If you share with the state of Arizona, with every farmer in the nation, and with me an antipathy for the strangling growth and the prolific brittle, white roots of the morning glory, yet take delight in the pure joy of its morning blossoming, grow it in the house. Confined to the limited reaches of … Read more
If you are a house plant enthusiast interested in the infinite variety and simple austerity of succulents, you are fortunate, indeed. These sturdy individuals are made-to-order for gardeners with a keen interest in plants but with time, space, and budget limitations. The usual arid, overheated winter atmosphere in our homes is often better for them … Read more
For 25 cents, you may purchase a packet containing 200 to 1,000 petunia seeds of the finest named varieties. Properly cared for, germination will be at least 75% percent, and with adequate transplanting and subsequent care, practically all these seedlings may be grown to maturity. Think what it would cost you 10 to buy them … Read more
A seed packet is small. Filled with perennial seeds, you could balance it on your little finger and scarcely feel any weight. Plants will grow from those seeds, bringing immeasurable joy and satisfaction, flowers to cut and share. Perhaps even improved health to the gardener for having been out in the fresh air and sunshine … Read more
As a rule, the principal reasons for treating seeds with chemicals before sowing them are to prevent seed decay and damping-off of seedlings. During the past year, however, I have been treating different kinds of seeds for another reason—to give the young plants an added boost from the start. How To Treat Seeds This is … Read more
About 5,500 acres of California’s most fertile soil is being cultivated at present to produce flower seeds not only for American gardeners but for a good part of the world, too. It is estimated that California grows nearly 90% of all the flower seeds used in the world today. Probably no other business in existence … Read more
This is the month for seed catalogs. They greet us with alluring pictures of dainty bulbs, astonishing varieties in annuals and perennials, gorgeous colors, new odors, and flavors quite unsurpassed. As we sigh with pleasurable anticipation and settle to study and enjoy, eagerly looking ahead to that first day of planting. Let us look for … Read more
Thickly sown vegetable seeds cause many disappointments in home gardening. The seedlings often come up so crowded that none has a chance for average growth unless the rows are thinned laboriously, often during the week or so after the appearance of the first sprouts. If there has been a delay of only a week or … Read more
Doesn’t it make you mad to find that flat of special seedlings damping off? You spent a lot of time planting the seeds and waiting for germination, you watered them, you babied them and there they are, half of them down with damping off disease. Nothing to do but to douse ’em with fungicide and … Read more
Would you like to speed up the propagation of a favorite plant? Grow a few “hothouse” plants in a “cool” greenhouse. Accelerate growth on plants in outdoor frames? Get a head start on your seed-grown annuals and vegetables, or hasten the sprouting of patio plants grown from bulbs or tubers? If you answer yes to … Read more