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Selection of Varieties

The lists of annuals in the seed catalogues are long and the amateur hardly knows where to begin and where to end. It is usually best to confine one's selection to some of the really desirable varieties, and one should make an effort to become well enough acquainted with them to know which to choose and which to leave. Who could want to grow a patchwork quilt of portulaca when he might grow Phlox drummondi in its stead? Or who could want to grow that wickedly ugly thing called cockscomb after one had once known the beauty of salpiglossis or Salvia azurea? Seed catalogues of course contain the good and the poor annuals, the ugly and the beautiful, and the success of one's garden efforts depends very much upon the selection of varieties. A short list of twenty-four of the most useful annuals is given here. Some are old standbys that have been popular for generations, others are newer and less well known. I am going to pick the poppy family up out of the middle of the alphabet and put it first of all, because I feel that anyone who has come to know the annual poppies would rank them first in his affections. In Praise of Poppies. If I had to choose but one flower out of the long, long list of annuals I think that it would be the single Shirley poppy. Although of humble origin, being not very many generations removed from the little poppies of the field, it is one of the loveliest things that grow, with its exquisite form, its soft colorings, its simplicity and unspoiled beauty. Its decorative value as a cut flower is almost unequaled. The blooms are far too fragile to endure much handling, but if half-opened buds are picked early in the morning and the stems are plunged immediately into very hot water, the flowers will remain fresh for several days.

No garden, however small, however large, should be without these single Shirley poppies. The seed is very inexpensive, it germinates readily, and, like all poppy seed, it should be sown where it is to flower, as the young seedlings are difficult to transplant. A light, sandy loam and a sunny position suit most poppies best.