176 SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



Comparison of annuals and perennials. Annuals and 

 perennials each have their advantages. The chief advan- 

 tage of the annual is that one gets much quicker returns, 

 as the flowers are obtained the same season that the seeds 

 are planted. This is an important consideration to people 

 who do not own their homes but rent them for a year at a 

 time. It is possible to obtain a greater variety of combina- 

 tions from year to year. Since the garden is started en- 

 tirely anew each year, any new combinations or varieties 

 can be tried. With the perennials, it is much more difficult 

 to make changes after the plants are once established. The 

 seeds of most of the annuals germinate more quickly than 

 those of the perennials, and so the annuals are more easily 

 raised from seed. 



The chief value of the perennial, as the name implies, is 

 that the plant is established for many years, and after it is 

 once started it requires less care than the annuals. With 

 the perennials it is possible to make the flowering season 

 nearly twice as long, since some of the perennials begin to 

 bloom in the early spring and from this time on a continuous 

 succession can be obtained till late fall. The first of the 

 annuals do not begin to bloom till well on into the summer. 

 There is a greater variety of ways in which perennials may 

 be started, as either the seeds or plants may be used, and the 

 seeds may be planted either in the spring or late summer. 



The ideal arrangement is to have a combination of both 

 annuals and perennials. The perennials may make the chief 

 background of the garden, and spaces may be left between 

 for the annuals which may be changed from year to year as 

 one wishes. 



LABORATORY EXERCISE 21 



Purpose. To make a plan of a flower garden. (Late winter 

 or early spring.) 



Directions, i. On a sheet of unruled paper make a plan 

 of a flower garden to scale. Select some portion of your yard. 



