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Annual Plants
A plant with myriad culinary and medicinal uses, angelica is difficult to classify because it has both annual and perennial tendencies. With careful manipulation, you can grow it as a near perennial plant that will last several years - albeit at the loss of angelica's most pleasant annual show: its spectacular yellow green bloom of flowers that appear early in May. By pruning the flowers, and so preventing seed formation, you can encourage angelica to return for another year.
Many species of plants called annuals are, in their native home, perennial herbs (flowering plants that perpetuate their growth from year to year) or biennials (plants that live two years from seed, but bloom mostly the second year). Since these plants are generally too tender to survive northern winters, it is better to treat them as annuals.
The temperature throughout the growing season should be fairly uniform without excessively hot periods, especially following rainfall. When the seed is near maturity alternate rainy and dry periods cause it to become brown, which greatly reduces its quality, and under such conditions the harvesting of the seed is difficult.
Annuals are classified by degree of hardiness. Hardy annuals may be sown outdoors before frosts have entirely ceased. Some, such as sweet peas, can be sown in autumn. Flat and hardy annuals need warmth to get a good start and can be sown indoors in very early spring. Once established, they are quite hardy in the garden. Tender plants require more warmth for germination than the half-hardy group; a temperature range of 60 to 70F. (15.56 - 21.11 C.) is considered correct.
If it is necessary to broadcast the seed, and cultivation is therefore impossible, it is important that the land be fallow and in. clean culture the previous season. The harvesting of anise presents some difficulties in that the umbels ripen progressively and the seed ripens unevenly within each umbel.
As cut flowers, annuals are almost indispensable. Sweet peas, asters, calendulas, larkspurs, marigolds, snapdragons, and zinnias are all easily grown decorative flowers. They are used for bedding plants, edgings, in rock gardens, and as climbers for covering trellises any arbors.
Harvesting leaves can be done whenever leaves are mature. Stems should be cut in June or July. The seeds should be gathered just as the pod turns from green to yellow. Be careful not to shatter _ seedpods; they are delicate and will burst if dropped. Roots can be taken in the fall of the first growing season. If dried roots are wanted, slice the thicker parts to hasten drying.
Two other types of angelica are known in North America: American angelica or masterwort (A. atropurpurea), similar to A. arch- angelica but of lesser potency and greater acidity; and wild angelica (A. sylvestris), valuable for the yellow dye it yields.
About the Author You should learn more about herbs and gardening tips if you want to take care and grow your garden efficiently.
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