Annuals «nd Biennials. 597 
rule, there are from half-a-dozen to a dozen plants where there 
is only space for one, and the consequence is mutual starvation. 
‘Watering should be carefully done with a fine rose when really 
necessary, but it is better not to water, especially on a stiff soil 
liable to cake, except during a prolonged drought. In the 
summer, when the plants are grown up, frequent waterings in 
dry weather will, however, prove beneficial. The removal of the 
seed-vessels will prolong the flowering season of many species, 
not only of this, but of all other classes, 
Half-hardy annuals require raising in artificial heat, or where 
there is at least sufficient protection to exclude frost. They 
should be sown in March or April, and planted out at the same 
time as the bedding plants, about the middle of May. The 
same treatment may be adopted for these, as recommended 
under General Remarks for perennials, except that there is less 
necessity for a second frame or pit to remove them to according 
as they come up. Care should be taken not to remove them 
suddenly from a hot-bed to a cold pit. Avery gentle heatis all 
that is required, and gradual hardening off is imperative before 
transferring them to their quarters in the open air. To obtain 
good strong plants the seedlings should be potted off when 
they are quite small, placing about three or four in a six-inch 
pot, and it should be borne in mind that a few vigorous plants 
will make a finer display than a great many weakly ones. The 
beds or borders should be renovated during the winter, and it 
is always better not to grow the same description of plants in 
the same places year after year. Asters, Zinnias, French and 
African Marigolds, Helichrysum bracteatum, Phlox Drum- 
mondii, ornamental Gourds, and most of the herbaceous climbers 
come under this head. 
Biennials offer less variety, and only the hardy species are 
generally cultivated. Some, it is true, are treated as annuals, 
but the majority must be sown towards the end of summer, in 
order to flower the following spring. Brompton and Queen 
Stocks, Honesty, Hollyhock, and the Common Wallflower are 
familiar examples of the hardy members of this class. The 
Wallflowers are really perennial, but young plants flower more 
profusely than old ones. The double-flowered varieties of the 
Wallflower are propagated from cuttings, and the Hollyhock 
from offsets. Humea elegans is one of the most desirable of 
tender biennials. It may be treated as an annual if sown early 
in the year, but it neither grows so strong, nor flowers so freely 
as when raised during the preceding season. 
