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CULTURE OF BIENNIALS. 
Biennial flowers are divided into four sorts — viz., hardy, frame, greenhouse, 
and stove plants. Their lives generally terminate at the end of the second year, 
when allowed to flower and seed; but most, if not all of them, will live for three, or 
even four years, if the flowers be nipped off as soon as they appear, and the plants 
be preserved from injury. The hardy species, as Erythrcea aggregate Hedysarum 
coronarium , Centrocarpha triloba , Eutoca multiflora , &c., may be either sown in 
the open borders, or in some compartment set apart for the purpose. They will 
thrive best in a light sandy soil, or with a portion of peat mixed with it ; yet the 
Eutoca multiflora, Hedysarum coronarium , Centrocarpha triloba , Echium viola - 
ceum , &c. will succeed in any common soil. The season for sowing the seed 
depends in some measure upon the time the plants ripen it. Those plants which 
flower early, and ripen their seed by August, as Eutoca multiflora , E. Franklini , 
and Erythrcea aggregata, should be sown as early as convenient after being 
gathered ; whilst those which do not ripen till September or October, as Hedysarum 
coronarium , Dianthus Chinensis, &c. must not be sown till the following May. 
Sow them thinly in shallow drills, and cover the seeds with soil broken fine. 
When two or three inches high, transplant them into other beds, and when grown 
a good size, take them up with balls, and place them in their final destination. 
Some sorts grow with large tap roots, and, from the great care requisite in removing 
these without injury, it is advisable to transplant them from the seed bed into small 
pots, and afterwards to turn them out with the balls entire. 
Treatment of Frame Biennials. — Although this division of biennials, 
including Ipomopsis elegans , Salpiglossis Ear clay ana, S. atropurpurea, Verbena 
pulchella, &c. are not so hardy as the last, they will do well in the borders during 
summer. They require to be raised on a slight hot-bed, in the same manner 
as half-hardy annuals, page 19. The soil in which they are sown must be light 
and sandy, and the best time to sow them is the beginning of April. At the end 
of May, transplant them either into the open borders or pots, and it is always well 
to have a quantity of the latter, for, should the summer prove wet, the Ipomopsis 
elegans, Salpiglossis , Barclayana, and several others of delicate textures, are liable 
to perish. It is not unusual for the varieties of Salpiglossis, &c. to flower the same 
year they are sown, but they flower much finer when preserved till the following 
spring, by picking off the flower-buds as they appear. During winter, the roots 
will require protection from the frost, either by means of a flower-pot filled with litter, 
or by potting them and setting them in a pit or frame. In all other respects, their 
treatment resembles hardy biennials. 
Greenhouse Biennials. — These may either be sown on a hot-bed, as recom- 
mended in the last case, or be sown in pots, in the same manner as tender annuals, 
page 20. Indeed their general treatment may be the same as tender annuals. 
They will require potting in a mixture of sandy loam, peat, and leaf-mould. 
Although naturally biennial, many of these plants may be perpetuated for a number 
of years, by constantly raising them from cuttings, as the Anagallis latifolia, and 
other species which root immediately when planted under a hand-glass. Others 
