168 
CULTIVATION OF HARDY 
Hardy annuals arc such as may be sown at 
once with advantage in the open ground, as 
soon as the spring weather becomes a little 
settled in, and the ground becomes a little 
dried by the winds, and warmed by the rays 
of the sun ; this generally happens by about 
the middle of March, or beginning of 
April ; but it is also advisable to sow a few 
kinds even earlier, for the chance of having 
them sooner in bloom. Subsequently to the 
regular season for sowing, a small additional 
portion should be sown occasionally up to the 
middle of July; which latter will bloom late 
in the autumn. If required to be in bloom 
very early in the season, they may be sown in 
pots or boxes, in a gentle hot-bed, by the be- 
ginning of March, and in that case require pix>- 
tection in cold frames after they have grown 
and become established, until the middle or 
end of April, according to the season. Half- 
hardy annuals require in all cases to be sown in 
artificial heat ; a very moderate degree of 
heat is however sufficient. We have repre- 
sented this feature by the term half-hardy 
in the following list, instead of using the ex- 
pression in its literal and accurate meaning ; 
in the same way the term hardy has been 
applied to those in whose case it is less urgent, 
or for other reasons unnecessary or unde- 
sirable that they should be raised in artifi- 
cial heat ; with this explanation, the terms 
themselves, in the use to which they are here 
applied, will not be misunderstood. With 
half-hardy annuals, the most usual and con- 
venient plan is to sow the seeds in shallow 
pots or pans, in light soil, covering them 
according to their size, and placing them in a 
hot-bed frame where the heat is partly spent. 
When the seed has germinated, and the seed- 
lobes are fairly expanded, the young plants 
should be " pricked out," or transplanted into 
other pots or pans of light soil, at a little 
distance asunder, and be returned to the 
frame. Subsequently, when a little larger, they 
should either again be planted more thinly in 
pots or pans, or, what is better, one or three 
plants put into a small sixty-sized pot ; in 
either case they must be gradually inured to 
bear full exposure by the end of April ; the 
small pots are preferable, because the plants 
can be at once transferred from them to the 
open border, without having their roots dis- 
turbed ; but the others having been twice 
transplanted will not be much injured by 
careful removal. The beginning of May, if 
the weather is fine and open, is usually re- 
garded as the best time for planting out ; 
though if any particular object be in view, 
they may be prepared for earlier planting out, 
and will succeed if protected a little, should it 
be found necessary. 
To maintain a succession of bloom, a little 
seed should be sown every month or so, of the 
few kinds which may be selected to be grown, 
and these will come into bloom as the others 
decay; of course, in the case of half-hardy kinds, 
it is only in the earlier part of- the year that 
they require sowing in pots, qr, in heat. 
In the case of seeds sown in the open 
ground, there is one important point requires 
attention, and that is the thinning of the 
plants in their earliest stages ; it is always 
desirable to sow thicker than the plants are 
required, as a precaution against the vicissi- 
tudes that stand in the way of success ; but 
if the young plants are allowed to remain in 
a crowded state, they soon spoil each other. 
They must, therefore, be thinned, but not, 
however, incautiously. Remove at first only 
enough to give the remainder clear space to 
grow in ; slugs may eat some of those re- 
tained, and various accidents may befal others; 
it will be sufficient if they are finally thinned 
when two or three inches high ; and prior to 
that time, they should be kept clear of each 
other. The number of plants finally left 
should depend on the size and habit of the 
kind : if large and spreading, single plants 
are best ; if not spreading, two or three may 
remain, placed of course at equal distances 
apart ; if small and spreading, two or three, 
or more, may be left ; and if minute, there 
need scarcely be any limit in number. But 
all this regulation and arrangement is useless 
without observing this rule : — commence 
thinning in time, that is, before they become 
crowded. 
Annual plants of large growth, and upright 
habit, require support ; but a single stake of 
neat form and dimensions should alone be 
used, and that to support only the main stem; 
the branches should be allowed to grow out 
naturally without restraint. Some of the 
slender delicate kinds require the same kind of 
support. Those of compact, bushy habit, 
require no interference whatever, except stop- 
ping an occasional straggling shoot in the 
earlier stages of growth. Prostrate kinds 
require their branches sometimes to be thinned 
and regulated ; and they may be fastened 
to the ground with small hooked pegs with 
advantage, as it keeps them from being blown 
about by the wind. Climbing plants must be 
provided with a twiggy branch or two, larger 
or smaller, according to their character. This 
is the kind of attention, in the way of support, 
required by annual plants. 
Cultural points need not be particularized : 
every one would destroy weeds, and prevent 
them from choking his flowers ; every one 
would administer water in times of drought. 
Seed saving should seldom be resorted to by 
amateurs, as it involves mueh trouble, and his 
fading blossoms and plants ought to be 
