INTRODUCTION 
Those who are not well acquainted with annual 
plants are often bewildered by their numbers ; 
and, consulting the attractive pages of seeds- 
men’s catalogues, where a large number receive 
nearly equally unstinted praise, they are at a 
loss to know which are those that can most 
profitably be grown for the beauty of the garden. 
The purpose of this book is to give prac- 
tical advice as to the choice of kinds, to point 
out which are the best, to give simple cultural 
directions, and to offer a few suggestions relating 
to the use of annuals and biennials in various 
departments of garden practice. 
For cultural purposes it is convenient to class 
annuals in two divisions, namely, hardy annuals 
that are sown in the open ground, either in 
September for early flowering the year following, 
or from March to May for a middle and late dis- 
play in the summer of the same year ; and 
half-hardy annuals that are grown in pots, pans, 
or boxes in a slight heat in a greenhouse or frame, 
then pricked off into other boxes or a prepared 
frame when of a convenient size to handle, 
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