The Flower Garden 



J 425 



of the garden and the things to be grown in it must be deter- 

 mined by the desire of the person and the amount of time and land 

 at her disposal; but a good small garden is much more satisfactory 

 than a poor large garden. Prepare the land thoroughly, fertilize it, 

 resolve to take care of it, choose the kind of plants you like; then go 

 ahead. 



Perennial herbs. — These are plants that live from year to year. Usually, 

 however, they give their best bloom the second or third year, and then 

 gradually weaken. Some kinds are of little value after the third year. 

 For the main and more or less permanent effects in the flower garden, 

 the perennials should be used. They come up every spring, even if one 

 does not find time to spade and plant the garden. The earliest bloomers 

 in spring are perennials, perhaps bulbous perennials. Every country 

 flower garden should contain many of the so-called " old-fashioned " 

 perennials, such as bleeding-heart, everlasting pea, hollyhock, foxglove, 

 tiger lily, phlox, crown imperial, polyanthus, larkspur, forget-me-not, 

 pink, sweet william, dusty miller, peony, blue flag, valerian. 



Many of the plants that one 

 finds in the fields are very satisfac- 

 tory when transferred to the gar- 

 den. This is particularly true of 

 asters and goldenrods. Of the 

 great numbers of garden peren- 

 nials, not mentioned above, the 

 following are desirable for a 

 home flower garden: irises, of 

 many kinds; lilies; some kinds of 

 lychnis; pyrethrums; wall-flowers; 

 gaillardias ; hardy chrysanthemums ; FlG " + 1 -~ il dainty border °- f - flowers 

 poppies ; California poppies (usually treated as annuals) ; some kinds of 

 coreopsis; columbines, often erroneously called " honeysuckles " ; double 

 ranunculus; Japanese anemones, excellent for autumn; funkia and hemero- 

 callis, both known as day lilies; herbaceous spireas; Golden Glow rud- 

 beckia; yucca; Shasta daisy (this is hardy at Ithaca) ; various campanulas, 

 or bluebells; snapdragon (it should be renewed every year or. two); per- 

 ennial candytuft, for spring bloom. The list could be greatly extended. 

 Most of these can be grown readily from seed. They usually begin to 

 bloom the second year. Some kinds are best propagated by dividing the 

 roots, as peonies, bleeding-heart, perennial phlox, irises, Japanese 

 anemone, yucca. A few clumps of the strong-growing perennials, taking 

 care of themselves, will insure that something of interest is always trans- 

 piring in the garden. 





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