498 



THE VILLA GARDENER. 



551. The culture of annuals embraces their sowing, their thinning or trans- 

 phanting, and their training ; and these operations are nearly the same 

 wliether the plants are hardy, half hardy, or tender ; the only difference 

 being, that the hardy plants will grow freely if sown in the open air where 

 they are intended to remain, while the half hardy kinds must be raised on a 

 hotbed, and transplanted into the open ground in May or June; and the 

 tender kinds must be kept in pots, and only placed in the open air during the 

 warmest part of summer. 



552. When the seeds of annuals are sown, the ground should first be made 

 firm by pressing it with the saucer of a flower-pot, or the back of the spade ; 

 the seeds should then be sprinkled thinly over the ground, and just covered 

 with fine earth, which should be slightly pressed down over them. When 

 they come up, if they appear too thick, they should be thinned out so as to 

 leave each plant standing apart; the distance at which they are left from 

 each other varying, of course, according to the strength and habit of growth 

 of the plants. The plants of some kinds of annuals will bear transplanting 

 after they have been taken up in thinning, but generally they are not worth 

 the trouble of replanting. The seeds when sown are often destroyed by 

 birds ; but this may be prevented by turning a flower-pot over each patch till 

 the seeds have germinated, taking care, however, to remove it as soon as the 

 plants begin to grow, lest they should be drawn up by the shelter thus 

 afforded, and become weak. Snails and slugs are dangerous enemies to 

 young and tender annuals, and care should be taken to search for them early 

 in the morning and late in the evening ; or to destroy them by watering the 

 ground with lime-water, so weak as not to disfigure the plants. — {Ladies' 

 Companion to the Flower-garden.') 



55.*}. List of ornamental annuals which should he sown in the open ground 

 towards the end of March or the beginning of Aj^ril : 



Name. 



Alyssum calyciiium {Sweet Ali/ssum) 



Amaranthus caudatus (Love-lks-bleeding) 

 Varieties 



hypochondriacus (Prince's Feather) 



Variety 



Aiiagallis arvensis (Plmperiiel) 



ca^rulea 



grandiflora 



Anthemis arabica 



valentina 



Argemone albiflora (Prickhj P&ppy) 



— ^— — mexicaua 



Aster Tradescanti (Michaelmas Daisy) 



Blumeubachia insignis 



Borkliausia, or Crepis, rubra ( Pink Hawk- 

 weed) 



Campanula Speculum ( Venus's Looking Glass) 



Centaurea Cyauus (Cor7i Blue-bottle) 



moacliata (Siceet Sultan) 



suaveolens ( Yelloiv Sultan) 



Cerinthe major (Honeyioort) 



Chrysanthemum carinatum 



coronarium 



Convolvulus major 



