seed alone.

The time and the method of sowing flower seeds must in each case be
regulated by considerations as to their nature. Seeds of tender plants
are usually sown in pots or pans and placed on a moderate hot-bed or in
a propagating house early in spring, and in this case the plants have
greenhouse cultivation until the time arrives for hardening them off
preparatory to final planting. But seeds of many hardy flowers may be
treated in the same way, when a long season of growth is necessary for
their development. Thus Phloxes, Verbenas, and Hollyhocks, plants that
differ immensely in habit and constitution, may all be sown in February,
and put side by side in the same warm pit or vinery, or even in the
warmest corner of any greenhouse, and the very same treatment will suit
them equally well. The soil should be principally loam and sand, with a
little old thoroughly well-rotted manure from a hot-bed or compost heap;
and light, air, and moisture must be regulated with a view to insure a
free and vigorous growth from the first, with the least possible amount
of artificial heat. In some cases, however, the sowing should be
deferred to March or April, and the result will be far more satisfactory
than the growth made under the stimulus of artificial heat earlier in
the season. But in every case the plants must have sufficient time; for
although the rapid system has been developed, the constitution of the
plants remains unchanged, and those which have heretofore been classed
as biennials and perennials need a long season when treated as annuals.

A considerable proportion of the finest flowers may be raised from seed
by the aid of a frame and a little careful management. We will take as
an example a very restricted garden. Here is a small frame and some
packets of seed, and the month of February or March has arrived. The
pans and pots are made ready with sweet sandy compost, and the seeds are
sown and labelled, and the pans and pots are packed together in the
frame on a bed of clean coal ashes, or some slates, or tiles, or bricks
laid on the soil, to promote warmth and cleanliness and to prevent the
intrusion of worms among the seeds. By simple management almost as quick
a growth of seeds can be insured in this frame as with the aid of a
hot-bed, and the secret consists in careful storage of the heat of the
sun. Lay over the seed-pans sheets of glass to prevent evaporation, and
let the sun shine full upon them. Be careful