112 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



and Clarkia, and for climbers the canary creeper and the con- 

 volvulus. 



The seeds of hardy annuals germinate so readily, provided they 

 are inserted in suitable soil, that they may be used in a dozen 

 ways in the embellishment of the garden. How valuable they 

 are if their aid be called in to cover a bare brown patch in the 

 herbaceous border 1 What charming edgings they make to beds 

 that are filled with more formal bedding plants 1 How expedi- 

 tiously and accommodatingly do the climbing varieties cover 

 fences, newly-made trelliswork and rustic arches that would other- 

 wise have to wait gaunt and dismal for months before they could 

 be transformed into objects of colour and of beauty ! For these 

 and other purposes they are indispensable. And yet there is 

 a use to which it might be wished that they were more often 

 devoted even in gardens that are limited for space. This is, 

 that a border or plot should be set apart each season for their 

 exclusive cultivation. Such a border, if one portion of it be 

 sunny and another be partially shaded, would be found a source 

 of immense and unexpected delight, especially if some attempt 

 were made to grow in it a few of the lesser known but not on that 

 account less refined or less elegant annuals. A few that may be 

 recommended for this purpose are : white, yellow, and purple 

 sweet sultan, phacelia campanularia, silene, viscaria oculata, 

 gypsophila elegans, saponaria calabrica and double sanvitalia. 

 There are hundreds of others equally beautiful to be found in the 

 catalogues of seedsmen. Let the cultivator choose where he will, 

 follow his own good taste in the disposition of the various colours, 

 and he will secure a display that cannot but be held in the highest 

 esteem by the genuine lover of floral beauty. 



If it be desired to cultivate what are loiown as self-beds of 

 annuals, in which separate plots are devoted to one kind and one 

 colour of a hardy annual, nothing could be simpler or more 

 effective in its results. Where this method is practised there is 

 little necessity to worry overmuch about the danger of clashing 

 colours or about the height of the plants. If the seedlings be 

 thinned out adequately the annuals thus treated will grow 



