Hardy Annuals Half-hardy Annuals 



ample leafage and well-developed flowers, as really to astonish people 

 who think they know all about annuals, and who may have ventured 

 after much ill-treatment to designate them ' fugacious and weedy.' 

 It is an excellent practice also to sow hardy annuals in autumn, but 

 it is needless to say more on this subject here, as it is dealt with fully 

 at page 281. 



Half-hardy Annuals. Give these as long a period of growth 

 as possible to insure a vigorous plant before the season of flowering. 

 The best time for sowing is February, or the beginning of March ; for 

 although some kinds may with advantage be sown earlier, it is safer, 

 as a rule, to wait for sunshine and full daylight, so as to keep up a 

 steady and continuous growth. The soil for the seed-pans should be 

 rich and fine. Good loam, improved by the addition of thoroughly 

 decayed manure and leaf-mould, with sufficient sand to render the tex- 

 ture porous, will suit all kinds of annuals that are sown in pans under 

 glass. Sow the seed thinly, cover very slightly, and lay squares of 

 glass over to keep a uniform degree of moisture without the necessity 

 of watering. Should watering become necessary, take care to avoid 

 washing the seeds out. If the pans or pots are stood for an hour in 

 a vessel containing several inches depth of water, they will absorb 

 sufficient, and there will be no occasion to pour water on the surface. 

 A gentle heat is to be preferred ; when germination is too rapid it 

 tends to the production of weak plants. As soon as the young plants 

 appear, remove the glasses and place the seed-pans in the fullest light, 

 where air can be given without danger to them. A dry east wind 

 blowing fiercely over them will prove a blast of death. If they have 

 no air at all, they will be puny, rickety things, scarcely worth planting 

 out. Choice varieties should be carefully pricked out into pans and 

 pots as soon as large enough ; this will promote a fine, stocky growth 

 and a splendid development of flowers. Take care not to plant out 

 until the weather is favourable, for any great check will undo all your 

 work, and make starvelings of your nurslings. If you cannot com- 

 mand heat for half-hardy annuals, sow in the first week in April, put 

 the pans in a frame facing south, and the seeds will soon grow and 

 do well. If that is too much trouble, sow in the open border early 

 in May, making the border rich and friable, that they may have a 

 good chance from the first. 



Tender Annuals. These require the same general treatment 

 as advised for half-hardy annuals. But it is desirable to sow in a 

 stronger heat than is necessary for annuals that are to be planted out. 

 It is also requisite to be in good time in pricking out the seedlings, 



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