CHAPTER III. 

 A GARDEN OF ANNUALS. 



ANNUALS may be divided into two great groups, (i) Hardy 

 Annuals, and (2) Half -Hardy Annuals. I treat these two 

 groups separately in detail. 



(l) HARDY ANNUALS. 



A great many people say they never succeed in growing 

 Hardy Annuals ; this is astonishing, as many of these 

 plants are quite easy to cultivate. Years ago in the days 

 of the old hardy annual, one could imagine people not 

 wishing to grow them, for some of them were poor, and 

 the colours dull and lifeless. Now, however, things have 

 changed. Thanks to the skill of the hybridist and the 

 patience of the traveller and collector, some of the loveliest 

 of our garden flowers are hardy annuals. Countless 

 examples might be named, and to those who are fond of 

 old favourites, I would say that the newer things are not 

 " new f angled " things, but real improvements and beautiful 

 flowers. 



There is, however, one great exception in the old and the 

 new annual corn-flower. Grow them both for a year or 

 two, and you will see what I mean. The new is certainly 

 no improvement on the old. The old sort is blue, there 

 is no mistake about it, no possible mistake ; but of some 

 of the new varieties, we cannot say what their colours are. 

 But this is the exception. The rule remains the same. 

 It is generally better to grow the newer varieties. The 



9 



