==Dahlia==.—­Both the double and single classes can be grown and flowered from seed as half-hardy annuals.  A sowing in this month will supply plants sufficiently forward to bloom at the usual time.  Some growers begin in January, and provided they have room and the work can be followed up without risking a check at any stage, no objection can be raised to the practice.  For most gardens, however, February is safer, and March will not be too late.  Sow thinly in pots or pans filled with light rich soil, and finish with a very thin covering of fine leaf-mould.  When the seedlings are about an inch high, pot them separately, taking special care of the weakly specimens, for these in point of colour may prove to be the gems of the collection.  After transplanting, a little extra attention will help them to a fresh start.

==Dianthus==.—­From sowings made this month or in January, all the varieties may be raised in about 55 deg. or 60 deg. of heat, but immediately the seed has germinated it is important to put the pots in a lower temperature, or the seedlings will become soft.  They should also be transferred to seed-pans when large enough to handle.

==Fuchsia==.—­It is now widely known that Fuchsias can be satisfactorily flowered from seed in six or seven months, and from a good strain there will be seedlings well worth growing.  Sow thinly on a rich firm soil, and give the pots a temperature of about 70 deg..  While quite small transfer the plants to the edges of well-drained pots, and later on pot them singly into a compost consisting chiefly of leaf-mould until the flowering size is reached, when a proportion of decayed cow-manure should be added.  The Fuchsia is a gross feeder, and must have abundance of food and water.  Aphis and thrips are persistent enemies of this plant, and will need constant attention.

==Geranium== seed may be sown at any time of the year, but there are good reasons why the months of February and August should be chosen.  Seedlings raised now will make fine plants by the end of June, and begin to flower in August.  They are robust in habit, and from a reliable strain there will be a considerable proportion of handsome specimens.  Sow in pans filled with soil somewhat rough in texture, and the surface need not be very smooth.  Lightly cover the seed with fine loam.  To have plants ready for flowering in the summer it will be necessary to give the seed-pans a temperature of 60 deg. or 70 deg., and follow the usual practice of pricking off and potting the seedlings.

==Gladiolus==.—­It is not common to grow this noble flower from seed, but the task is simple, and seed good enough to be worth the experiment is obtainable.  In large pots, well drained and filled with fibrous loam and leaf-mould, dibble the seeds separately an inch apart and half an inch deep.  A temperature of 65 deg. or 70 deg. will bring them up, and when they reach an inch high the heat should be gradually reduced.  The seedlings need not be transplanted, but may remain in the same pots until the grass dies down, and the corms are sifted out in September or October.