i;6 ANNUALS, BIENNIALS, AND PERENNIALS [CH. 



sheltered position, with light rich soil of old manure and 

 leaf mould, suits them best. Rotten leaves or cocoanut 

 fibre spread over them in summer will keep them cool 

 and promote their growth. 



CHAPTER XII 



ANNUALS, BIENNIALS, AND PERENNIALS 



IN the minds of many people Annuals belong to a class 

 of flowers which are so easy of culture that no trouble 

 need be taken with them. Few gardeners give their 

 annuals a fair chance ; they sow them in a haphazard 

 way, forget an early thinning or a careful transplanting, 

 and so the plants, which find so little room and get such 

 scant care, bring nothing but disappointment. 



Annuals are plants which grow up from seed, flower, 

 ripen, and die in one year. 



They may be grouped into three classes. Hardy, 

 which are sown as a rule in the ground they are to 

 bloom in. 



Half-hardy, sown in a slight hot-bed, and pricked out 

 into the nursery before being planted out 



Tender, raised in pots and treated as greenhouse 

 plants of the hardy class. 



Some hardy annuals are best sown in September and 

 October ; the plants not only flower much sooner, but are 

 stronger and more beautiful. Sweet Pea, Silene, Saponaria, 



