Home › The Annual Garden › The Annual Garden (Plant that completes)

The Annual Garden (Plant that completes)

An annual is a plant that completes its development in one year. The seed germinates, the plant blooms, produces seed and dies the same year.

Annuals may be started in the greenhouse, frame or seed bed in the open. When started in the greenhouse or hot bed earlier results can be obtained especially with those annuals, such as snapdragon, lobelias, heliotrope, vincas, that develop slowly and are tender and cannot be started in the open sufficiently early. Then a further advantage is that the proper protection from unfavorable weather conditions can be given, the temperature and moisture can be controlled, the shading and watering can be attended to with greater convenience and a finer and more pulverized soil can usually be obtained in a greenhouse or frame than in the open seed bed. Leaf mold and sand should be incorporated in soils that are not sufficiently light in character and are liable to bake, thus making germination difficult; but the soil in the seed bed should contain no manure. [11] Annuals are easily grown provided their simple requirements are understood by the grower so that intelligent care can be given them. They are invaluable for color effect in the midsummer garden after the height of the perennial season is over. Beautiful effects can be secured by plantings of annuals that are artistically grouped and judiciously chosen. The points to be considered in choosing the annuals are: Height, color, foliage, length of blooming season, and the character of their growth, whether bushy or compact. The low-growing annuals are used for edging, also for planting in front of taller growing kinds.

Many of the taller growing varieties are excellent for mass effects.

Annuals are divided into three classes: hardy, halfhardy and tender. Hardy annuals are sown in the open seed bed or garden early in the spring, about when the trees leaf out; some of them, as sweet peas and bachelor's buttons, are sometimes sown in the fall for early spring bloom. Half-hardy annuals cannot be sown in the open until May 1st or 15th, depending upon the season, and should be started under glass in March or April, as otherwise the blooming season would be too short. They need warmth and protection from unfavorable weather conditions that come in early spring, such as bad storms and sudden drops of tem- [12] Courtesy of J. Horace McFarland Company