190 MY GARDEN 



spaces behind them to be filled, and there are also the 

 bulb borders and beds. 



Annuals are splendid for cutting, inexpensive, pre- 

 sent a wide range of colour, form, and fragrance, germi- 

 nate and develop quickly, and bloom with prodigal gen- 

 erosity, all of which are good reasons for having plenty, 

 but not in the flower garden proper a few used as 

 fillers-in, or to create some special effect, and the rest in 

 a space set apart for cutting. The kitchen garden is 

 usually the most convenient place. 



Annuals are known as hardy, half-hardy, and tender. 

 In milder climates than ours many hardy annuals are 

 sown in autumn, and while we may meet with some 

 success with this method it is never a certainty, and I 

 think that March and early April planting of hardy 

 annuals out of doors, or February planting indoors, will 

 prove more satisfactory. Half-hardy and tender an- 

 nuals may be sown out of doors about the time the 

 farmers are planting corn, or may be started under 

 glass in February, which, in the case of tender annuals, 

 is a great advantage, as it gives them a start ahead of 

 the drought that often gives them such a setback as to 

 leave them permanently stunted. It is really important 

 to know this difference between hardy and tender sorts, 

 for an early sowing outdoors of tender annuals will 

 result in complete loss, while a too late sowing of hardy 

 kinds will just as certainly end in failure. 



This class of plants is as impatient of neglect and 



