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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by Henry T. Williams, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
By Henry T. Williams. 
Vol. III. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1874. 
No. 27. 
Price 12 Cents. 
HINTS ABOUT ANNUALS. 
, florists’ and seedsmen’s catalogues 
A FEW 
At tliis season, 
are being welcomed in every household where flowers 
have become a necessity, and, too, where they must 
be grown, not for their own beauty and attraction, but 
because this is the period that wealth must contribute 
to taste, or be out of fashion. So many new plants 
are now offered that we are in danger of losing many 
of those beautiful annuals that are displaced by 
“bedding plants” and “florists’ flowers,” that ever 
need the tender care , 
and watchful eye of 
the experienced gar- \ 
dener, or the pur¬ 
chaser will never 
realize the fond an¬ 
ticipations of per¬ 
petual Roses, ever- 
blooming Carna¬ 
tions, constant sup¬ 
plies of Heliotrope, 
Fuchsias and all the 
other rare and beau- 
• 
tiful flowers prom¬ 
ised upon the receipt 
of a five dollar re¬ 
mittance. The 
writer being a flor¬ 
ist, speaks advisedly 
and feelingly on this 
subject, having, 
alike with others in 
the profession, re¬ 
ceived without num¬ 
ber the complaints, 
regrets, and scolds 
of the disappointed 
purchaser of one 
dollar’s worth of 
bedding plants, sent by mail, which, as a rule, will 
disappoint, as it takes the season for the puny things 
to get strength sufficient to bear an indifferent flower. 
At the expense of trade we must say that one dollar 
wisely invested in flower seed, with but little care, will 
give more flowers than one hundred dollars invested in 
bedding plants. We by. no means discourage the 
growing of the latter, but would never forsake the 
annuals that we have loved from a child, and that 
grow because they love to, for the petted hybrids 
whose constitutions are as weak as rich men’s children. 
Annuals, in order to the development of anything 
like their true beauty, should be sown in broad masses, 
and the plants left tolerably thick. From two to four 
square feet, at least, should be appropriated to each 
variety, for by this means alone can their perfect 
growth and production of flowers bo secured; and 
they will thus also be enabled to support each other 
against the action of wind and storm. Having been 
accustomed to grow them thus in beds and masses for 
=—■niuiniiiim || 
A Balcony Garden. 
several years, we can safely say that those who have 
only grown them in the usual stinted patches, can 
have no idea of their real beauty. They are almost 
universally unfitted for forming single specimens, not 
being sufficiently strong, sturdy, or free-flowering; 
and it is only when grown in large groups that they 
show themselves in their true character. To obtain 
from annuals all the ornament they are capable of 
producing, more attention should be paid to having a 
succession of them than is usually given. Many of 
them only last from two to four weeks, and of these, 
regular sowings should be made at corresponding in¬ 
tervals, so that there may be some of each sort always 
in bloom. There are a few sorts that, with a little 
care in cutting off their seed vessels, may be kept in 
flower all the season; and of these it will not* be 
necessary to renew the sowings. But it is particu¬ 
larly desirable to have annuals in bloom both early in 
spring and late in autumn; and if this were more com¬ 
monly aimed at, they would undoubtedly retain their 
places as general 
favorites. 
We all love flow¬ 
ers that appeai- 
early—the Crocus 
and Snow- drop, 
that greet us with 
a smile in some 
cozy corner before 
the snow leaves the 
more exposed 
places, awake in us 
more pleasure than 
all the garden in 
mid-summer. An¬ 
nuals that come 
into flower in April 
and May, besides 
being early friends, 
generally last twice 
long as those 
coming into flower 
in July and August. 
In autumn, too, 
when the tints of 
the leaves are 
changing, and most 
of the summer orna¬ 
ments have alto¬ 
gether vanished or been spoiled by light frosts, a few re¬ 
maining patches of annuals (hardy) serve to prolong the 
gladsome season, and are thus particularly desirable. 
Many of our annuals will stand through the winter of 
our climate with but slight protection. For spring flow¬ 
ering they may be sown in September, or early in Octo¬ 
ber, in the most protected part of the border, and covered 
with light brush, that will soon retain the falling leaves 
and give ample protection to the plants during winter. 
Continued on page 36. 
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