May, 1916. 



123 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Annual Flowers in Association With Other Plants 



To the beginner in gardening, 

 especially if his or her garden is 

 of small size, there are few more 

 useful flowers than hardy annuals, and 

 few that will give such a bountiful re- 

 turn for a small outlay of time and 

 money. Indeed, these annuals, which 

 may be sown in the open garden, may 

 be looked upon as a sort of sheet-anchor 

 for the novice, to fill up blank spaces 

 where perhaps some more ambitious 

 gardening scheme has gone awrj', or to 

 fill the hiatus caused by the passing of 

 spring-flowering perennials or bulbous 

 plants. The gardener in a large estab- 

 lishment can rely upon pot plants or 

 nursery stock to make good these gaps, 

 but the beginner can seldom afford this, 

 and still less frequently has the facili- 

 ties for carrying it into effect. 



Too often, bulbs, especially the May- 

 flowering tulips, are a source of great 

 worry to the amateur. Owing to their 

 late flowering and .subsequent ripening 

 of the foliage, they cannot, with safety, 

 be removed from beds or borders suf- 

 ficiently early to admit of the planting 

 of the ordinary bedding plants, and for 

 this reason many forego the pleasure 

 that these bulbs are capable of produc- 



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John Gall, Inglewood, Ont. 



ing, and ban them from their gardens. 

 This is a great mistake, and one that can 

 easily be obviated if we would make use 

 of hardy annuals. In early May, seeds 

 of these can be sown between the 

 bulbous plants, and by^the time the lat- 

 ter have finished flowering, and the 

 leaves have died down, the annuals will 

 be well on the way towards the flower- 

 ing stage, and the bulbs none the worse 

 for the association. Even beds of daffo- 

 dils may be successfully treated in this 

 way, and if the bulbs are lifted in early 

 fall, before they have made extensive 

 root growth, and replanted at once, they 

 will be in much better condition than if 

 they were lifted this spring, before their 

 foliage had properly ripened, to make 

 way for the geraniums that are so often 

 relied upon for the summer display. It 

 is true that these bedding plants com- 

 mence to flower almost as soon as they 

 are planted, and that the annuals sel- 

 dom commence before July, but the four 

 weeks or so that the beds or border 

 spaces are without blossom is not no- 

 ticed in a garden of mixed flowers. It 

 is mentioned to prevent possible dis- 

 appointment to would-be growers of 

 annuals. 



Apart from those annuals which can 

 be sown between the bulbs or spring- 

 flowering perennials, there are many 

 half-hardy sorts that may be raised in 

 frame or greenhouse, and planted out 

 between the permanent occupants dur- 

 ing the latter part of May. In this cate- 

 gory come. Stocks, China Asters, Neme- 

 sias, Verbenas, and Antirrhinums, all 

 of which are capable of providing a 

 glorious riot of color during the summer 

 and until frost arrives. 



There are just one or two simple 

 cultural details that ought to be ob- 

 served if success is to be assured with 

 this association of annuals with peren- 

 nials and bulbous plants. First of all, 

 the soil needs some little preparation, 

 especially if seeds are to be sown. I 

 have always found it advisable to light- 

 ly point between the plants with a 

 small fork, so as to get about two inches 

 of fine, workable soil. Into this some 

 superphosphate of lime, a large handful 

 to a square yard, is well worked, as this 

 provides food of a lasting character to 

 the annuals just at their flowering 

 period. Then, thin sowing is absolutely 

 essential. Sturdy seedlings only are of 

 any use for this kind of gardening, or, 



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This .sj.lemiiu niulhod of inttre-stinfj school children in the preservation of bird life is being followed with succe.s.s by the "Garden Arts and 

 Crafts section of the Hamilton Horticultural Society. Some 200 boys in the manual training classes of the city schools competed In a bird 

 hou.se competition. Mrs. R. B. Potts, the secretary of the Hamilton Society, may be seen. The second man- on Mrs. Potts' left Is John A. 



Webber, the president of the society. 



