ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS S5 



Queen Stocks are biennials, and must be sown in June 

 to flower the following summer. It is unfortunate that 

 the wintering of these beautiful plants should often 

 occasion difficulty, but they are well worth protection 

 if the situation is at all exposed. Nemophila insignis 

 is another good plant for spring flowering, and, 

 like most of the hardy Californian annuals, is best 

 sown in autumn, and affbrded slight winter shelter 

 if needed. 



The summer months bring us a host of beautiful 

 annuals, and, provided that they have all the moisture 

 needed, they flower freely and brilliantly into Sep- 

 tember. From seeds sown in April we may have, 

 amongst others, the annual Poppies, descendants mostly 

 of the common scarlet Corn Poppy (P. Rhaeas). The 

 double varieties known as French Poppies are of almost 

 every shade, but even they have been surpassed by the 

 Shirleys, so exquisite that they alone might almost form 

 a garden. Seed must be sown thinly where the plants 

 are to bloom, and early thinning is necessary. The best 

 situations for these flowers are the less highly-cultivated 

 parts of the garden ; they look particularly well growing 

 near sunny banks or in colonies beside the orchard path- 

 way. The Larkspurs, not to be confused with the tall 

 herbaceous Delphiniums, are wonderfully effective, and 

 in addition to great range of colour, display varying 

 habit, from the dwarf forms of D. Ajacis to the splendid 

 Branched Larkspurs (D. consolidum). These latter are 

 variously coloured, and in good soil develop into fine, 

 bushy plants, covered with violet, red and flesh-tinted 

 flowers, mostly double. The Larkspurs should be sown 

 early in their flowering positions, and if the old stems 

 are removed after blooming they will continue to open 

 fresh buds until far into autumn. Annual Flaxes 

 (Linum), Eschscholtzias, not forgetting the lovely 

 double Crocea, Clarkias, and Sweet Sultans, are known 



