Perennials 
as Annuals 
THE ANNUAL IN SCOTLAND 
N the flower-gardening of summer and autumn some 
| perennials are customarily treated as annuals or as biennials, 
with the result that the annual of the botanist and of the 
gardener is not always the same. This manner of producing 
plants from seeds has not a little to recommend it. They be- 
come more amenable both to the inspirations of genius, and to 
the operations of the ordinary flower-gardener, who copies as he 
goes. They yield bloom of a superior quality to that of older 
plants, whilst in their production there is a minimum of misspent 
labour. Hence it may be expected that, along with Pentstemons, 
Carnations, Delphiniums, tall Lobelias, Hollyhocks, Celsias, 
Michaelmas Daisies, and Antirrhinums, to note the chief, the 
number of perennials cultivated in this way will year by year be 
increased. 
For it cannot be denied that the annuals and _biennials 
which produce flowers equal in beauty and effect to these 
perennials are not many, and accordingly the ardent horti- 
culturist, in search of improved material, is continually breaking 
down the artificial wall of division which separates the one from 
the other. An examination of Mrs Loudon’s beautiful book 
on Annuals proves that in the scarcely seventy years since it 
was published the progress made by annuals is not great. 
One reason is that annuals at that period were in the ascendant, 
though shortly thereafter eclipsed by tender bedding plants, and 
it is only in recent years that they have to some extent regained 
the position from which they were then deposed. 
62 
