BIENNIALS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 96, 20 October 1938, Page 28

BIENNIALS

This class of plants is usually treated in this country much the same as the annuals, and possibly this is the reason that there are so many failures. Biennials are plants wnich are sown one year, bloom the next, and then die, or, at least, deteriorate rapidly. Among the besti biennials are Canterbury bells, sweet* William, dianthus or Indian pinks, foxglove, cheiranthus (the Siberian wallflower), coreopsis, cynoglossum, scabious stocks, spring flowering, and wallflower. As a rule these are sown either too late or too early To get really good results the seed should be sown next month. When large enough the seedlings should be pricked out into a nursery bed of good soil which should be kept moist throughout the summer. The seedlings should not be allowed to flower, any flower spikes being nipped off at the first sign. The seedlings may be allowed six inches between them and one foot between the rows. From this bed they can be planted out in autumn or spring for early flowering. When seed is sown in spring many of the plants will not flower until the sepond year. Most of the biennials are well known, but the Indian pinks , (dianthus) are not "grown so freely as they might: be.

They are excellent plants either for beds or for edging, producing an abundance of blooms of very showy colours. They like plenty of sunshine and do best in a light, well-drained soil. The same remarks apply to sweet Williams, which belong to the same family.