TO SUCCEED WITH ANNUALS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 13

TO SUCCEED WITH ANNUALS

Many people fail to get a good display of Howers by not sowing early enough. Another reason, and one even more prolific of harm, is sowing the seed too thickly, or too deeply and not thinning out the young plants soon enough or sufficiently. Many people, again, do not think hardy annuals worth taking any trouble about, little knowing the exquisite beauty that many oii them return for really but little pains bestowed; that little, however, they must have, and at the right time. For sowing, choose a fine open day free from frost, when the ground works well, and rake the surface over. Mix small seeds with from five to six times their own bulk of dry sand, so as to make it easier to sow thinly. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, thin them out well, allowing each one ample room to grow, and expand to the full according to the known size to which the plant in question grows. It is worse than useless to thin after the plants grow leggy. If the thinning out is done carefully and early enough, many of the youngsters can be replanted elsewhere if done immediately. In dry weather, give the annuals a thorough soaking once a week. Some annuals thrive better in calcareous soil than in one that is rich in humus, e.g., mignonette and portulacca. Others have the reverse propensity, e.g., asters and Marvel of Peru. As a rule a soil that is rich in humus tends to, and fosters growth rather than flowers in the case of annuals, e.g., Mina lobata and the climbing nasturtiums.