sheltered border, setting the tubers 3 in. deep and from 4-6 in. apart. The surface of the border should be mulched with leaves or strawy manure through the severe winter weather, uncovering the soil in March. The flowers will appear in April or May, and in June or July the tubers should be taken up and placed in a dry place in sand until the following fall. This section is not as well known as it should be. The range of color is very wide. The flowers are often 2 in. across, and are lasting. These tubers may be planted in pots in the same manner as in the border, bringing them into the conservatory or house at intervals through the winter, where they make an excellent showing when in bloom.

The little wild Wind Flowers are easily colonized in a hardy border.

Annuals. The annual flowers of the seedsmen are those which give their best bloom in the very year in which the seeds are sown. True annuals are those plants which complete their entire life-cycle in one season. Some of the so-called annual flowers will continue to bloom the second and third years, but the bloom is so poor and sparse after the first season that it does not pay to keep them.

Most annuals will bloom in central New York if the seeds are sown in the open ground when the weather becomes thoroughly settled. But there are some kinds, as Cosmos and Moonflowers, for which our season is commonly too short to give good bloom. These kinds may be started early in the house or in hotbeds; and similar treatment may be given any plants of which it is desired to secure blooms before the normal time.

A box garden

Prepare the ground thoroughly and deep. Annuals must make a quick growth. See that the soil contains enough humus or vegetable mold to make it rich and to enable it to hold moisture. If the ground is not naturally rich, spade in well-rotted manure or mold from the woods. A little commercial fertilizer may help in starting off the plants quickly. Prepare the land as early in spring as it is in fit condition, and prevent evaporation by keeping the surface loose by means of raking.

If the flowers are to be grown about the edges of the lawn, make sure that the grass roots do not run underneath them and rob them of food and moisture. It is well to run a sharp spade deep into the ground about the edges of the bed every two or three weeks for the purpose of cutting off any grass roots which may have run into the bed. If beds are made in the turf, see that they are 3 ft. or more wide, so that the grass roots will not undermine them. Against the shrub borders, this precaution may not be necessary. In fact, it is desirable that the flowers fill all the space between the overhanging branches and the sod.

Flowers against a border

Sow the seeds freely. Many will not germinate. Even if they do all germinate, the combined strength of the rising plantlets will break the crust on the hard soils; and in the thinning which follows, only strong and promising plants are allowed to remain. Better effects are also often secured when the colors are in masses, especially if the flowers are thrown into the bays of heavy shrub borders.

Plants continue to bloom for a longer period if they are not allowed to produce seeds. The flowers should be picked, if possible, as soon as they begin to fade.

In the selection of the kinds of annuals, one’s personal preference must be the guide. Yet there are some groups which may be considered to be standard or general-purpose plants. They are easily grown almost anywhere, and are sure to give satisfaction. The remaining plants are mostly such as have secondary value, or are adapted to particular purposes or uses.

The groups which most strongly appeal to the writer as staple or general-purpose types are the following: Petunias, phloxes, pinks or dianthuses, larkspurs or delphiniums, calliopsis or coreopsis, pot marigold or calendula, bachelor’s button or Centaurea Cyanus, clarkias, zinnias, marigolds or tagetes, collinsias, gilias, California poppies or eschscholtzias, verbenas, poppies, China asters, sweet peas, nemophilas, portulacas, silenes, candytufts or iberis, alyssum, stocks or matthiolas, morning-glories, nasturtiums or tropæolums.

Annual flowers possess a great advantage over perennials in the fact that they appeal strongly to the desire for experiment. The seeds are sown every year, and there is sufficient element of uncertainty in the results to make the effort interesting; and new combinations can be tried each year.

Do not cut the old stalks down in the fall. They will stand in the snow all through the winter, and remind you of the bursting summer time and the long-ripening fall; and the snow-birds will find them in the short days of winter.

Some of the most reliable and easily grown annuals for the north are given in the following lists (under the common trade names):

WHITE FLOWERS

• Ageratum Mexicanum album.
• Alyssum, Common Sweet.
• Alyssum, Sweet, compacta.
• Centranthus macrosiphon albus.
• Convolvulus major.
• Dianthus, Double White Margaret.
• Iberis amara.
• Iberis coronaria, White Rocket.
• Ipomœa hederacea.
• Lavatera alba.
• Malope grandiflora alba.
• Matthiola (Stocks), Cut and Come Again.
• Matthiola, Dresden Perpetual.
• Matthiola, Giant Perfection.
• Matthiola, White Pearl.
• Mirabilis longiflora alba.
• Nigella.
• Papaver (Poppy), Flag of Truce.
• Papaver, Shirley.
• Papaver, The Mikado.
• Phlox, Dwarf Snowball.
• Phlox, Leopoldii.
• Zinnia.

YELLOW FLOWERS

• Cacalia lutea.
• Calendula officinalis, Common.
• Calendula officinalis, Meteor.
• Calendula sulphurea.
• Calendula suffruticosa.
• Calliopsis bicolor marmorata.
• Calliopsis cardaminæfolia.
• Calliopsis elegans picta.
• Cosmidium Burridgeanum.
• Erysimum Peroffskianum.
• Eschscholtzia Californica.
• Hibiscus Africanus.
• Hibiscus, Golden Bowl.
• Ipomœa coccinea lutea.
• Loasa tricolor.
• Tagetes, various kinds.
• Thunbergia alata Fryeri.
• Thunbergia alata aurantiaca.
• Tropæolum, Dwarf, Lady Bird.
• Tropæolum, Tall, Schulzi.
• Zinnia.

BLUE FLOWERS

• Ageratum Mexicanum.
• Ageratum Mexicanum, Dwarf.
• Browallia Czerniakowski.
• Browallia elata.
• Centaurea Cyanus, Victoria Dwarf Compact.
• Centaurea Cyanus minor.
• China Asters of several varieties.
• Convolvulus minor.
• Convolvulus minor unicaulis.
• Gilia achilleæfolia.
• Gilia capitata.
• Iberis umbellata.
• Iberis umbellata lilacina.
• Kaulfussia amelloides.
• Kaulfussia atroviolacea.
• Lobelia Erinus.
• Lobelia Erinus, Elegant.
• Nigella.
• Phlox variabilis atropurpurea.
• Salvia farinacea.
• Specularia.
• Verbena, Black-blue.
• Verbena cœrulea.
• Verbena, Golden-leaved.
• Whitlavia gloxinoides.

RED FLOWERS

• Cacalia, Scarlet.
• Clarkia elegans rosea.
• Convolvulus tricolor roseus.
• Dianthus,