Actually, I can’t imagine our grounds being so completely planted that there isn’t a place for at least a few annuals—no bare spots in the perennial border, no shrub or tree around which to set flowering clumps, no window boxes or planters in need of decoration. And if ever there is a spring when I don’t ask my husband to spade up “just one more spot” for a few more annuals, I’ll eat my garden gloves finger by finger.
Because they cost so little, and because they last only one season, you can plant annuals with careless abandon. You can experiment with bizarre color schemes. If they don’t work out, try something different next year. If you are saving a special spot for a special shrub or bush, and you feel it is too expensive for the moment, or you can’t find a specimen that is exactly what you want, let annuals fill in until you have that particular plant. If you are creating a new garden and are not quite sure of the design, test it with annuals before you make it permanent.
As with the miniature perennials, the annuals included here have been selected not only because they are small, but also because they are in suitably modest scale for use in miniature gardens of many sorts. Descriptions of the varieties should be helpful in selecting the truly miniature annuals at local nurseries and garden centers. Seeds are available from various mail-order suppliers listed in the Appendix.
Like all other garden plants, miniature annuals should be selected according to such cultural conditions as the amount of moisture and sunlight and the type of soil. If these requirements are not clearly stated on the seed packets or in the seed catalogue from which you ordered, check for details in a good reference book rather than risk disappointing failure.
GROWING ANNUALS FROM SEED
When and where you sow seeds of annuals depends on whether the particular varieties grow best in coolness or warmth, and how long the growing season has to be for maturity and flowering. This is the basis of catalogue listings that classify annuals as hardy, half-hardy, or tender. Hardy annuals germinate best when air and soil are cool and make their best growth before hot weather sets in. Seeds are sometimes sown out of doors in autumn to germinate in early spring, or they may be sown in the garden the moment the frost is out of the ground.
Half-hardy seeds are planted outdoors where the plants are to grow, or you can give them a head start either indoors or in a hotbed or a cold frame. Plant about six weeks before the time to set them outdoors. Tender perennials grown in cold areas as annuals follow the same schedule.
Seeds of tender annuals should not be planted outdoors until all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up considerably. But many tender varieties, like petunias, are slow-growing and need plenty of time to reach flowering size. These should be started indoors no later than March.
Unless you have a greenhouse or hotbed, it’s risky to start seeds too early indoors. Poor light and high temperatures will cause the seedlings to grow limp and leggy and often to topple over toward the source of the light. At transplanting time they may be so weak they will be slow getting established; thus, little time is saved after all.
But you can save several weeks by starting seeds early in a sunny window (just not too early), and you can start them even earlier in a cool greenhouse, a hotbed, or a cold frame. When we lived on Long Island we rigged up a workable substitute outside a cellar window by using discarded storm windows. In fact, since it had a brick foundation that reached below the frost line and had a heating coil in the soil, we grew many cool greenhouse plants in it during the winter. The open cellar window provided enough heat for flats of annual seedlings we propagated in it in the spring. Once these seedlings were transplanted to the garden, we dismantled our temporary greenhouse, filled the spot with topsoil, and made a flower bed. I’ve seen several small greenhouses like the one we improvised on sale commercially, one, of metal and glass, selling for less than ten dollars.