ANNUAL FLOWERS 



IT is unwise to grow too many plants in the small garden, 

 and especially of annuals, which are often unruly in growth, 

 quickly tumbling over everything near to them, or covering 

 many precious perennials with their trails of stems and leaves. 

 There is wisdom in taking up a few groups and growing them 

 thoroughly e.g. the Poppies, Sweet Peas, and similar kinds, 

 which are both charming in the garden and useful to gather 

 for the house. 



Amateurs who delight in colour may have a showy border 

 or flower bed at trifling cost and with little delay. There are, 

 broadly, only two classes of annuals, those known as " hardy " 

 and " half-hardy." The former may be sown in the open bor- 

 der straight from the purchased seed packets, whilst the others 

 require sowing in some warmth, such as a frame or similar 

 contrivance. 



Hardy Annuals. We will consider those for the open 

 ground first that is, the perfectly hardy kinds, or rather those 

 that by their free growth in common border soil in spring 

 have been so named. Some kinds may be freely transplanted 

 on any showery day, or, indeed, any day by after attention to 

 moisture at the roots, but others do not transplant well at all, 

 unless from small pots with the root-fibres quite intact. The 

 reason of it all is in the way the roots are constituted. Some 

 plants, for example, form a solitary root that goes straight down, 

 and is known as a " tap " root, which produces very few fibres, 

 so that transplanting is always a matter of difficulty. This is 

 the class the seed of which must be sown where it is to flower. 

 Only by treating the plants in this way is it possible to obtain 

 the best results. These explanatory remarks will, we hope, 

 save the amateur from travelling along the wrong line. We 

 must assume that the beginning of the year is at hand, and pre- 

 parations being made for a display of flowers in the summer. 



The soil requires first consideration. Well-dig the beds 

 or borders at once, putting in rather deeply plenty of well- 

 decayed manure. If the garden soil is heavy, inclining to 

 close clay, get a load of road sweepings or grit, and either dig 

 this in with the manure or spread on the surface when digging 

 is completed. Do not be afraid to dig deeply even when a 



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