34 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Januarj’  8,  1903. 
Border  Annuals. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’ 
Society,  Mr.  J.  Mayne,  of  Bicton  Gardens,  read  a  paper  on  the 
above  subject.  Mr.  Mayne  pointed  out  that  the  term  '■  annual  ” 
among  gardeners  meant  flowering  plants  that  were  sown  in  the 
early  spring  or  summer  for  the  decoration  of  gardens  the  same 
season  as  sown,  and  although  the  word  “annual,”  or  “annus” 
in  Latin,  .signified  a  year,  the  greater  part  of  the  plants  were 
only  of  a  few  months’  duration.  Nevertheless,  the  annual  was  a 
class  of  plant  the  be.st  kept  garden  could  not  well  do  without,  as 
the  members  gave  such  a  diversity  of  colours,  while  no  one  would 
dispute  their  beauty  and  easy  management.  He,  therefore, 
contended  that  a  much  greater  share  of  attention  .should  be 
bestowed  upon  them  than  had  hitherto  been  the  case.  The 
genei-al  complaint  was  that  their  flowering  propensities  were 
very  short,  but  that  would  soon  vanish  if  only  a  little  more  care 
were  exercised  in  the  preparation  of  the  .soil  and  in  thinning, 
especially  the  latter,  a-s  people  frequently  left  a  dozen  plants  or 
more  in  the  ground  where  three  would  be  ample  for  the  space 
allotted.  As  a  re.sult,  the  plants  were  unable  to  attain'  full 
development,  but  were  .starved,  and  their  true  character  was 
never  .seen. 
Of  course,  the  gardener  must  make  himself  acquainted  with 
each  .si>ecies  under  his  care,  and  could  only  do  so  by  actual 
experience,  as  different  species  varied  so  much  in  size  and  habit 
that  no  hard  and  fast  line  could  be  laid  down.  It  was  far  more 
creditable  to  have  one  good  specimen  than  a  dozen  half-starved 
ones.  There  was  still  another  point  in  favour  of  annuals,  and, 
perhaps,  the  greatest  of  all,  and  that  was  that  the  amateur  or 
cottager  who  had  no  glass  house.s  was  able  to  beautify  his  garden 
by  the  growth  of  such  plants.  With  such  an  average  of  genial 
climate  as  in  Devon,  people  ought  to  rely  much  more  than  they 
did  on  varieties  of  tender  annuals,  Avhich  could  not  be  expected 
to  thrive  in  colder  counties,  and  many  of  Avliich  required  to  be 
sown  in  gentle  heat  fairly  early  in  the  year,  so  that  good  plants 
might  be  available  for  planting  out  towards  the  end  of  May,  or 
quite  early  in  June,  and  thus  reap  the  benefit  of  the  hottest 
months  in  the  year. 
.  Shelter  was  absolutely  neces.sary  even  in  Devon,  for  many 
of  the  subjects,  some  of  which  were  classed  sub-tropicals,  required 
to  be  sown  in  heat  to  be  of  much  service  to  the  gardener  in  .such 
fickle  .summers  as  of  late.  Staking  of  the  plants  at  the  right 
time  was  most  important  with  many  of  the  species,  for  if  allowed 
to  get  in'any  way  crippled,  the  display  of  flowers  must  be  poor. 
The  preparation  of  soil  was  of  the  first  importance,  so  that  quick 
germination  might  en.sue,  and  the  plants  get  into 'their  second 
leaf,  as  at  that  .stage  the  little  seedlings  coidd  withstand  a  fair 
amount  of  cold  weather. 
A.s  a  rule,  seeds  were  sown  far  too'  thickly.  To  get  the  best 
results,  they  .should  be  .sown  lin  apart,  and,  if  sown  in  rows,  the 
latter  should  be  .5ft  apart,  so  that  light,  sun,  and  air  might  play 
well  among  them.  It  was  necessary  to  sow  mere  thickly  in  the 
autumn  than  in  the  spring,  and  the  losing  of  a  few  must  be 
expected,  but  thinning  ought  not  to  be  neglected  as  soon  as- that 
danger  was  past.  Mr.  Mayne  then  referred  to  various  hardy 
a?niuals,  the  use  of  which  he  had  found  .sati.sfactory.  Referring 
!to  the  merits  of  half-hardy  annuals,  namely,  those  that  required 
|to  be  .sown  under  glass  to  get  the  best  results  during  the  short 
j.sCa.son  at  command,  he  did  not  attempt  to  give  pi’ecedence  to 
jUny  one  variety.  All  were  u.seful,  and  many  very  beautiful,  and, 
qferhaps.  Ten-week  Stocks  were  as  highly  prized  a.s  any  flowei', 
jOn  account  of  fheir  fragrance  and  variety  of  colours.  Asters  also 
■tseemed  to  clidm  a  large  share  of  attention  from  the  masses,  but 
^he  did  not  think  so  highly  of  them  as  a  good  many. 
!  Npw  varieties,  however,  were  a  decided  improvement  on  the 
original  .sort.  Mr.  Mayne  then  alluded  to  various  other  .species. 
We,  ourselves,  append  a  list  of  annuals  which  are  of  great  merit 
and  highly  commendable  : — 
A  List  of  Annuals. 
Asters,  Ageratums,  Alonsoa  Warscewiezi  compacta.  A.’ 
^gracilis,  Alyssums,  Amaranthus,  Ammobium  alatum,  A.sperula 
.azurea  setosa.  Balsams,  Bartonia  aurea,  Browallia  elata,  Calen- 
'dula  pluvialis  and  others,  Callirhoe  digitata,  Gandytuft 
(varioirs) ;  Marguerite  and  other  Carnations,  Celosias,  annual 
■Chrysanthemums,  Collinsia  bicolor  and  G.  .candidi.ssima,  Clarkias 
in  variety;  Coreop.sis  tinctoria,  and  others;  Cosmia  bipinnata 
(very  graceful) ;  Cornflowers,  Cupliea  miniata,  Dianthus  chinensis 
and  others;  Gilia  dichotoma,  G.  nivalis,  Glaucium  luteum,  G. 
phoeniceum,  Godetias,  of  which  there  are  numerous  fine  varieti<>s. 
Gypsophila  elegans,  mixed  Helichrysums  (Everlastings). 
The  true  Ice-plant  (Me,sembryanthemum  crystallinum)  is  also 
an  object  of  great  interest  in  a  border:  also,' Kaulfmssia  amel- 
loides,  annual  Larkspurs  (excellent),  Lepto.siphou  Douglas!  and 
others,  Loasa  aurantiaca,  Lqve-lie.s-bleeding,  Lobelias,  Leptosynes, 
Linum  grandiflorum  'nibi'uin,  L.  flavum,  L.  sibiricum,  and  L.  s. 
album.  Lupines  (annual),.  Marigolds,  Malopes,  Mathiola 
bicornis,  Mina  lobata.  Mignonette,  Myosotis  (Forget-me-not), 
Nemophila  insignis  and  others.  Nycterinia  selaginoides,  Nico- 
tiana  aflinis,  sylvestris  (very  beautiful),  and  grandiflora  purpurea. 
Nigella  hispanica  alba  and  N.  h.  atropurpurea,  Tropa?olum  cana- 
riense,  and  the  showy  section  of  Tropseolums  named  Nasturtiums 
in  gardens.  Nemesia  Strumosa  Suttoni  mixed ;  annual  CEno- 
theras;  double  and  single  Petunias,  Perilla  nankinensis,  Phacelia 
campanularia  (good),  P.  tenacetifolia ;  Platystemon  californicus 
(excellent).  Phlox  Drummondi,  mixed  ;  annual  Poppies  in  variety  ; 
Portulacas,  Rhodanthes,  Ricinus,  Salpiglo.ssis,  Schizanthus  in 
variety ;  Stocks,  Ten-week  varieties,  InteTinediate  and  others  ; 
Sweet  Peas,  Sweet  Sultan,  Tagetes,  Venus’  Looking-glass, 
V'erbenas,  Viscarias,  Virginia  Stocks,  Whitlavia,  and  Zinnias. 
The  foregoing  list  comprises  a  selection  of  varied  flowers. 
Biennials  have  been  omitted,  and  all  the  plants  named  can  be 
treated  as  annuals.  A'arietieahave  been  referred  to  in  only  a  few 
cases,  but  there  are,  of  course,  certain  varieties  much  superior 
to  others.  De.scriptions  are  to  be  found  in  the  leading  seedsmen’s 
catalogues. 
Meteorology. 
Rainfall 
In  1902  at  Temple  House  Gardens, 
Berks. 
Rain  gauge : — Diameter  of  funnel,  5in. 
ground,  1ft. ;  above  sea  level,  105ft.  9in. 
Height 
of  top  :  Above 
Number  of 
Month. 
Total  Depth.  Greatest  f.all  in  24  hours.  Days  on  wliich 
O'Ol  or  more  fell. 
Inches. 
Depth. 
Date. 
.January.. 
..  0-S3 
0'24 
26th 
12 
February 
..  1-30 
0-23 
26th 
13 
M  arch  . . 
..  1-79 
0-65 
14  th 
14 
April 
..  1-00 
0-22 
14th 
11 
.  May 
..  2'28 
0-46 
. .  3r(l 
24 
•June 
..  3-42 
0  72 
13th 
18 
July 
..0-92 
0-19 
. .  25th 
11 
August  . . 
..  3’65 
0-68 
18th 
25 
September 
..  1T5 
0-48 
10th 
9 
October 
.  1-79 
0-36 
9th 
21 
November 
..  2-15 
0-43 
29th 
14 
December 
..  1-40 
21-68 
0-39 
17th 
12 
184 
The  rainfall  for  the  year  1901  was 
20'85in. 
Gur  "average  rainfall  is 
27-50in. — Geoiuje  Groves. 
Rainfall  for  1902 
at  Trowbridge. 
Mr.  W.  Strugnell,  our  correspondent  at  Rood  Ashton,  Trow¬ 
bridge,  Wilts,  writes: — AVhen  comparisons  are  made  with  records 
of  .some  preceding  years,  there  would  seem  conflicting  evidence,  in 
the  vagaries  of  the  measured  rainfall.  The  year  to  many,  and 
especially  casual  observers,  would  be  adjudged  a  pi’ovei’bially 
wet  one,  but  reference  to  a.  daily  record  soon  dispels  such  thoughts 
and  the  supposed  superfluity  of  rain  dwindles  down  in  a 
mysterious  manner  to  a.  rate  only  slightly  above  the  average. 
During  the  past  years  there  have  been  four  when  the  rainfall  was 
heavier,  tliree  when  a  lesser  amount  was  recorded.  Compared 
with  1900,  there  is  less  by  Zlin,  or,  in  other  words,  about  73()  tons 
less  of  water  per  acre.  The  year  affords  no  record  either  in  high 
or  low  temperatures,  the  greatest  heat  ranged  from  82deg  to 
87deg  on  June  29,  July  15,  and  August  17.  Twenty  degrees  of 
frost  occurred  twice — January  15  and  February  16;  17deg  on  the 
7th  of  last  month.  These  are  the  lowest  readings  of  the  twelve 
months.  The  intensely  cold  spring  and  the  absence  of  summer 
smi  have  been  the  more  striking  featui'es  of  the  year.  The 
barometer  gained  its  highest  ix)int  on  Januaiw  31,  namely  30.60in, 
and  its  lowest. — 28.88in — on  December  29.  The  following  table 
gives  the  total  for  each  month  during  the  year,  and  comparative 
records  for  the  past  .six  years: — 1897,  31.9Gin;  1898,  22.84in  ; 
1899,  29.66in;  1900,  32.18in;  1901,  24.28in;  1902,  24.89in. 
Total 
Greatest  fall  in 
No.  of  day.s- 
Month 
Depth 
24  hours  . 
on  which  -01 
Inches 
Depth 
Date 
or  more  fell 
January  .... 
1-28 
0-25 
..  27  &  29 
13 
February  . . 
0-94 
0-25 
28 
6 
March . 
1-68 
0-47 
14 
11 
April  . 
1-92 
0-97 
. .  15 
12 
May . 
2 ‘42 
0-46 
-22 
17 
June  . 
3-45 
1-15 
13 
16 
July . 
1-40 
0-30 
30 
11 
.4ugust  .... 
3-60 
0-49 
30 
19 
September. . 
1-53 
0-47 
11 
10 
October  .... 
1-98 
0-63 
9 
13 
November  .. 
2-66 
0-70 
28 
17 
December  .. 
2-03 
•• 
0-50 
17 
14 
24-89 
0-64 
* 
159 
