How To Use Biennials & Perennials In

Biennials

Biennials are generally very beautiful plants, with most
attractive flowers. They are somewhat more trouble for the
gardener, since they keep growing during their first year and do
not bloom until the second. Their great advantage is that their
seeding stage produces new plants which will bloom again two
years later, making it unnecessary to plant additional seeds.

The biennials are usually plant ed in early summer and
transplanted to good soil when they are large enough to handle.
It is a good idea to pot them at this time, particularly in areas
where plants cannot be left outdoors all winter. In some cases,
they can be transplanted to a coldframe, and then placed in the
flower bed the following spring. The requirements of careful soil
preparation apply to biennials as well as annuals.

After planting, if you want a continuous new growth of plants, it
is best not to weed and cultivate too assiduously. If a really
fastidious biennial patch is planted, it will be necessary to
replace the plants with new ones each year.

Perennials

Perennials are the basic flowers of any garden. Each year they
die and renew themselves for the next growing season.

They are long-lived and last for many seasons. Perennials are
also, historically, among our oldest plants. They have been
cultivated for centuries and often, as a result of breeding and
crossbreeding, bear no resemblance to their wild forebears. In
some of the perennials, the blossoms have become so specialized
through centuries of cultivation that they no longer grow 'seeds.

Other perennials are continually being developed by amateur
botanists and gardeners. As a result of this cultivation and
inbreeding, perennials as a rule are not as hardy as other
varieties. Another disadvantage is the tendency of certain
perennials to die down after flowering, thereby leaving gaps in
the garden.

There are a number of ways to solve the problems of
short-flowering periods and the resultant unsightly spaces. One
way is to intersperse perennials with annuals and other bulbs and
flowering plants whose bloom occurs either later or earlier than
that of the perennials. Some perennials are easy to transplant:
chrysanthemums, for example, can be moved from one place to
another with no noticeable effect on their vigor.

This is another way to keep color and bloom throughout the
growing season. A garden of perennials, either by themselves or
mixed with annuals and other bulbs, should be placed along a
path, or as a border, with a background of trees, shrubs, a wall
or fence.

The background shows the brilliant coloring to best advantage.
Some varieties can flourish in the shade, such as anemone, lily
of the valley, day lilies, sweet pea, primrose, hollyhock,
harebell and peonies, but these flowers must be chosen carefully
and faced so that some sun reaches them every day.

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