Annuals, and How to Grow Them ^co^u";.^: 7 ' 



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 

 could 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 

 bold 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 all. 



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-like, 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 is nothing yet to take the place of the old-time 

 groups, 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'Clock, Sweet Sultans, Phloxes, Mignonettes, Scabiosas, 

 Nasturtiums, Marigolds, China Asters, Salpiglossis, Nicotianas. 

 Pansies, Portulacas, Castor Beans, Poppies, Sunflowers, Ver- 

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

 Scarlet Runners, Sweet Peas, Convolvuluses, Ipomeas, Nastur- 

 tiums, Balloon Vines, Cobseas, etc. 



For bold mass-displays of color in the rear parts of the 

 grounds 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; Nico- 

 tianas 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 Moonflowers and 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 purposefulness 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 per- 

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

 freely as 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 prevents 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 an inch or more. When the 



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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. Prepare 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, keeping the varieties of one kind 

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

 press the whole surface gently, water moderately, 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. When 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. Transplant 

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

 rooted stocky plants before winter sets in. 



