Annuals, and Hov\r to Grow Them. 



By Professor L. H. Bailey, 

 Cornell University. 



The following is an extract from an article which appeared in Country Life in America some years ago. 



Annual plants are those that you must sow every year. The 

 staid perennials I want for the main and permanent effects in 

 my garden, but I could no more do without annuals than I 

 €ould do without the spices and the condiments at the table. 



Of the kinds of annuals there is almost no end. This does not 

 mean that all are equally good. For myself I like to make the 

 l)old effects with a few of the old profuse and reliable kinds. I 

 like whole masses and clouds of them. Then the other kinds I 

 like to grow in smaller areas at one side, in a half experimental 

 way. There is no need of trying to grow equal quantities of alt. 



For the main and bold effects I want something that I can 

 depend on. There I do not want to experiment. Never fill a 

 conspicuous place with a kind of plant you have never grown. 



The kinds I like best are the ones easiest to grow. Zinnia, 

 Petunia, Marigold, Four O'Clock, Sunflower, Phlox, Scabiosa, 

 Sweet Sultan, Bachelor's Button, Verbena, Calendula, Calliopsis, 

 Morning-glory, Nasturtium, Sweet Pea, — these are some of the 

 kinds that are surest. I do not know where the investment of 

 five cents will bring as great reward as in a packet of seeds of 

 any of these plants. 



Make the soil rich and fine and soft and deep, just as you 

 would for radishes or onions. There are some plants for which 

 the soil can be made too rich, of course, but most persons do not 

 •err in this direction. The finer and more broken down the 

 manure the better. Spade it in. Mix it thoroughly with the 

 soil. If the soil is clay-Iike, see that fine manure is thoroughly 

 mixed with the surface layer to prevent "baking." 



First and last, I have grown practically every annual offered 

 in the American trade. It is surprising how few of the uncom- 

 mon or little-known sorts really have great merit for general pur- 

 poses. There k nothing yet to take the place of the old-time 

 ^oups, such as Amaranths, Zinnias, Calendulas, Daturas, 

 Balsams, Annual Pinks, Candytufts, Bachelor's Buttons, Wall- 

 flower, Larkspurs, Petunias, Gaillardias, Snapdragons, Cocks- 

 combs, Lobelias, Coreopsis or Calliopsis, California Poppies, 



Four O'Clocks, Sweet Sultans, Phloxes, Mignonettes, Scabiosas, 

 Nasturtiums, Marigolds, China Asters, Salpiglossis, Nicotianas, 

 Pansies, Portulacas, Castor Beans, Poppies, Sunflowers, Verbenas, 

 Stocks, Alyssums, and such good old running plants as Scarlet 

 Runners, Sweet Peas, Convolvuluses, Ipomeas, Nasturtiums, 

 Balloon Vines, Cobseas, etc. 



For bold mass-displays of color in the rear parts of the grounc :; 

 or along the borders, some of the coarser species are desirable. 

 My own favorites for such use are: Sunflower and Castor Bean 

 for the back rows; Zinnias for bright effects in the scarlets and 

 lilacs; African Marigolds for brilliant yellows; Nicotianas for 

 whites; Larkspurs for blues. 



For lower-growing and less gross mass-displays, the following 

 are good: California Poppies for oranges and yellows; Sweet 

 Sultans for purples, whites and pale yellows; Petunias for pur- 

 ples, violets and whites; Bachelor's Buttons (or Cornflowers) 

 for Blues; Calliopsis and Coreopsis and Calendulas for yellows; 

 Gaillardias for red-yellows; China Asters for many colors. 



For still less robustness good mass-displays can be made with 

 the following: Alyssums and Candytufts for whites; Phloxes 

 for whites and various pinks and reds; Lobelias and Browallias 

 for blues; Pinks for whites and various shades of pink; Stocks 

 for whites and reds; Wallflowers for brown-yellows; Verbenas 

 for many colors. 



If flowers of any annual are wanted extra early, the seeds 

 should be started indoors. 



A number of the very late-flowering annuals should also be 

 started indoors for best success in the northern States, as, for 

 example, the Moonflowersand the tall-growing kinds of Cosmos. 



Of late years there has been a strong movement to introduce 

 the hardy perennials into general cultivation. This is certainly 

 to be encouraged everywhere, since it adds a feeling of perma- 

 nancy and purposeful ness that is needed in American gardens. 

 Yet I should be sorry if this movement were to obscure the im- 

 portance of the annuals. 



Raising Hardy Perennials from Seed. 



Written expressly for this book by Mr. Wm. Falconer, of Pittsburgh. 



Hardy perennials are easily grown from seed. In many cases 

 ■they are a little slower than annuals, but with intelligent care 

 they are successfully raised, and from seed is an excellent way 

 to get up a big stock of perennials in a short time. Many peren- 

 nials, if sown in spring, bloom the first year from seed as freely 

 3.S annuals. Others wait a year; that is, if sown this year they 

 -don't bloom until next year. 



The seeds may be sown in spring or in summer. In spring 

 the sowings may be made in the window, the hot bed, the cold 

 frame, the greenhouse or in the open ground out of doors. In 

 the window prepare pots or flower-pans or small, shallow 

 wooden boxes or flats; fill to one-third their depth with fine 

 broken cinders or broken pots, and over this place a thin layer 

 of moss, chopped straw or rough siftings from the soil to keep 

 the dirt from clogging the drainage; then fill up to within one- 

 half or three-quarters inches of the brim with fine, free, mellow 

 soil, with thin layer of very fine soil over it. Tamp the pot 

 on table to firm the soil a little. Now sow the seed evenly, and 

 shake a very little fine soil over it; press it all over with the back 

 of the hand or a board, then water gently through a fine spray 

 or rose; this done strew a little fine earth over all. In the case 

 of very fine seeds covering only enough to hide the seed is plenty, 

 but Pinks, Gaillardias and other rougher seeded sorts one-eighth 

 inch deep of covering may be given. Keep the seed pots in a 

 warm, sunny window, but shaded with a thin curtain from drying 

 sunshine. A sheet of paper laid over the pot at this time pre- 

 vents over-drying, but when the sunshine passes, take off the 

 paper, else damp or mold will set in. A pane of glass laid 

 •over the pots or flats until germination appears is an excellent 

 preservative of the moisture in the soil, but always tilt it up at 

 one side one-eighth of au inch or more. When the seedlings 



come up, give them more light by keeping them close to the 

 glass, and before they overcrowd one another or become spindly 

 transplant them into other pots or flats, three-quarters or one 

 inch apart from one another, according to their size and strength. 

 As the weather gets mild, by placing the seedlings in a cool 

 and airier place, as on the porch or a sheltered place out of 

 doors, they become fairly inured to the open weather, and when 

 they are large enough for final transplanting set them out in the 

 garden. 



The amateur may have more success and less bother growing 

 hardy perennials from seeds sown in the open ground than in 

 any other way. Prejiare a bed in a nice, warm, sheltered spot 

 in the garden, preferably not very sunny; let the surface of the 

 bed be raised four or five inches above the general level, and the 

 soil be a mellow, free, fine earth on the surface. Draw shallow 

 rows across the surface of the bed, three to four inches apart, 

 and here sow the seed, keejiing the varieties of one kind or 

 nature as much together as practicable; cover the seeds thinly, 

 press the whole surface gently, water modt rately, then dust a 

 little fine, loose soil over all. If the weather is .sunny or windy, 

 shade with papers or a few branches, but remove these in the 

 evening. \Vhen the seedlings come up thin them out to stiffen 

 those that are left, and when they are two or three inches high, 

 they are fit for transplanting into permanent quarters. All this 

 should be done in early spring, say March, April or May, or in 

 warmer localities a month earlier. 



Again, in July or August perennials are very easily raised out 

 of doors, and much in the same way as above. Transjilant these 

 seedlings in late August or early September to get well-rooted 

 stocky plants before winter sets in. 



(49) 



