538 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



ajacis and consoHda, Ibcris coronaria, odorata and 

 umbellata, Lathyrus odorous or Sweet Pea, Matliiola 

 annua and incana, Sigclla. Damasccna, Papaz'cr Rluras 

 and somnifcrum, Reseda odorata, and Seabiosa atropur- 

 purea. 



California gives us an immense lot of good annuals, 

 Abronia, Bceria, Bartonia, Clarkia, Coreopsis tinctoria 

 and Atkinsoniana, Eschscholtzia, Entoca, Gilia, Codetta 

 (CEnothera) Lasthenia, Leptosyne, Ne^nophila. CEno- 

 thera and Phaeelia (JVhitlarcna). 



Coreopsis Drumiiiondii and eoronata and Phlox Druin- 

 mondii come from Texas. 



It will be seen from the above that the whole world 

 contributes to our summer display. - 



IMPROVEMENT BY SELECTION AND BREEDING. 



Although many of our annuals are extremely beau- 

 tiful in their wild state, there have been most wonderful 

 changes brought about in some of the genera and species 

 by cultivators and specialists. Annual plants have been 

 of much more interest to those who have been interested 

 in the improvement of cultivated plants, than herbaceous 

 plants have ever been. They have been more easily 

 handled, that is, their habits and forms have more 

 easily responded to the requirements or desires of 

 the improver. On the other hand they have had other 

 drawbacks which the improver found great difficulty to 

 overcome in many instances. To get a new habit or new 

 form of flower in annual plants was not the only diffi- 

 culty the improver or cultivator had to contend with. 

 His' time and skill would have been wasted if varieties 

 could not be produced true from seed. Therefore it is 

 in getting good strains that will come every time from 

 seed that takes time, patience and perseverance. In 

 woody or herbaceous plants this difficulty is much more 

 easily overcome when new varieties have been obtained, 

 as they can be increased in many ways other than by seed, 

 such as by cuttings, grafting and many similar modes 

 of propag'ation. Consequently much time and trouble 

 have to be given to keeping true the fine strains of many 

 kinds of our garden annuals. They very soon degenerate 

 and, if not carefully looked after, many of them will 

 revert to their wild state. One would be almost safe in 

 saying, that if the skill and labor of our cultivators and 

 specialists were abandoned for a few years, nearly all good 

 varieties of garden annuals would disappear and he re- 

 placed by inferior kinds more like the original wild forms. 



Wonderful improvement has taken place since the gar- 

 den annuals were collected in their native countries. The 

 time and labor that has been spent on some of these 

 plants is hardly credible. The hi.story and origin of 

 some of the varieties make intensely interesting reading. 



Some men have spent the best part of their lives im- 

 proving the species and varieties of one genus. Eckford 

 and Laxton in England gave the greater part of their 

 lives to improving the sweet pea. In Germany, France 

 and England much time has been spent in raising and 

 improving these plants. The trial grounds which cover 

 hundreds of acres of some of the large seed growers in 

 Europe show us what is being done with this class of 

 I)lants. T shall never forget the impression created by 

 the apparently endless beds of annuals at the extensive 

 grounds of the Messrs. Sutton of Reading, England, when- 

 1 visited their establishment some years ago. 



Hardly any of us ever give it a thought when we are 

 enjoying our beautiful plants in our gardens as to how 

 these plants originated in the plant world. 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SEED. 



In my opinion, it is always best to buy the very best 

 strains of seed obtainable, even if they cost more. There 



is less work and care with good, fresh seed than there 

 is with cheap, unreliable kinds. The cheap seed needs 

 as much care and attention as good seed does, and never 

 gives as good results. No doubt you have all noticed 

 in Spring when the weather begins to get warm and 

 when man begins to think he ought to get back to the 

 soil, how quickly seed stores multiply ; they grow up 

 like mushrooms. At that time you will see displayed in 

 the windows of druggists, grocers, bakers and such 

 places, boxes of annuals with pictures of flowers of the 

 most brilliant colors imaginable. If anyone wants to get 

 results, my advice would be to shun these places and buy 

 seeds from reputable seedsmen who have made a life 

 study of the seed business. They can not afford to sell 

 you unreliable seeds. 



Many of the annual seeds lose their germinating power 

 much earlier than other seeds, therefore it is very im- 

 portant that they have been freshly collected the previous 

 year. Those seeds sold by grocers and such like people 

 are old and unreliable. The cheaper the strain the more 

 plants you will get. From the finer and more expensive 

 strains fewer plants are obtained but one gets quality 

 against quantity. Some of you will be surprised to 

 know that in France and Germany some of the growers 

 of fine strains of pansy seed sell their products weight 

 for weight, that is, one ounce of pansy seed for one ounce 

 of gold. So it is easily seen from this that fine strains 

 of seed are "Worth their weight in gold." 



Cl'LTIVATION OF ANNUALS. 



There are no plants easier to grow than annuals, but 

 the easiness of culture has drawn many people into the 

 habit of growing them in a haphazard way and often 

 they do not receive the attention they deserve. To ob- 

 tain good results we have to give them just as good care 

 as we give to other garden plants. Then the luxuriance 

 of growth and the plentiful supply of flowers pay us 

 amply for the extra care. 



It is a great mistake to think they will grow in any 

 kind of soil. The majority enjoy a. good rich, loose, 

 open soil, and most of them are great lovers of sun- 

 light. Therefore, they should be given position where 

 they can get plenty of light. 



In Nature we find that most of the annuals are sown 

 in the Fall and in Europe many of them are sown in gar- 

 dens at that time in warm, sheltered spots where they 

 will bloom early in the Summer. Very few of our very 

 hardiest annuals will survive our severe W'inters in this 

 part of New England in the open ground. I have tried 

 quite a number of them but the results were unsatisfac- 

 tory. Many of them will stand until Christmas or there- 

 abouts, and after that they disappear. The alternate 

 freezing and thawing seem to do the injury. 



For Spring bedding we raise quite a number of kinds 

 and Winter them in cold frames. The seeds are sown 

 in August and the young plants are set out in the beds 

 whenever the frost is out of the ground in Spring. 



There are several ways of raising or growing these 

 plants but the time when the display of blossoms is 

 wanted must to some extent determine the time to sow 

 the seeds. If they are required for early decoration in 

 the garden thev mav be sown in the greenhouse as early 

 as March or April. The seeds are sown in pots or boxes 

 which are filled with moderately light fine soil. The 

 covering of the seed is of importance as some kinds when 

 covered too much never germinate. 



Very small seeds such as Begonias, Torenias and such 

 like need hardly any covering. Large seeds should be 

 covered more heavih', a good rule being to cover the 

 seed to the depth of their diameter. There are some 

 large seeds which require a deeper covering. 



