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In choosing these one is constantly confronted with the decision of what is an "herb," and
when does an herb become a savory vegetable or salad plant.
Peppers, celery, the orach, and spinach might be classed as
annual herbs, salad plants, or seasonings; the celery has quite
certainly a double role-its delicious stalks and its aromatic
seeds widely used for flavoring as celery salt.
The twenty-five plants selected for inclusion in this chapter
are all annuals, tender annuals, or biennials or perennials best
treated as annuals. To save confusion it is better at the outset
to define these terms and give general directions as to how each
group should be grown, reserving for the individual species
any special directions as to culture. Wherever in the list to be
given these terms are used, they mean and should be grown in
accordance with the following:
1. Annual. A plant living but a single growing season,
flowering and fruiting during the summer and fall, and
dying when this is accomplished. Their sole means of perpetuation is by their seeds, which may be self-sown, but it is safer
to buy fresh seed each year or save your own. The seeds of annuals should be sown where wanted after the danger from frost
is over and usually thinned out so that the plants are not too
crowded.
2. Tender Annual. A plant, often of tropical or subtropical
origin, which usually will not mature in the North without special handling-like the tomato. They are true annuals,
but their seeds must be started six to eight weeks before you can
safely put the young seedlings outdoors, that is, after settled,
warm weather has arrived. Plant seeds in flats, pots, or boxes
in the greenhouse or hotbed, or, lacking these, in a box on the
kitchen window-sill (no escaping gas!). Thin out the young
seedlings and grow them along until ready for outdoor planting. Handled carefully such seedlings of tender annuals can
easily be transplanted to the open in late May or early June in
most regions-earlier than this in the area south of Washington, D. C.
3. Biennial. A plant that lives only two years, and generally
a headache to most gardeners. It sprouts from seed the
first season, but usually does not flower or fruit until the second,
after which it dies. Many experienced gardeners sow seeds of
biennials every year to save the trouble and uncertainty of wondering when they must be planted in order to survive perma
nently. Seeds of biennials should be planted where wanted.
Fortunately biennials are rare, but caraway and parsley are
among them.
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