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Show Annuals Bring Abundant Bloom j. r - iMa. jia.w'"' s ? .uuii : r. ' . j ; Ik '$ t Photo Courtesy Perry-Morse Seed Co. Most home gardeners like to grow annual flowers. Corning quickly into bloom from 9eed sown each year, they are the easiest of all flowers to grow and bring a wide range of vivacious color for a long period. Poppy and bachelor button are two of the earliest. The low-growing edgers, sweet alyssum and candytuft, are also fairly quick to flower from seed. The lovely balsam, fragrant' pinks, the graceful scabiosa, the hedge-forming four o' clocks, the colorful nasturtiums and petunias are next in line. Later come the tell cosmos, the beloved zinnias and the marigolds. Most annuals are so easy to grow that even children can raise them successfully. Special favorites for children's gardens and those of some grownups are feathered feath-ered celosia, the oddly interesting cockscomb, and the gay woolflower. One secret of growing near-perfect annuals is to use good seed and sow it thinly. In outdoor planting do not sow deeply but cover the seeds firmly so that they will make immediate imme-diate contact with warm moist soil for speedy germination. When the seedlings appear, thin the plants so that the remaining ones will have plenty of space to spread and mature. i , Most annual flowers are not par- a. ticular about the kind of soil they grow In but they do like plenty of sunshine and air. Most annuals do not thrive in shady places. In order to get the most bloom from annual flowers all through the season, they need a certain amount of attention. Petunia plants sometimes some-times grow lanky and crowd their neighbors. Cut sprays of blossoms freely and arrange them for indoor enjoyment The plants will recover quickly and bloom better than ever. Snip ofT the fading blossoms of zinnia, zin-nia, marigold, cosmos, and other annuals. an-nuals. If left to go to seed, they rob the plants of strength to develop new flowers. Keep the edging annuals, an-nuals, such as sweet alyssum and candytuft, from looking frowsy by clipping off the tops with shears after they have bloomed. They will reward you by flowering again and looking pretty for a long season. |