ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS in 



may then stand out of doors with the pots plunged in ashes 

 until Christmas or thereabouts, and will come into flower about 

 nine weeks after being brought in. How welcome they are, 

 filling the greenhouse with sweetness on an April day, none 

 can tell but those who have tried them. 



Sweet Peas are a great stand-by, but it is essential that they 

 should be sown about midsummer to come in for very early 

 blooming. Three seeds sown in a small pot, and transferred 

 with as little disturbance of the roots as possible into larger 

 sizes, and grown out of doors, will make beautiful specimen 

 plants. They may be pinched back now and then to make 

 them bushy, and will flower well in a lo-in. pot; but they 

 should be brought under shelter before the first early frosts at 

 the end of September or they may receive a check which will 

 retard their blooming. Eckford's good varieties offer abun- 

 dant choice of colour, and these should be kept distinct, as 

 mixtures are seldom desirable or effective. 



Any of the hardy annuals which are recommended in the 

 seed lists for autumn sowing, which usually means August and 

 onwards, may be tried with a fair chance of success, and 

 should flower by relays from early spring. Mignonette will 

 scarcely be overlooked. The old-fashioned kind, though not 

 so large or handsome as Machet, Parson's White, and some of 

 the Covent Garden strains, is the sweetest of all. Three seeds 

 sown in a small pot, the strongest only to be retained, and 

 re-potted as required in rich soil, will give very satisfactory 

 results. 



Tender annuals for summer and autumn blooming, such as 

 Astors, Tropaeolums, Mimulus, Nemesia strumosa, Salpiglossis, 

 Celosias, Martynia fragrans, &c., must be sown under glass in 

 March, April, or May, according to circumstances, and require 

 a good deal of care in pricking-out, potting, and in some cases 

 pinching-back, with as much open air as possible to prevent 

 their spindling. These may be so timed as to flower until 



