Jan. The Opening Year. Part 5
Description
This section is from the book "The Garden Week By Week Throughout The Year", by Walter P. Wright. Also available from Amazon: The Garden Week by Week Throughout the Year.
Jan. The Opening Year. Part 5
Standard Varieties Of The Principal Flowers Raised From Seed
Although the greater number of the most important vegetables are raised from seed, this is not the case with flowers. Roses are generally propagated by budding, Carnations by layering, Dahlias by cuttings, and herbaceous plants by division - all in the several manners to be described in later pages. But a good many useful and popular plants are raised from seed, and these can be ordered at the same time as the vegetables.
I shall have occasion to refer to all of the following in the subsequent pages, and I therefore recommend that seed of them be ordered in January.
Except in the case of large gardens, packets will suffice in nearly every case. A packet of hardy flower seeds always contains enough seed to sow a good row or several clumps. More may be wanted of a few special things, such as mixed Sweet Peas, Mignonette, and Nasturtiums; in these cases ounces or half-ounces may be ordered.
As with vegetables, the price of the packet varies with the standing of the seedsman. Dealers of the highest class do not, as a rule, offer seed of even the cheapest hardy annuals at less than threepence per packet, but the same quantities can be bought from others for a penny.
There are not wanting bold and enterprising seedsmen who will sell you any kind of flower seed for a penny, even such things as Primulas, Begonias, and Cyclamens, which are generally sold at eighteenpence and half-a-crown a packet. The number of seeds in these very cheap packets is, of course, small, but it is sound enough, as a rule.
Flower Garden Plants
My first table shall be flower garden plants. All those named are worth growing. The annuals are hardy unless marked half (1/2) hardy.
Kind. | Species or Variety. | Class. | Colour. |
Ageratum . . | Imperial Dwarf | 1/2-hardy annual | Blue |
Alyssum . . | Maritimum | Annual | White (sweet) |
,, • | Saxatile com-pactum | Yellow | |
Amaranthus . | Melancholicus ruber | 1/2-hardy annual | Red foliage |
Anchusa . . | Italica Dropmore variety | Perennial | Blue |
Antirrhinum (Snapdragon) | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Aquilegia (Columbine) | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Arabis . . . | Alpina | Perennial | White |
Arctotis. . . | Grandis | 1/2-hardy annual | Mauve & yellow |
Argemone . . | Mexicana | Annual | Yellow (sweet) |
Aster, China . | See special notes | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Aubrietia . . | Purpurea | Perennial | Purple |
Bartonia . . | Aurea | Annual | Yellow |
Begonia . . | Tuberous section | Perennial | Various |
Calandrinia . | Umbellata | Perennial | Crimson |
Calliopsis . . | Drummondi | Annual | Orange |
Attica | Annual | ||
,, | Medium caly-canthema | Blue or white | |
Canary Creeper . . | Tropaeolum canariense | 1/2-hardy annual | Yellow |
Candytuft . . | Carmine | Annual | Carmine |
,, • | Crimson | Annual | Crimson |
,, . | White | Annual | White |
Canterbury Bell | Blue, rose or white | Biennial | Blue, rose, white |
Carnation . . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Chrysanthe- | Burridgeanum | Annual | Brown & lilac |
mum ,, ... | Double annual | Annual | White& yellow |
Kind. | Species or Variety. | Class. | Colour. |
Morning Star | Annual | ||
,, • • | King Edward VII. | Perennial | White |
Clarkia . • . | Elegans | Annual | Pink |
,, ... | Marginata | Annual | Rose & white |
Cobaea . . . | Scandens | Perennial | Purple |
Collinsia . . | Bicolor | Annual | Blue & white |
Columbine. . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Convolvulus | Splendens | Annual | Blue |
,, | Annual | Various | |
Coreopsis . . | See Calliopsis | ||
Cornflower (Centaurea) . | Blue | Annual | Blue |
Cosmos or Cosmea | Mixed | Annual | Various |
Mixed | Perennial | Various | |
Dianthus (Indian Pink) | Chinensis mixed | Biennial | Various |
,, | Heddewigii | Biennial | Various |
Digitalis (Foxglove) | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Erysimum . . | Peroffskianum | Annual | Orange |
Eschscholtzia . | Crocea | Annual | Orange |
,, | Rose Cardinal | Annual | Rose |
Evening Primrose (Oenothera) | Biennis | Perennial | Yellow |
Myosotis dissiti-flora | Perennial | Blue | |
Foxglove . . | Mixed | Biennial | Various |
Gaillardia . . | Picta Lorenziana | Perennial | Orange, red, yellow |
Gilia .... | Tricolor | Annual | Purple |
,, .... | Tricolor alba | Annual | White |
,, . . . | Coronopifolia | Biennial | Scarlet |
Godetia . . . | Dwarf Pink | Annual | Pink |
,, ... | Lady Albemarle | Annual | Crimson |
Golden Feather | Pyrethrum aureum | Perennial | Yellow |
Gypsophila | Paniculata | Perennial | White |
Helianthus. . | See Sunflower | ||
Helichrysum (Everlasting) | Mixed | Annual | Various |
Hollyhock . . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Honesty . . | Rose | Perennial | White pods |
Kind. | Species or Variety. | Class. | Colour. |
Iberis . . . | Sempervirens | Perennial | White |
Indian Pink . | Mixed | Biennial | Various |
Incarvillea . . | Delavayi | Perennial | Rose |
Jacobaea . . | Mixed | Annual | Various |
Kochia . . . | Trichophila | Annual | Pretty foliage |
Larkspur . . | Mixed | Annual | Various |
Lathyrus lati-folius | Perennial | Red | |
Linaria . . . | Mixed | Annual | Various |
Lavatera . . | Rosea | Annual | Rose |
Leptosiphon . | Mixed Hybrids | Annual | Various |
Limnanthes . | Douglasii | Annual | Yellow & white |
Linum . . . | Rubrum | Annual | Scarlet |
Lobelia . . . | Speciosa | Perennial | Blue |
Love-in-a-mist | Nigella Damascena | Annual | Blue |
Love-lies-bleeding . . | Amaranthus cau-datus | 1/2-hardy annual | Red |
Lupins, annual | Blue, rose,white, etc. | Annual | Different |
Lupinus . . . | Nanus | Annual | Blue |
Lychnis . . . | Chalcedonica | Perennial | Scarlet |
Malope (Mallow) | Grandiflora | Annual | Rose |
Marigold . . | African | 1/2-hardy annual | Yellow, orange |
,, | French | 1/2-hardy annual | Striped |
Marvel of Peru | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Matthiola . . | Bicornis | Annual | Lilac (sweet) |
Matricaria . . | Eximia | Perennial | Double white& double yellow |
Mignonette | Ordinary | Annual | Buff |
,, | Machet | Annual | Red |
Mimulus(Mon-key Flower) | Mixed | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Myosotis . . | See Forget-me-not | ........ | .......... |
Nasturtium | Tom Thumb | Annual | Scarlet, rose white, etc. |
,, | Tall mixed | Annual | Various |
Nemesia . . | Mixed | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Nemophila. . | Insignis | Annual | Blue |
Nicotiana . . | Affinis | Perennial | White (sweet) |
,, • • | Sylvestris | Perennial | White |
Nigella . . . | Miss Jekyll | Annual | Blue |
Night-scented Stock | See Matthiola | ....... | .......... |
Oenothera . . | Macrocarpa | Biennial | Yellow, Evening Primrose |
Kind. | Species or Variety. | Class. | Colour. |
Pampas Grass | Gynerium argen-teum | Perennial | White plumes |
Pansy . . . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Papaver. . . | Nudicaule | Biennial | Orange yellow |
Passion Flower | Passiflora caerulea | Perennial | Blue |
Pentstemon | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Petunia . . . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Phacelia . . | Campanularia | Annual | Blue |
Phlox . . . | Drummondi | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Physalis (Winter Cherry) . | Franchetti | Perennial | Scarlet |
Platystemon . | Californicus | Annual | Lemon |
Polyanthus | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Poppy . . . | Carnation-flowered | Annual | Various |
„ ... | double | Annual | White, scarlet, pink, etc. |
,, ... | Shirley | Annual | Various |
Portulaca . . | Mixed | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Ricinus(Castor oil plant) . . | Gibsoni | 1/2-hardy annual | Handsome leaves |
Rocket, sweet . | Purple or white | Perennial | Purple, white |
RoseCampion. | Agrostemma coronaria | Perennial | Crimson |
Salpiglossis | Mixed | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
Salvia . . . | Blue Beard | 1/2-hardy annual | Blue |
Saponaria . . | Calabrica | Annual | Rose |
Scabious, sweet | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Schizopetalon . | Walkeri | Annual | White, sweet |
Silene . . . | Pendula compacta | Annual | Pink |
,, ... | Annual | Rose | |
Statice (Sea Lavender) | Sinuata | Annual | Various |
Stock.... | German 10-week | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
,, .... | Giant Perfection | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
,, .... | Brompton | Biennial | Various |
,, .... | Night-scented | Annual | Lilac |
Stokesia . . . | Cyanea | Perennial | Mauve |
Sunflower . . | Miniature | Annual | Yellow |
,, • | Tall | Perennial | Yellow |
Swan River Daisy | Brachycome iberidi-folia | Hardy annual | Blue |
Sweet Peas | See special list | ........ | ....... |
Sweet Rocket . | White or purple | Perennial | White, purple |
Sweet Sultan . | White, yellow | Annual | White, yellow |
Sweet William | Mixed | Biennial | Various |
Tagetes . . . | Signata pumila | 1/2-hardy annual | Yellow |
Kind. | Species or Variety. | Class. | Colour. |
Tobacco, sweet | See Nicotiana | ...... | ........ |
Tropaeolum . | Canariense | 1/2-hardy annual | Yellow Canary Creeper |
Venus'Looking-glass . . . | Specularia speculum | Annual | Blue |
Verbascum. . | Olympicum | Biennial | Yellow |
Verbena. . . | Mixed | Perennial | Various |
Virginian Stock | Pink, white | Annual | Pink, white |
Viscaria. . . | Cardinalis | Annual | Scarlet |
Wallflower . . | Belvoir Castle | Biennial | Yellow |
,, • | Blood red | Biennial | Red |
,, . . | Double | Biennial | Various |
,, • • | Annual | Annual | Various |
Winter Cherry | Physalis Franchetti | Perennial | Orange pods |
Zinnia . . . | Single mixed | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
,, ... | Double | 1/2-hardy annual | Various |
This is a long list, but there is no obligation on any reader to order all the plants named in it. He will make his choice from knowledge of the plants, or from the descriptions in the catalogues, or from the fuller references to most of the plants which follow in these pages. The annuals, if hardy, are raised by sowing out of doors in March and April; if half-hardy, under glass in March, or out of doors in May. The biennials and perennials are mostly raised by sowing out of doors in May or June, but a few, such as Antirrhinums, Verbenas, Pentstemons, Indian Pinks and Pansies, are sown in winter or early spring, under glass, for blooming the same year. A fuller list is given in Chapter VI (June. Rose Time).
China Asters and Sweet Peas are certainly two of the most important plants in the list, and I will therefore give special selections of them.
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