For June, 1921 



603 



Annual and Biennial Plants — Some of Their Uses 



ROBERT CAMERON 



(Conl'niued) 



BIENNIALS are not as numerous in species and 

 varieties as annuals. Though they are few in num- 

 ber, some of them are handsome old-fashioned 

 plants. 



Hollyhocks, probably the most popular biennials we 

 grow, have been greatly improved within recent years 

 and are the noblest of garden plants. They are subject 

 to several diseases and owing to this, many people have 

 been discouraged in growing them. One of the worst 

 di.seases attacking these plants is a rust that destroys the 

 leaves and can be held in check by spraying with Bor- 

 deaux Mixture. There are both single and double forms. 

 The single kinds, with the exception of those with purple 

 flowers, have pleasing colors, and are more thrifty and 

 less liable to disease than the double forms are. The 

 double hollyhocks, when grown well, are exceptionally 

 fine and during their flowering period, are so stately that 

 we have no plants to compare with them. To get good 

 healthy plants and to have a stock of young material 

 always on hand, seeds should be sown each year. The 

 usual time to sow the seed is in June or early in July, 

 and if given liberal treatment, they will make large plants 

 before Winter begins. A dry position where no water 

 will lodge about them is a very favorable location in Win- 

 ter. A slight covering with coarse straw or salt-marsh 

 hay is beneficial. However, if one has a cold frame, it is 

 the best place for the young plants to Winter. Whenever 

 the frost is out of the ground in Spring, they may be 

 transplanted into deep, rich soil where they are to lilossom 

 during the following Summer. There are annual varie- 

 ties catalogued which produce fine flowering plants the 

 first season. Any variety of hollyhock will flower the 

 first season, if ijie seed is sown in the greenhouse early 

 in January and grown along in a moderately warm house. 

 Young plants grown in this way are less liable to the 

 attacks of fungous diseases. Hollyhocks make fine mate- 

 rial for planting out-doors as thev blossom profusely dur- 

 ing Summer. For backgrounds to large borders, group- 

 ing on lawns, or for distant eft'ects. the hollyhocks stand 

 unrivalled. 



Canterbury Bells are handsome, decorative plants and 

 when in bloom, are profusely covered with large bell- 

 shaped flowers which make a most brilliant display. The 

 seeds should be sown in July and when the weather is 

 very severe, the plants may be kept over the Winter in 

 cold frames. If they are grown out of doors all \\'inter, 

 a slight covering of hay is most hplpful. These flowers 

 can be obtained in single and double forms, and cup-and- 

 saucer varieties. The colors most prominent in the single 

 flowered varieties are rose, mauve, blue, white, and 

 striped. In double flowered varieties the most pleasing- 

 colors are blue, white and rose. The cup-and-saucer 

 forms are much more showy and have many colors, the 

 white-flowered and pink-flowered kinds being the most 

 efl'cctive. They are good border plants and when grown 

 in large masses, are highly decorative. When grown as 

 pot plants, they make handsome specimens and are espe- 

 cially valuable for conservatory or piazza. 



Sweet Williams are old-fashioned plants and, although 

 we have many fine colored varieties, there has not been so 

 much improvement with them as with many other plants. 

 To obtain good flowers very much is dependent on the 

 strain of seed. The finest strain we know is Sutton's ; 

 thc'r Bink Btautv and Sutton's Scarlet are two excellent 



kinds, as are also their Auricula-eyed and self-colored 

 varieties. The double flowering kinds, though they have 

 some splendid colors, are not as pleasing as the single- 

 flowered forms. Of course, old plants can be preserved 

 by growing them in extra favorable places and increased 

 by division. The best results are obtained by treating 

 them as biennials, for they will then bloom more abun- 

 dantly and more evenly. To have good sized plants, the 

 seeds should be shown in April or May, to blossom the 

 following Summer. Sweet Williams enjoy a strong, rich 

 soil and a position where water will not lodge about the 

 crowns of the plants. 



Wallflowers are not grown as much as they should be, 

 for we have no flower in early Spring that has such a 

 delicious fragrance. If the seeds are sown in April or 

 May. the young plants may be planted out for the Sum- 

 mer, and put in cold frames during the Winter. In 

 Spring, they make attractive beds, and although the flow- 

 ers are not as showy as those of some other plants, this 

 deficiency is made up by their sweet fragrance. There 

 are several single and double forms, the single flowers 

 being the most fragrant. The Parisian annual variety, 

 which was introduced a few years ago, if sown early in 

 Spring in the greenhouse, will flower the first Summer. 



Foxgloves or fairy thimbles, Digitalis purpurea, are 

 sometimes perennials, but when we want them for mass- 

 ing efl:'ects we grow them as biennials, as they flower 

 more evenly. In some situations they are not hardy and 

 are benefited by a mulch in Winter. The seeds are sown 

 in Spring and grown out during the Summer, producing 

 their long flowering stems the next year. They make ex- 

 cellent border plants and are also good for semi-wild ef- 

 fects. The kind known as Digitalis gloxinia-flora is the 

 most striking. Foxgloves are sometimes grown in pots 

 for conservatory or piazza decorations. 



Honesty, Lnnaria biennis, is a biennial which has rather 

 showy purplish flowers. It is not altogether for the blos- 

 soms that this plant is cultivated, but for its silvery-white 

 seed pods which are used in Winter bouquets. It is called 

 Honesty because the seeds can be seen through the pods. 

 If the seeds are sown in Spring, the plants will blossom 

 the following year. 



The English daisies, although a perennial in Europe, 

 give better results in this country when they are treated 

 as biennials. If sown in August and wintered over in 

 frames, they are useful for borders or beds. 



Pansies give better results when treated as biennials. 

 They are generally sown in August and by Spring they 

 make strong, stocky plants. 



The forget-me-nots which are also treated as biennials, 

 are especially easy to .grow. They are always pleasing 

 and can be used in many dift'crent wavs. 



Plants are just like the paints that an artist uses, they 

 may be used right or wrong. Xow, what are you .going 

 to do with them ? The material I have [ilaced before vou 

 contains every shade of color. In themselves these plants 

 are beautiful but it is up to the gardener to make attrac- 

 tive garden pictures. 



I have read in my day practically every book and good 

 magazine article that has been written on annuals. Every 

 one of them gives a long list, but as to how to use this 

 material, you acquire no more knowledge than what vou 

 had before reading. Over twenty vears ago I read a 

 j)a])er on annuals before this club and like evervbodv else, 

 1 <inly mentioned a very few ways of usin.g them. Well, 



