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CULTURE OF BIENNIALS. 
ARTICLE VI. 
CULTURE OF BIENNIALS, WITH A SELECTION OF CHOICE 
GREENHOUSE BIENNIALS AND PERENNIALS. 
By JOSEPH PAXTON, F. L. S. H. S. 
Biennial flowers are divided into four sorts, viz.: hard, frame, 
greenhouse, and stove plants. Their lives generally terminate at the 
end of the second year, when allowed to flower and seed, hut most, 
if not all of them will live for three or even four years, if the flowers 
he nipped off as soon as they appear, and the plants be preserved 
from injury. The hardy species, as Erythrsea aggregata, Hedysa- 
rum coronarum, Centrocarpha triloba, Eutoca multiflora, &c. of 
which we made a selection in page 115, 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 violaceum, &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 Erythraea 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 
tliinlv 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 the Frame Biennials .—-Although this division of 
biennials, including Ipomopsis elegans, Salpiglossis Barclayana, 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 an¬ 
nuals, page 111. 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 
