ANNUALS. 



ANNUALS. 



the plants were taken out off ; till at 

 last the plants are in pots six, eight, 

 or nine inches in diameter, according 

 to their nature, and the size to which 

 it is wished to grow them. In all 

 these shiftings, light rich mould must 

 be used to fill up the pots, and suffi- 

 cient drainage must be secured, by- 

 placing potsherds in the bottom of 

 each pot. In general, the more fre- 

 quently the plant is shifted, the larger 

 and more bushy it will become before 

 it flowers; but when once flower-buds 

 have made their appearance, no far- 

 ther advantage can be gained from 

 shifting, the growth of the plant being 

 then mature. Some persons water 

 tender annuals Avith liquid manure, 

 which is found to answer in the case 

 of Balsams, Cock's-combs, and other 

 strong -grov,-ing plants, but to injure 

 more tender-growing kinds. The 

 extraordinary size that Balsams and 

 Cock's-combs may be brought to by 

 repeatedly shifting them into larger 

 pots, is not onlj gratifjong in itself, 

 but interesting and instructive, as 

 showing the effect of art on plants. 

 The common Balsam in a wild state, 

 in the East Indies, is seldom seen 

 above a foot in height, vrith a stem 

 half an inch in diameter ; but 

 in British hot-houses it has been 

 grov\Ti to the height of five feet, with 

 a stem as thick as a man' s wrist. We 

 have omitted to observe that during 

 the whole pr-^eess of shifting, the 

 temj^eratiu'e in whicli the plants are 

 kept should be from sixty to seventy, 

 or even eighty degrees, during sun- 

 shine ; and that they should be so 

 abundantly supplied with water, 

 that the air should be constantly 

 charged with moisture : but when 

 the plants begin to flower, they 

 ought to be removed to a diy airy 

 situation, and the temperature gra- | 

 dually lowered. The dry air, and | 

 the lowering of the temperature, will ; 

 not only increase the intensity of | 



the colours of the flowers and leaves, 

 but will prolong the duration of the 

 plant. 



Half-hardy Annuals may be 

 sowTi either in plunged pots, or in a 

 bed of earth on a slight hotbed, in 

 j February or March ; and after they 

 j have come up they may be pricked 

 j out into plunged pots, or into the 

 i earth covering another slight hotbed, 

 i where they may remain till the be- 

 I ginning of May, when they should be 

 j transplanted into the beds or borders 

 in the open garden where they are 

 j finally to remain. In most cases, 

 however, it is not worth while to 

 prick out the plants in a second 

 hotbed ; and sometimes they may be 

 sown in pots, and thinned out to two 

 or three plants in a pot ; and when 

 they have grown two or three inches 

 high, the ball of earth, and the 

 plants in it may be turned out into 

 the open border. This mode is weU 

 adapted for strong clayey soils, be- 

 cause when plants from a hotbed are 

 transplanted into such soils, they 

 commonly receive a severe check; 

 whereas when they are ttumed out 

 with balls, provided the soil round 

 them is settled by a good watering, 

 they receive no check whatever. 

 The soil in which half-hardy annuals 

 are raised, should be light and rich, 

 because it is only in such a soil that 

 the tender seedlings will grow 

 vigorously and produce numerous 

 fibrous roots, without Avhich they 

 would produce but little effect when 

 turned out into the open garden. 

 The more showy kinds of half- 

 hardy annuals are the French and 

 African Marigolds, Chinese and 

 German Asters, Zinnias, the purple 

 Jacobsea, and a number of others. 

 Brompton, Tenweek, and German 

 Stocks, though quite hardy, make 

 better plants, and consequently 

 flower more vigorously, when so j 

 raised. There are few plants more i 



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