HARDY ANNUALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 March 1941, Page 9

HARDY ANNUALS

AUTUMN SOWING. For providing a bright display in the flower garden and also for providing cut flowers for house decoration, hardy annuals are most useful, and for the outlay of a few pence quite a good collection of packets of seeds can be obtained. There are two seasons for < sowing hardy annuals—in the spring as soon as the soil is in good enough fcvorking order to flower through the summer, and in the autumn for the seedlings to stand through the winter and flower in spring or early summer. If sown in late spring the weather becomes hot and . often dry before the plants have had time to make growth of stem and leaf. They are forced into flower prematurely, and consequently become stunted and do not last long. By sowing any time this month the plants have time to form a good root system and a little stem and leaf, but they are ready to continue their growth as soon as spring weather is favourable and as there will not be the same .temptation to set seed, they will continue to flower for a considerable time. Hardy annuals do not require a very rich ground, but they must have a reasonable amount of manure, and if available either farmyard manure or . compost heap should be dug in, and after firming the newly-dug ground a dressing of lime and superphosphate should be worked into the surface. After raking to make the surface fine and to remove clods or stones, sow the seed thinly and evenly, firm it down with the rake or the back of the spade, and cover with not more than an inch of fine sifted soil. The seeds can be raked in, but it is really better to cover them evenly with new soil; The depth of covering will vary from half an inch for very fine seeds and an inch for the large ones. Again firm the soil, and if available cover with some twiggy branches to keep in moisture and to keep birds away. As soon as germination takes place, remove the covering, and when the seedling are large enough to handle, thin out to two inches apart. This is just a preliminary thinning, and later bn. perhaps after winter, when growth starts, thin out to from six to nine inches apart, according to the robust growth of the plants. The tall growing kinds, such as larkspurs and godeiias, require some support, and this can be provided by sticking some twiggy branches in among the young plants. They will grow up and hide them eventually. Hardy annuals are most effective when grown in reasonably large groups in either the * herbaceous or shrubbery border, and for cut flowers they can be grown in rows in the vegetable or reserve garden. The following are suitable for sowing now: Calendula Chrysantha and art shades, Clarkia, salmon scarlet or any of the other double varieties, cornflower mixed, eschscholtzia, fire . glow and special mixture, godetia double varieties with long loose sprays, cherry red and mixed larkspur stock-flowered, pink shades and mixed. Nigella Miss Jekyll and Viscaria mixed.