How to Plant: Seeds are tiny but need darkness to germinate, so cover them lightly with fine soil,

and then keep the flats covered or in a dark place. Plant seedlings a foot apart in the garden after the last frost. Growing Conditions: Schizanthus prefers good garden soil in full sun. Keep it well watered. It blooms best in cool weather. Remarks: Schizanthus makes a good pot plant, but sometimes needs a bit of support.

Snapdragon Antirrhinum majus

Snapdragons are the backbone of my early summer cutting garden, with their delicious colors: apricot, bronze, pink, wine, rose, yellow, and orchid. You can buy seeds for plants ranging from 6-inch dwarfs to 3-foot background beauties, which usually need staking. More open-faced blossoms, recently developed, vie with the traditional snapping pouch form in catalogs. I love both. Days to Germination: 7 to 14 days at 750F (240C) When to Plant : For June bloom, sow seeds indoors in flats in February. Plant seedlings out around the time of your last frost. How to Plant: Try keeping seeds in the freezer for two days before planting to hasten germination. Snaps seed light to sprout, so just press the salt-grain-sized seed into the soil surface. Growing Conditions: Snap do best in full sun and fairly good soil, but can take partial shade. Snapdragons are hardy flowers and, once they become well established, can stand light frosts. Technically theyre tender perennials, but most gardeners treat as annuals.

Spider Flower Cleome hasslerana

Good for the background of an informal flower border, spider flowers, also called cleome, grow 3 to 6 feet tall and produce 6-inch heads of pink, white, or lavender blossoms. Days to Germination: 14 days at 700F (210C) When to Plant : A strong self-seeder, cleome is usually planted directly in the ground around the time of your last frost, but may be started early indoors too. How to Plant : Try chilling the seeds at 400F (40C) for five days before planting to encourage earlier germination. When sowing seeds, leave them uncovered, because light improves germination. Warm days and cool nights seem to promote germination of the planted seeds. In the garden, space plants 18 to 24 inches apart. Growing Conditions: Cleome withstands dry weather and appreciates rich, well-drained soil.

Stock Matthiola incana

Stocks produce densely flowered wands of pastel pink, yellow, rose, or violet flowers on 15- to 36-inch stems, depending on variety. Their fragrance spiced the air of my cool winter greenhouse, where they were happier than in the hot summer garden. In fact, stocks will bloom only in cool weather, up to about 650F (180C). Days to Germination: 10 days at 650F to 75 0F (180C to 24 0C) When to Plant: You can plant the seeds anytime for greenhouse or houseplants, but for bedding plants, sow seeds indoors six weeks before your last frost free date. How to Plant: Sow seeds uncovered. Set out seedlings, 10 to 12 inches apart, around the time of the last frost, perhaps a week sooner. Growing Conditions: Although stocks cant take heat, they last a long time in cool weather. Give them rich soil and an occasional side-dressing of fertilizer.

Sweet Pea Lathyrus odoratus

Another fragrant annual that blooms in cool weather, the sweet pea is available in three form: dwarf, 15-inch; knee-high, 2 1/2 feet; or vining, 6 feet. Some newer varieties bloom better in warm weather than the older kinds. Colors range from soft blue to rose, pink, maroon, and white. Probably because the cool summers of Great Britain are more to the sweet peas liking than our hot American weather, many English seed companies carry an excellent selection of the wonderfully fragrant sweet pea cultivars that have been largely eliminated from American seed catalogs. Days to Germination: 14 days at 550F to 65 0F (130C to 18 0C) When to Plant: Plant seeds outdoors in early spring a soon as the garden can be dug. If your winters arent severe, you can plant the seeds in fall. Sweet peas may also be grown in a cool greenhouse at any time of year. How to Plant: Cover seeds with 1/2 inch of soil; they need cool soil and darkness to germinate. Thin seedlings to 10 to 12 inches apart. Growing Conditions: Plant sweet pea in rich, composted soil. Provide netting or other support for vining types.

Sweet William Dianthus barbatus

The annual form of sweet william grows to a height of 4 to 12 inches and produces starry flowers in pleasing shades of red, pink, salmon, or lilac. The biennials reach a height of up to 20 inches. An old-fashioned cottage-garden favorite, sweet william flowers best in cool weather. Days to Germination: 7 to 14 days at 700F (210C) When to Plant: Plant the annual in flats indoor in February for June bloom, or outside in April for summer flowers. for biennials, plant seeds in the garden for bloom the following year. How to Plant: Space dwarf varieties 6 to 8 inches apart and taller kinds 12 inches apart. Sweet william self-sows freely, so an established patch may bloom perennially, even if individual plants are short-lived.

Growing Conditions: Sweet william flowers most abundantly in cool weather. It thrives in well-drained soil that is not highly acid, and doesnt demand rich soil.

Zinnia Zinnia spp.

The centerpiece of many a summer garden, zinnias come in a great variety of flower forms: pompom, button, dahlia-flowered, and cactus-flowered. Sizes range from 6 to 36 inches, and colors include both brassy golds, reds, bronzes, and oranges, and gentle pastel pinks, lavenders, yellows, and white. A magenta-colored flower appears in some inexpensive mixtures, but no blue zinnias exist. A well-grown bed of zinnias is a delight for both display and cutting. Days to Germination: 5 to 7 days at 700F to 75 0F (210C to 24 0C) When to Plant: Start the seeds about a month before your frost-free date, or plant seeds directly in the garden after frost. How to Plant : If youre planting double-flowered zinnias indoors, sow the seeds in individual pots or cells, because transplanting can make them revert to singles. Cover the seeds lightly with fine soil and keep them warm. Thin dwarf zinnias to 6 inches, 15-inch varieties to about a foot apart, and 3-foot zinnias to 15 inches. Growing Conditions: Zinnias like fertile soil in full sun. Diseases : In my garden, zinnias often get a disfiguring fungus disease in the summer, especially in the wet season. To prevent disease, grow resistant varieties and avoid splashing water on the plants.

PERENNIALS
Perennials reward your patience by living longer. Except for a few quick starters like flax and blanket flower, which will bloom their first season if seeds are planted early, most perennials begin to flower the year after theyre planted. Some- peonies and babys breath, for example - live for many years. Other like columbines, may last only four to five years, but like the biennial sweet william, they may reseed themselves so that the colony lives on even though individual plants die out. This is often but not always a desirable trait. Self-seeded phlox plant usually revert to the less desirable generic magenta shade, no matter how delicate the pink of the parents. How to Plant: To start your seed-grown perennials, you can choose from three methods: 1. My usual procedure is to plant seeds in flats indoors or in the greenhouse in February or March (two to three months before our frost-free date) and then transplant the seedlings to the garden in May. 2. If you have neither greenhouse nor fluorescent lights, you can plant the seeds directly in the garden in May and thin or transplant the seedlings when theyre 1 to 2 inches tall. A separate nursery row or raised nursery bed can save many young plants that might otherwise get lost in the garden jungle. 3. A third planting method takes into account the fact that many hardy perennials drop seeds in the fall that, under natural conditions, will endure winters cold before germinating in spring. So you can plant the seeds in the fall, wither in a cold frame or a lightly mulched nursery row, and watch for the tiny plants to appear the following spring. Keep the planting moist but not soggy until seedlings appear. Except for shallow-rooted perennials like shasta daisies and chrysanthemums, most perennial flowers will winter well without protection, but while theyre young and still relatively skimpy-rooted, its a good idea to cover all of your perennials with a light mulch of straw or evergreen branches. Dont use tightly packed leaves, though, or they may suffocate your flowers. Here are some favorite perennials to start from seed. Unless otherwise noted they need full sun.

Anemone Anemone spp.

There have open, cup-shaded flowers with bright yellow centers, which are followed by attractive seedpods. Snowdrop, which is white, is the hardiest anemone. It prefers a partly shady location. Pulsatilla, which is purple and 6 to 12 inches tall, is slightly less hardy. It has bellshaped flowers and downy, fringed leaves. Days to Germination: 21 to 28 days at 700F to 75 0F (210C to 24 0C) Prechilling aids germination Growing Conditions: Both types of anemones need shelter from strong winds, and fertile, humus-rich soil. They like afternoon shade in warm climates. Space plants 8 to 12 inches apart.

Astilbe Astilbe X arendsii

Also called spirea, these perennials produce spire-shaped blooms. Varieties of these summer bloomers are available in white, pink, coral, lilac, and carmine, in heights ranging from 8 inches to 4 feet. Days to Germination: 42 to 56 days at 650F (180C) Growing Conditions: Astilbes do not mind some light shade. They do mind poor, exceptionally dry or alkaline soil, baking sun, and high winds. Waterlogged soil over winter isnt good for them either, but they are not difficult plants to grow when given the rich, somewhat acid soil they prefer, and they are long-lived perennials. Space plants 15 to 24 inches apart.

Babys Breath Gypsophila spp.

A group of long-lived plants, these perennials fill in between more substantial foliage with their airy network of dainty blossoms, which are good for drying. Babys breath comes in white and pink and grows 30 to 48 inches tall. Days to Germination: 10 to 15 days at 700F (210C) Growing conditions: It likes well-drained limestone soil. Allow 1 1/2 to 2 feet between plants. Remarks: seedlings started in pots should be set in permanent garden spots while still small, because the plants deep taproot will make later transplanting chancy.

Balloonflower Phatycodon grandiflorus

The buds of this 1 1/2- to 3-foot plant resemble balloons. Flowers may be white, pink, or violet-blue. Shoots appear late, not until May, and Blooms appear in July or August.