; a brush dipped in water makes a gentle sprayer. Cover with paper,
glass, or what is better, a bit of soft flannel wrung out of water laid
on the surface, as it keeps the soil damp without sprinkling, by being
wet as it dries. The soil must be kept moist, not soaking wet, for
however helpful to germination a previous soaking may be, when sown the
seed must not be drenched, and the same rules are equally applicable to
the seedlings, for in either case rot would surely follow. It is just
here where the special care is requisite to insure success. After the
plants have come up, the flannel or paper must be removed and the
seedlings given sunshine and air, though it is well to have a glass over
the top of the box for a week or more, as more moisture is thereby
secured; but there ought to be an aperture for the admission of air.
When two or more leaves are developed, it is well to prick them out into
other boxes or pots, if they are too thick for free growth; not all, a
part can remain undisturbed. They should be gradually hardened as a
preparation for out-door life, by being placed in cool situations. While
heat is essential to start the seed into growth, it is not beneficial to
the plants, and those who have a cold frame had better remove the plants
to it as soon as the temperature will admit.
In bedding out, an open situation is preferable. The ground should be
well dug and enriched, with well-decomposed manure, and if the soil is
heavy a liberal mixture of sand. A situation where the morning sun will
not strike them before the dew is off in the morning is best, as this is
one cause of the mildew or rust which so frequently saps the vitality of
the leaves. In order to promote their spreading, it is a good plan to
fasten down some of the branches when sufficiently flexible to the
ground, and for this, nothing is more convenient than hair-pins. All the
seed vessels should be pricked off in order to secure the best results,
as much of the strength of the plant goes to them if allowed to remain.
One can afford to be very liberal in gathering the flowers, for the more
liberally they are picked off, the more rapidly buds form and develop.
As it was with one of Bunyan's characters:
"There was a man (though some did count him mad),
The more he cast away, the more he had."