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What Is an Annual? 
Botanically, an annual plant is one which completes its entire life-cycle 
from seed germination, through the blooming and seed-ripening periods, to 
a natural death within a single growing season. However, to simplify mat- 
ters, Seedsmen generally include all plants that will bloom in the outdoor 
garden the same year the seed is sown and which do not live over Winter. 
Many annuals will bloom if the seeds are sown in the open ground in the 
Spring after the weather has become settled, but since this rule does not 
always apply, the annual group has been subdivided as follows: 
Hardy Annuals are those that will endure any ordinary weather from 
early April until Fall. Frost will do the plants no harm after they have 
passed the seed-leaf stage. Seed of some hardy annuals may even be sown 
in the Fall and the young plants which appear in the early Spring will 
often flower more strongly than those from Spring sowings. 
Half-hardy Annuals will not tolerate the cold weather of early Spring 
and since they must have a long growing season in which to reach full 
development, the seeds should be sown in seed pans or flats during Febru- 
ary or March and grown in a window, hotbed, or greenhouse to be trans- 
planted to the open garden when the weather has become settled and warm. 
How Do Hardy Biennials Differ? 
Hardy Biennials require more than one growing season to reach ma- 
turity. They usually bloom during their second year, and then die. It is 
customary to sow the seed out of doors at any time after the weather has 
become settled in the Spring, until August. If the seed is sown late it is 
best to grow them in a coldframe where they will have protection during 
their first Winter. Some biennials are often mistaken for perennials be- 
cause of their tendency to reproduce by self-sowing. 
Hardy Perennials Live for Years 
They usually do not bloom until the season following the one in which 
the seed is sown but, unlike biennials, they do not die after blooming. 
Their foliage will die back to the ground every year but growth will start 
from the same root in the Spring and will bloom each season for a long time. 
The seed may be sown from April until August. Early sowing is advisable 
for the plants will be larger and better able to withstand their first Winter. 
In some instances the plants from early sowings will flower the first season 
but in any case they will be stronger and will bloom much better the second 
year. Small plants from late sowings should have the protection of a 
coldframe during their first Winter. 
How to Prepare Your Garden 
The soil best suited to the majority of flowering plants is a light rich 
loam, neither too sandy nor too stiff. 
Such ideal conditions are not always available to the gardener but most 
soils will respond to proper conditioning. Deep and thorough digging with 
a generous quantity of well-rotted manure, Hyper-Humus or leafmold 
worked into the land will usually give the desired results. If the soil is 
heavy, sand should be worked in while it is being dug over. 
Good drainage is also an important matter for excessively moist soils 
are cold and young plants will suffer during the cooler Spring months. Also, 
many perennial plants will not survive severe Winter weather if the soil 
in which they are growing is poorly drained and wet. 
Most flowering garden plants dislike a loam that is sour or acid. Test 
your soil, and if necessary, correct acidity with lime. See Soil Testing 
Kits described on catalog page 42. 
If seed is to be sown directly in the garden where the plants are to grow 
and bloom, the soil should first be dug over to the full depth of a spade. 
The surface should be finely pulverized and raked smooth and level. 
How to Sow Flower Seeds 
Broadcast Sowing is recommended for certain seeds and these should 
be scattered evenly over the ground and gently raked in, so that they are 
well mixed with the surface soil. Be careful that the seeds are not buried 
too deeply. 
Sowing in Drills is the method suggested for most seeds. Use a gar- 
den line so that your rows will be straight, and draw a line in the smooth 
surface of the bed with the handle of a hoe or rake. Scatter the seed as 
thinly as possible in this shallow drill and cover very lightly with finely 
pulverized soil. The covering should be no more than four times the 
thickness of the seed. Very fine seeds should be merely scattered thinly 
along the line and pressed into the soil with a flat board. At whatever 
depth the seeds are sown the surface should be pressed lightly but firmly 
so that the seeds are in close contact with the soil. If the ground is dry, 
the garden should be watered and kept moist (this is important) until the 
plants are well started. Be very careful that the watering is done in such 
a way that the seeds are not washed out of place. 
Sowing in Seed Beds—In many cases it is economical and desirable 
to sow seeds in seed beds of limited size, from which the seedling plants 
are later transplanted. This is particularly true of biennial and perennial 
seeds which are sown during the Summer months, for they are much more 
easily protected from the heat of the sun and from heavy showers. The 
bed should be thoroughly dug and the surface soil pulverized and leveled. 
The larger seeds may be sown in drills as thinly as possible, so that the 
plants will not be crowded. Fine seeds are best broadcast in bands across 
the bed rather than in narrow rows, for it is much easier to sow thinly and 
thus avoid having the seedlings grow so closely that they cannot develop. 
After the seeds are sown press them firmly into the soil with a board and 
cover the seed bed with some such material as cheesecloth to shelter it 
from the sun and showers. By watering through the cheesecloth the seeds 
are not so readily washed out. As soon as the seeds begin to sprout, the 
covering should be raised on stakes so that it will hang a few inches above 
the plants and shade them but not interfere with their growth. The plants 
should be thinned out or transplanted as soon as they are large enough to 
handle, for if they are crowded they soon become spindling and weak. 
Frequent watering is extremely important. The seed bed must never 
become dry for a single hour. 
Sowing in Seed Pans or Flats—Mica-Gro (Vermiculite) is generally 
conceded to be the best material in which to start seeds. Mica-Gro re- 
places, for both professional and home gardeners, the painfully concocted 
formulas of the past, which called for carefully measured quantities of 
such materials as well-rotted cow manure, coarse sharp sand, and flaky 
leafmold. After the material is pressed down and leveled, the seeds should 
be scattered thinly over the surface. Large seeds should be covered thinly 
with Mica-Gro, sharp sand or finely sifted loam, and fine seeds should 
only be pressed into the surface. They must be kept well watered (this 
is important). Transplant the seedlings into soil as soon as they are 
large enough to handle. They may be spaced well apart in flats or grown 
individually in pots or plant bands until it is time to set them out in the 
garden. 
