Chapter 2

With few exceptions--peonies and the gas plant, for instance--perennials need dividing and resetting every two or three years, which should be done in the early fall or early spring, but never when the soil is very wet, because in the subsequent manipulation of the soil to replenishing its food supply, it should be dry enough to break up into fine particles. The Japanese anemone should be replanted only in the spring. It is in bloom and in active life in the fall. The best way to proceed is to work one section at a time--say a ten-foot strip. Cut back the foliage, take up the plants and lay them aside, covering with burlap or some material to keep the sun and wind from their roots. Then dig the bed up, deeply, and add some well-rotted manure, rake smoothly and replant. While it is probably best not to set the same plants back in the same position occupied before, it may be done, for if the soil has been well worked up it is apt to have changed its position. Then take up another section and do the same. In the meantime all large roots are divided. Some may be pulled apart, but more often they have to be cut through with a sharp spade or a butcher knife. Discard all evidence of decay and use only the healthy outer rim, possessing well-developed roots. They generally show the stalk buds for next year's growth. Three to five of these buds will make a good plant. Sometimes, in the case, perhaps, of a cherished but not over-robust larkspur, you find part of the original root decayed, but if it has a few good roots attached to it, dust powdered sulphur on the decayed part--it often checks decay--and you may eventually restore your pet to a healthy condition.

If you want a delightful recreation and lots of fun, and would like to possess some plant producing a flower entirely new in color or form, and, certainly in your estimation finer than any your rival neighbors have ever seen, make a reserve bed in some sunny spot and raise hybrid delphiniums. In fact any one possessing a good collection of perennials should have a reserve plantation to draw from in order to fill up gaps that will be found in the main bed after any hard winter. It is especially useful for keeping up a stock of that charming but short-lived perennial, the columbine (_Aquilegia_), which seldom can be depended upon after the second year. I am speaking of the finer forms.

These hybrid delphiniums, or garden larkspur, possess the blood of two or more species and as a result are inclined to "sport," producing flowers of various forms and colors, entirely different from those of the parents. The word "sport" as used by gardeners is applied to any plant that displays a marked contrast in foliage, flower, form or habit of growth, from the type or normal aspect of the original species. The well-known golden glow is a good example, being a double form of the single-flowered _Rudbeckia laciniata_, a tall member of the Black-eyed Susan family, and known as one of the coneflowers. The flower head of the type is composed of two parts--the outer row of yellow "ray florets," which is not a part of the flower proper, except that it might be likened to the fringe that borders a curtain, and the dark brown cone in the center, which is composed of numerous minute, individual flowers like the dandelion, each perfect and capable of producing seed. Nature is slyly freakish at times, and in this instance she changed the individual flowers into ray florets. Fortunately some observing flower lover saw this one original plant, for undoubtedly the freak occurred in one plant only, and transplanting it to his garden, eventually gave to the floral world the now common golden glow. If not noticed by some one, the plant would have lived its allotted term and died unknown to the world, for it produces no seed.

The delphinium sports into various forms of flower, color and shape--the tones of color being a mingling of blues, pinks and mauve, some in the most lovely combinations imaginable. They will all bloom the first year from seed if sown in February or March in a greenhouse or hot-bed, but will not all bloom at once, so that for at least a period of one month, new blooms are opening each day. One's main pleasure is in expectancy. You are always looking and hoping for something better, and you generally get it. It is best, when a plant does not produce a flower up to grade, to dig it up and discard it, but those that are good should be marked in some manner to identify them. A label placed at their side will do, but the better way is to get some small sheet-lead tags, bearing stamped-in numbers or letters. Attach to wire pegs ten inches long and force down near the plant, recording its number in your "Garden Book" with a description of the flower. This enables you at any planting time--spring is the best for delphiniums--to plant in groups of light blues, dark blues, etc. You may be undecided sometimes as to whether you consider a plant good enough to keep or not. In this case keep it, but mark it a "hold-over." Some plants do better the second season. They may be sown outdoors in May, but will hardly bloom the same year.

PLANT COMBINATIONS

Many combinations may be used whereby a certain area may be made to produce a double crop of bloom, and thus prolong the flowering season within that area. Peonies, which are planted two and a half to three feet apart, may have the _Lilium superbum_, the later varieties of gladiolus, or _Hyacinth candicans_ planted in between them; the last two should be taken up each fall as they are not hardy in all sections. The lilies will require resetting every few years, as they travel around in their new growth, and may invade the peony roots. These will flower above the peony foliage. Fall is the best time to plant any lily.

The shooting star (_Dodecatheon media_) may be planted between the spreading dwarf plants of that admirable bell flower (_Campanula Carpatica_). The bell flowers may be planted eighteen inches apart and, in the spring, when the shooting stars are up and in bloom, the foliage of the campanula is hardly in evidence, but during the summer it occupies all the space between them.

After flowering, all that part of the shooting star above ground turns brown, dies back and disappears to return again next spring.

The Virginia bluebell (_Mertensia Virginica_) is another charming plant of the same habit, and as it is worthy of cultivation in groups, it often becomes a question where to place it so that the bare ground it leaves behind is not an eye-sore. Besides colonies I have established in my ravine, where the overhanging underbrush hides its absence later on, I grow it under large bushes of forsythia. Both bloom at the same time and the pink buds and open blue bells of the _Mertensia_, when seen through the fleecy mass of the golden bells of the forsythia, make a charming picture. After flowering, the forsythia hides the disrobing _Mertensia_ with its heavy sheet of foliage.

Some perennials--the bleeding heart and the perennial poppy--have ragged foliage after blooming and require some tall bushy plant to be placed in front and around them to hide their shabbiness. Strong-growing perennials, asters or the biennial _Rudbeckia triloba_, are good for this purpose.

Some instances occur where a low hedge of perennials might look well, for instance in a small yard where all the lines are formal and a straight walk leads from gate to house. A floral hedge might be placed at each side of the walk by making beds eighteen inches to two feet wide and deep. The best perennial hardy plant I know for this purpose is the gas plant (_Dictamnus fraxinella_), which, when once established, remains a joy, almost forever. Some people are still enjoying the blooms of plants set out by their great-grandmothers. This plant is slow in increasing its size, but a row planted twelve inches apart will in time make a compact hedge with a dark green, lustrous foliage, over two feet tall and fully as broad. The flower spikes are borne well above the foliage, some pink, deeply veined a darker hue, and some white. A mixture of the colors is desirable. On account of the slow habit of its increase, the bed will look scantily furnished for a few years. This can be remedied by growing at each side of the row of plants any spring-flowering bulb, or by carpeting in summer with sweet alyssum, sowing seeds in the bed. Any low-growing annual will do, but it must be low-growing or it may injure the _Fraxinella_.

WEEDING

Paradoxical as it may seem, the weed is the best friend the farmer has because it compels him to cultivate his land in order to exterminate the intruder. Cultivation keeps the soil open to air and moisture and conserves the latter. It is best, therefore, to go over lightly with a hoe the day after a heavy rain or a good watering.

The time to weed is before you see the weeds, but if they do appear, don't run away from them. When none are in sight, the chances are that upon microscopic examination, a velvety fuzz of green would be discovered. These are minute weed seedlings, but yet slightly rooted, and easily treated by simple dislodgment. A hot, windy day is a good time to hoe between your plants, because the wind and sun kill the uprooted weeds in a short time. They dry up, and there is but little to remove. On a damp cloudy day if a disturbed bit--no matter how small--of the pestiferous couch grass rolls near the base of a plant and remains there, it will send down its roots among those of the plant, and it is almost impossible to get them out without taking the plant up.

LISTS OF DEPENDABLE PERENNIALS

It is useless to attempt to name and describe all the good perennials that may be grown, but there are some that seem to do well in all sections and it may be well to call attention to some of them.

_Anchusia Italica_--Italian Alknet

One should grow the Dropmore variety, or possibly Perry's variety, a new form just introduced. I would not have included this plant in the list, because it does not winter well and a stock of seedling plants should be grown each year and wintered in a coldframe, did it not present such an airy, open-headed plant covered with its gentian-blue flowers for a long time. A good blue is a rare color in the garden. A group of these should be planted about two and a half feet apart and at the rear, as they grow five to six feet in height.

Asters (hardy)

The so-called aster, grown by florists, and in general gardens, is not a true aster, but is known botanically as _Callistephus Chinensis_, introduced from China in 1731, and is a hardy annual. Why it received the common name of aster I have never been able to find out. The true aster is named from its star shape, and in England is much prized and is called the Michaelmas Daisy, because they are in full bloom at the time of the feast of St. Michael. As they grow wild nearly everywhere in the States, they are not grown so much in gardens here. All good catalogues list quite a number of good varieties for one to choose from. Being tall they should be planted at the rear.

_Aconitum_--Monk's-hood, Helmet Flower

This plant, the roots of which are poisonous, should not be grown where children are apt to get at its roots, and when transplanted care should be taken not to allow any of its small, beet-like tubers to lie around, the surplus being burned. They grow about four feet high, blooming in the latter part of summer. _A. autumnale_ and _A. Napellus_ are among the best.

Anemones--Wind Flower

_Anemone Pennsylvanica_ is a native, growing a little over a foot in height, producing in profusion fairly large white flowers in July and August. Having a "woodsy" look, it seems at home in semi-shaded positions, where it does well, but will thrive in full sun. The king of the tribe, however, is the Japanese variety, _A. Japonica_, especially the variety _Alba_, with large, showy, pure white flowers, blooming late in the fall, often after the first slight frost, and at a time when all others are gone. For this reason they should be planted where they may be seen from some house window, and thus be enjoyed when it is too chilly to be out-of-doors. If planted eighteen inches apart, cup and saucer Canterbury bells may be planted in between them and removed when through blooming. The anemones do not require the room before that.

_Arabis Alpina_--Rock Cress

Rock cress is an early spring, white-flowering plant. Its low-growing habit makes it suitable for edging. In the fall plant _Chionodoxa Luciliæ_ in between them. This is a blue-flowering bulb, hardy, cheap and in flower at the same time the rock cress is.

_Aquilegia_--Columbine

These have been mentioned in connection with the article on reserve beds. The Rocky Mountain columbine (_A. cærulea_), a bright blue form, is probably the handsomest one of the family, but it seldom lasts long. The golden columbine (_A. chrysantha_) seems to be the sturdiest of the group and lasts several years. It belongs to the long-spurred class, all of which are good.

_Bocconia cordata_--Plume Poppy

The plume poppy is a stately plant, attaining a height of seven to eight feet, bearing in July and August terminal panicles of creamy white flowers having large, indented glaucous foliage. It has one fault, however; it spreads rapidly and soon takes possession of the whole bed, and therefore should be in an individual hole of its own. The plantings are sometimes made in large bottomless tubs, sunk in the ground.

_Campanula_--Bell Flower

Nearly all of this family, as well as the allied _Platycodons_, are good. They are slender, upright growers, as a rule, but _C. Carpatica_, already mentioned in the text, grows but eight inches tall. The species _macrantha persicifolia, rotundifolia_ (Blue Bells of Scotland) and _Trachelium_, are the most reliable among the group. The cup-and-saucer, and the chimney bell flower, are biennials, blooming but once, and have to be wintered the year prior in a coldframe.

_Centaureas_--Hard-heads

Like an open sunny position. _C. macrocephala_ is the best, bearing thistle-like golden yellow flowers.

Coreopsis

The species _lanceolata_, and _C. grandiflora_, have rich golden flowers of pleasing form, splendid for cutting. They grow about two feet high and bloom all summer if not allowed to go to seed, but seldom last over the third year.

Delphiniums

Have already been discussed. All the named varieties are good, especially Belladonna. See page 26.

_Dictamnus_--Gas Plant

Fully described on page 32.

_Digitalis_--Foxglove

The form usually grown is treated as a biennial, and with me, must be coldframed the first year. _Ambigua_ or _grandiflora_ is a perennial having pleasing pale yellow flowers, and is a comparatively long-lived plant.

_Echinops_--Globe Thistle

This is a tall, interesting plant with foliage somewhat like a thistle. _E. Ritro_ is the best. Its peculiar flower head consists of a ball about an inch and a half in diameter, from which spring, in close array all over the ball, minute flowers of a deep metallic blue.

_Eryngium_--Sea Holly

A plant somewhat similar in appearance to the _Echinops_, but smaller in all its parts. _E. amethystinum_ is the best, having small globular flower heads of an amethystine blue color, this color also extending quite a way down the flower stems.

_Eupatorium_--Thoroughwort

Two forms are in the market--_E. ageratoides_, bearing numerous small white flowers in late summer, and _E. coelestinum_, with light blue flowers similar to the ageratum. Both are good.

_Funkia_--Plantain Lily--Broad-leaf Day Lily

I consider _F. subcordata grandiflora_ the best of this group. In time a single plant, if not crowded, will make a mound of green foliage, looking as if an inverted bushel basket were shingled with broad overlapping foliage, above which, in August, spring pure white, sweet-scented lily-like flowers. It will stand partial shade. If planted in groups they should be placed two and a half to three feet apart. Tulips may be planted between them.

_Gaillardia_--Blanket Flower

The perennial forms produce much handsomer flowers than do the annuals. All of our garden perennial forms, including _grandiflora_, are varieties of _G. aristata_, and, being natives of Texas, are not always hardy in the Northern States.--See page 4 in the text. It is a rather sprawling plant, growing naturally some two feet high, and hard to stake, but may be pegged down. Use common long hairpins. It requires an open situation in full sun, and thrives best in a sandy soil, well drained.

_Geum_--Avens

Quite a hardy border plant, rather low in its foliage, but throwing its flower stems up fully eighteen inches, blooming more or less all summer. _G. coccineum_, with scarlet flowers, and _G. Hederichi_, are both good.

_Hesperis matronalis_--Rocket

An admirable plant for use where most other plants would fail. It does fairly well in semi-shady places, at base of shrubs and in between them in open spots. Plants grow three to four feet tall, of bushy form when treated well, bearing pinkish flowers in June and July. There is a white form.

_Hemerocalis_--Yellow Day Lily

All are good, strong growers with narrow iris-like foliage, producing flowers in tones of yellow. _H. flava_, the sweet-scented, deep lemon-yellow-flowered form, is the best and must not be confounded with the coarser-flowered _H. fulva_, the tawny day lily.

_Hibiscus_--Mallow

All the mallows are good, from the "crimson eye" to the new mallow marvels, moderately late, upright-growing and hardy. The colors run from pure white to pinks and reds.

_Inula ensifolia_

A low-growing very hardy plant bearing freely yellow daisy-like flowers, always presenting a neat appearance.

Hollyhocks

On account of the prevailing hollyhock disease--a disease of the foliage hard to combat--it is best to grow one-year-old plants, as they are less affected than the older ones. The singles are the most charming.

Iris--Fleur-de-lis

This is a large group, from the bulbous Spanish and English iris, which bloom in June and then die down to reappear next season, and may therefore be planted in open spaces between other plants, to the magnificent Japanese iris, _I. Kæmpferi_. This latter one is somewhat fickle and does not last long. The best for general planting are the German, _cristata_, _pumilla_ and _Sibirica_ varieties. _Pallida Dalmatica_ is exceedingly fine.

_Lysimachia clethroides_--Loose-strife

An excellent plant in damp soils.

_Pæonia_--Peony

Every one should have them, including the early-flowering red _P. officinalis_, and the later ones. Try a few tree peonies--_P. Moutan_. They are grafted on the ordinary form, so destroy all suckers that come from below the union.

Phlox

The tall-growing hardy phlox should be in all gardens. It is permanent if taken up every three years and divided. Strong "cutting" plants give the finest blooms. Avoid magenta colors. The new salmon-pink Elizabeth Campbell is fine; on light soils, well drained, the creeping forms are desirable.

Pyrethrum

The hybrids of _P. roseum_ have handsome, daisy-like flowers in white and various shades of pink, up to red, in single and semi-double forms, but they seldom live long. A raised bed suits them best. _P. uliginosum_, the giant white daisy, is fine in damp situations.

_Rudbeckia_

This genus includes the well-known golden glow and _R. nitida_ var. Autumn Sun, growing five feet high. It bears attractive primrose yellow flowers. The giant purple coneflower, often classed as a rudbeckia, is really an _Echinacea_, growing three or more feet tall, bearing reddish purple flowers and is very attractive in groups bordering a woods or shrubbery belt, presenting a rustic aspect and remaining a long time in bloom.

_Thalictrum_--Meadow Rue

The white form of _T. aquilegifolium_ is a very handsome plant, doing fairly well in open shade, flowering in fluffy masses of white.

_Veronica_--Speedwell

These are all good, but _V. longifolia subsessilis_ is by far the finest of the taller growers, reaching a height of three feet, and bearing long slender spikes of deep blue flowers.

SOME OF THE BEST PLANTS FOR SHADY POSITIONS

_Aconitum_--Monk's-hood _Actæa spicata_--Baneberry _Amsonia_ _Anemone Pennsylvanica_--Wind Flower _Convallaria_--Lily-of-the-valley _Dielytra_--Bleeding-heart Ferns _Funkia_--Plantain Lily Hepaticas--Liver Leaf _Thalictrum_--Meadow Rue Trillium--Wake Robin _Mertensia Virginica_--Virginia Blue Bells

FOR DRY SOILS

_Asclepias tuberosa_--Butterfly Weed _Aquilegia Canadensis_--Canadian Columbine _Aquilegia alpina_--Alpine Columbine _Gypsophila paniculata_--Baby's Breath _Gaillardia_--Blanket Flower _Geranium sanguineum_--Cranes-bill _Helianthus multiflorus_, fl. pl.--Double Mexican Sunflower _Inula grandiflora_--Flea Bane _Inula ensifolia_ _Saxifraga crassifolia_ Sedums--Stonecrop _Tunica saxifraga_

FOR WET SOILS

_Hibiscus Moscheutos_--Swamp Mallow, and all Mallows _Iris pseudacorus_ " _Sibirica_--Siberian Iris " _lævigata_--Japanese Iris " _prismatica_ _Lilium superbum_--Turk's-cap Lily _Lobelia cardinalis_--Cardinal Flower _Monarda_--Bergamot--in variety, Rose _Lythrum Salicaria_--Loose-strife _Lysimachia clethroides_--Loose-strife _Polygonum cuspidatum_--Giant Knot-weed _Spiræa_--dwarf herbaceous form in variety

ALPINES, OR ROCK PLANTS

_Achillea tomontosa_--Wooly Yarrow _Arabis albida_--Rock Cress _Campanula Carpatica_--Carpathian Harebell _Coronilla varia_--Crown Vetch _Geum coccineum_--Avens _Gypsophila repens_--Baby's Breath _Inula ensifolia_--Flea Bane _Phlox amoena_, in variety--Creeping Phlox _Sedum_, in variety--Stonecrop _Tunica saxifraga_ _Veronica circæoides_--Speedwell _Yucca filamentosa_--Adam's Needle

End of Project Gutenberg's Making a Garden of Perennials, by W. C. Egan