ANNUALS 



the plants out till June. Indeed, one authority- 

 recommends that transplanting to the open beds 

 be delayed until the plants begin to bloom, when 

 you can select the finest colors. I would not 

 dream of following this advice, as I know of no 

 flowers that are not injured more or less by at- 

 tempting to transplant after the bloom has started. 

 I sow my seed in the open ground, in shallow 

 drills, the last week in May, and then weed out 

 the young plants until they stand twelve inches 

 or more apart. The bed should be rich, with 

 plenty of bottom dressing, the soil fine, and 

 situated in the brightest, sunniest corner of the 

 garden. The plants should be watered freely in 

 dry weather. The Zinnia blooms from July 

 1 8th to frost on the island. 



There are several well-defined species of annual 

 Sunflowers, but Helianthus annuus, and H. ar- 

 gophyllus are said to be the parents of most of our 

 garden varieties. The latter species comes from 

 Texas, and is distinguished by its hoary-white 

 foliage. H. debilis, uniformly called by the 

 seedsmen cucumerif alius, is a dwarf variety not 

 exceeding three feet in height, which bears nu- 

 merous yellow flowers with a black disk, three 

 inches in diameter. If given plenty of room, 



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