Annuals 



one who has not yet learned to utter the word * failure.' We must 

 not omit to mention that the owner of such a garden, or, indeed, of 

 any garden, will be prudent to take advantage of the first fine weather 

 to sow in the open ground whatever flower or vegetable seeds should 

 be sown at that season. The frame garden can be reserved, if needful, 

 for wet weather, because it is of the utmost importance to sow a good 

 breadth of seeds in the open ground as early as possible in the month 

 of March. 



Turning from this small example to the great garden, it will be 

 obvious that to those who always have heavy work on hand the 

 advantages of this transference of labour from the old system to 

 the new are immense. Both to employers and gardeners the ad- 

 vantages are of importance ; the propagation of bedders by cuttings, 

 and of florists' flowers by suckers and divisions and layers and pipings, 

 will not, of course, be suddenly and completely abolished ; but for 

 all ordinary purposes the ends in view may be accomplished more 

 simply, more expeditiously, and more cheaply than heretofore. The 

 pits hitherto appropriated to bedders, and the like, may to a great 

 extent be liberated, and there will be no difficulty in finding for 

 them more profitable occupants. While Mushrooms and early 

 Potatoes and winter salads are in request, it will be a gain to many a 

 garden to have reduced the summer display of flowers to a simple 

 system of seed-sowing, at an expense that may be described as merely 

 nominal. 



Before dealing specifically with certain flowers, it may be advisable 

 to say a few words generally concerning the culture of Annuals 

 Hardy, Half-hardy, and Tender and also on hardy Biennials and 

 Perennials. 



Annuals. Although the mo^st popular kinds of annuals are 

 largely employed in the embellishment of flower gardens, they are 

 adapted for many uses to which they may with advantage be more 

 frequently applied. A few misconceptions prevail as to the relative 

 merits of this class of plants. By some they are regarded as * weedy ' 

 and ' short-lived.' Their very cheapness, and the comparatively small 

 amount of skill required in their cultivation, tend in some degree to 

 detract from their value in public estimation. We will not be so 

 rash as to say that a more extended use of annuals would render 

 unnecessary the cultivation of what are especially known as ' bedding 

 plants ' ; but there is something to be said on behalf of annuals that 

 may be worth the consideration of all who are interested in the 

 development of freshness, variety, and richness of colour in the flower 



209 p 



