Garden Notes - Sweet Sultan to Zinnia

Sweet Sultan
Variety: Giant Mixed

Hardy annual. Height: 18 inches. Blooms July to September. Colors: white, yellow, rose, purple. They are excellent cut flowers and last a week or more in water, and also make an excellent display in the flower border. Sweetly fragrant. Sow the seeds where they are to bloom in April or, for early flowers, under glass in March and transplant in May where they are to bloom. They like a rich soil and a sunny position. In mild districts Sweet Sultans can be sown in September and grown on in a sheltered place for early bloom. To prolong the flowering period, keep cutting.
 

Verbena
Variety: Mammoth Hybrids

Half-hardy perennial grown as an annual. Height: 1 foot. Blooms from July to the frosts. Distinctive flowers in clear colors. The Mammoth Hybrids can be obtained either mixed or in separate colors of particularly striking shades: brilliant rose, pink, blue, purple, white and vivid scarlet. Makes attractive floral decorations; useful for summer bedding. Can be pegged down to create a carpet of bloom. Given good cultural conditions they are not subject to disease. Being rather slow in growth in the early stages, they are better raised under glass in early spring. Sow in boxes, transplant two inches apart and harden off before planting out at end of May. Once established, they bloom well in dry weather.
 

Viola
Variety: Arkwright Ruby

Hardy perennial. Height: 6 inches. Blooms all the year in favorable positions. Color: rich ruby crimson. A distinctive new break in violas. Sow the seeds thinly in a box of rich soil, and pick off as soon as large enough to handle into boxes or a cold frame. Plant out where they are to bloom in May, or they can be sown outdoors in June for early flowering the following year. Useful for carpeting yellow or white roses, or for edging flower borders. Remove seed pods and apply a dusting of fertilizer occasionally. They prefer a semi-shady position.
 

Wallflower
Variety: Scarlet Emperor

Hardy perennial. Height: 1 ½ feet. Blooms April-May. Fragrant. Color: bright scarlet. Extremely hardy and drought-resisting. Sow the seeds in May in a box of rich soil, transplant six inches apart when large enough to handle and remove where they are to bloom in the autumn. Useful for making a display in beds and borders; can also be grown in window boxes or even in dray walls and banks. A novel use is to grow wallflowers as pot plants. The little plants should be potted up from the open ground in October and grown on in the cool greenhouse, where they make a magnificent show earlier than those grown outdoors.
 

Zinnia
Variety: Lilliputian

Half-hardy annual. Height: 1 foot. Blooms July to October. Native of Mexico. Colors: yellow, rose, purple, scarlet. Suitable for display in beds. For cutting, the best type is the Dahlia-flowered which, in rich soil, makes immense flowers of unusual pastel shades. Needs a sunny position and rich soil. They make quick growth, so should be sown late in April under glass. Pot up singly when large enough to handle, and plant out where they are to bloom at the end of May. Remove faded blooms and feed the plants with an occasional dusting of fertilizer, well watered in if the weather is dry, and an amazing display of color for many months will result.