52 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



profit as much as I should have done, having been too generous 

 as it pertained to the soil. 



In the cultivation of nearly all hardy annuals that are sown 

 where they are to remain, it is a common mistake, first, to sow 

 too thickly, and afterwards to leave the seedling plants too 

 close together. The result of this is an impoverished plant, 

 and its life is consequently quite fugitive in character. As a 

 case in point, we see mistakes made in many gardens where 

 the popular Matthiola bicornis, the Night-scented Stock, is 



frown. Again, in the case of the now universally popular 

 weet Pea, this is oftentimes sown much too thickly, and 

 here, again, comes in another mistake, viz. the leaving of the 

 seedpods to develop, which soon exhausts the plants. We 

 should aim at securing as long a life as possible for all annuals, 

 and if this important item of cultivation was borne in mind 

 more often than it is, we should see a much finer display. 



Hardy annuals should enter into the floral arrangements 

 of our gardens more than they oftentimes do. This might be 

 advantageously done where the amount of glass at command 

 is all too limited. I well remember having seen the wisdom 

 exercised in using these plants in a large public garden in the 

 North of England on one occasion. I thought at the time 

 that this was a good example of how to make the best of 

 things at one's command. There is a disposition that pre- 

 vails in some gardens of occupying too much space with 

 bedding plants during the winter months, when the room 

 would be much better utilised with decorative flowering plants, 

 in pots and labour saved. 



As a class of plants it cannot be said that hardy annuals 

 are of difficult cultivation, if a due proportion of common- 

 sense be exercised in their treatment. Most growers, I have 

 no doubt, will have noted how well an adventitious seedling 

 will thrive where it has had plenty of room to develop. How 

 well these look, too ! A casual plant of the Nicotiana affinis 

 hybrids will at times thrust itself upon our notice and thrive 

 well. We have now several annuals that serve a useful pur- 

 pose as foliage plants. Kochia tricophylla is an instance of 

 this. As regards this plant, it may be noted that a mistake is 

 often made of sowing the seed and coddling the plants in pots 

 afterwards until they are planted out. The Giant Hemp 

 makes a fine display as a foliage plant for the backs of borders. 

 From the standpoint of fragrance alone, hardy annuals occupy 

 a prominent position, as in the case of the Mignonette, the 

 Stock, the Sweet Alyssum, the Candytuft, the annual Datura, 

 the Sweet Scabious and, of course, the Sweet Pea. 



