212 THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



cultivation of annuals, and let us hope that ere long they will 

 be thought as much of as they were in the days of our forefathers, 

 before the introduction of the bedding 'Pelargonium. Our public 

 parks and gardens are moving a step in the right direction by 

 introducing numerous annuals into their summer bedding 

 arrangements, and thereby raising the standard of this class of 

 plants in the eyes of the garden-loving public. 



The chief use of annuals is undoubtedly the embellishment of 

 the mixed herbaceous border. If time and money are at 

 command, the border may be kept quite gay with annuals for 

 a considerable time, for, as the old clumps get shabby, they may 

 be replaced by other annuals, which have been grown on in 

 pots, and, therefore, do not suffer much by planting out during 

 the heat of summer. An extensive herbaceous border, however, 

 if treated in this manner, entails a large amount of labour, as, 

 in addition to the growing of plants in pots for succession, there 

 are the weeding, staking, watering during dry weather, &c— 

 operations which must be attended to in order to keep the 

 border in a presentable condition. 



Some annuals make excellent beds in themselves, such, for 

 instance, as the Virginian Stock, and some are also very useful 

 in summer bedding, but as a chapter is devoted to bedding, 

 it will be but of place to deal with that here. 



Annuals which are grown for outside display are divided 

 into two classes, viz., Hardy and Half-hardy. 



Hardy Annuals. 



This class includes all those plants that are able to withstand 

 the winter in the open ground. The time of sowing must, how- 

 ever, depend largely upon the time when the display of flower 

 is required. 



Methods of Raising — For Early Show. — If the plants are 

 intended to flower in April and May, the best time to sow is 

 in August and September, selecting a warm, sheltered border. 

 The most suitable soil for the majority of annuals is a sandy 

 loam, which, if poor, ought to have been moderately enriched 

 with manure, and deeply dug some time previously. The first 

 thing to do, then, is to level the border and make the surface soil 

 fine and even by means of a rake; the seed should then be 

 sown in shallow drills, and a little fine soil drawn over it, the 

 quantity depending upon the size of the seed, very small seed 

 requiring only a mere sprinkling of soil, just enough to cover 



