388 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



bloom. Annuals are frequently starved through 

 being grown in poor, untilled soil, and this 

 poverty of appearance is augmented when the 

 plants are allowed to grow much too thickly, as 

 is frequently the case. 



Sowing the Seeds. — The time to sow annuals 

 in the open air is from the middle of March 

 until the end of May, when the soil is warm 

 and quick germination may be looked for. For 

 very small seeds the soil upon which they are 

 sown should be as fine as possible, indeed it is 

 well to have a specially-prepared fine compost for 

 them. A general rule in sowing is to cover the 

 seed grains with some compost to the depth of 

 their diameter, whether they be large or small; 

 and in the case of the smallest seeds, gently 

 pressing the soil about them when sown. But 

 too much stress cannot be laid upon the import- 

 ance of the operation of sowing. 



After Attention. — As the seed-leaves appear 

 above the soil, and if the weather be dry, they 

 should be gently watered overhead with a fine 

 rose watering-pot. Bright sunshine and a dry 

 surface will otherwise destroy many plants. 

 Thinning- out is absolutely necessary in most 

 cases, however careful the sower may have been 

 in distributing the seeds; and this operation is 

 done with the least harm to the remaining 

 plants when the soil is moist. Annuals as a 

 rule are of a much more 1 Handling habit than is 

 generally supposed, but when this is prevented 

 by crowding they are cramped and starved. 

 The thinning should be gradual, so that it may 

 be possible to transplant some of the seedlings 

 to other vacant spots. 



Staking. — Some of the taller growing annuals 

 need support, which can be easily aftbrded by 

 placing a few twigs about them. This support 

 tends to increased robustness of growth, with 

 consequent greater prof useness of bloom. Climb- 

 ing plants, such as Sweet Peas, Convolvulus, 

 Thunbergia, Tropa?olum, &c., need something 

 tiller as supports, which while helpful to the 

 plants also enhances the orderly appearance of 

 the border on which they are growing. 



The soil on which annuals are growing should 

 be kept loose rather than firm, and free from 

 weeds. It should also be regularly and well 

 watered during times of drought; not merely 

 moistening the surface, but drenching the soil. 



Annuals are not now so much grown as for- 

 merly. This is mainly owing to the greater use of 

 such plants as quick-growing hardy perennials, 

 Begonias, Violas, &c, which now fill flower-beds 

 that were previously occupied by hardy and ten- 

 der annuals. But they still have their uses, and 



being as a rule easily raised from seeds sown in 

 the open air, charming effects can be speedily 

 secured at a moderate outlay. Whilst few of 

 them have a prolonged season of bloom, this 

 may be extended by making several sowings 

 successionally. Some of those that were popular 

 thirty years ago have ceased to be much grown ; 

 whilst others, either new introductions or older 

 types greatly improved, afford ample material 

 for choice. Indeed, a garden filled wholly with 

 annuals, if well managed, would be both interest- 

 ing and enjoyable. 



Acroclinium roseum (fig. 486). — One of the prettiest of 

 the "Everlasting" Flowers. It forms shapely tufts about 

 a foot high, and flowers freely and continuously during 

 the summer, the colour of the flowers being bright-pink. 



Fig. 486.— Acroclinium roseum. 



If the flowers are cut when quite fresh and dried in the 

 sun they retain most of their colour, and are useful for 

 indoor decoration in winter. The seeds should be sown 

 in a little heat in March, and the young plants pricked 

 out in a sunny border in May. 



Adonis. — This genus supplies two hardy annuals, viz. 

 A. aestivalis, the Flos Adonis of seed catalogues, a some- 

 what dwarf form, producing reddish-crimson blossoms; 

 and A. autumnalis, which, like the foregoing, has the 

 common name of Pheasant's Eye or Red Morocco. The 

 flowers are blood-red with a dark centre. 



Ageratum. — Several useful summer - bedding plants 

 have been derived from A. mexicanum, a somewhat tall- 

 growing species, now displaced by varieties of compact, 

 bushy, free-blooming habit. They are treated as annuals, 

 seeds being sown in early spring in a gentle heat, and the 

 plants gradually hardened off for service in the flower- 

 beds. Imperial Dwarf, blue-flowered, and a white variety 

 of the same; Little Dorrit, and a white -blossomed coun- 

 terpart; A. nanum luteum, light-yellow, with others, are 

 the leading sorts. A. Lasseauxii, of taller growth, with 

 rose-coloured flowers, is also a useful form. 



Alonsoa. — A genus comprising six species, the best of 

 which is A . Warscewiczii, of somewhat shrubby growth, and 

 when cultivated in pots and protected it is sub-perennial. 

 It grows to a height of 12 inches, bearing in July attrac- 



