THE HOME HEAUTIPUL. 1*1 o 



as long as your finser. It is preparing for the early spring push. Now 

 watch. In October the bud has grown and is getting more tender. In 

 November it has become more so and must be handled with care. In 

 the spring they begin to grow at a very low temperature and the bud 

 is easily damaged. Dealers, in saving roots for spring sales must keep 

 them, partly dry, in cold storage so as to retard their growth. Thus kept 

 back we can plant as late as the first of .Tune and they will live and 

 perhaps you will have a few blooms. But the best time is September and 

 October. You seldom lose a peony on account of their extreme hardiness. 

 In planting put them in slanting. If you put them in straight the earth 

 may settle away and the bud punches it way out to be damaged by the 

 winter. Put them in at an angle of forty-five degrees and they will 

 settle with the earth. Have the ground in good condition and put the 

 buds two or three inches below the surface. You should not lose a plant 

 in a hundred. 



misES. 



These charming flowers of ethereal beauty are more and more com- 

 ing into favor. It is a delight to see the marvelous colors and wonderful 

 tracery of most delicate tints interwoven with matchless skill. Next to 

 ihe peony they are extremely hardy. They multiply with great rapidity 

 We have divided thirty from one plant in two years. Get a few of choice 

 kinds and you will soon have some splendid masses of them. We have 

 kept the plants in moss in boxes six months at a time and then planted 

 them out when well started without losing any. They do best when 

 planted in August or September. We have planted them successfully 

 after blooming in July. Sometimes they are planted very late just be- 

 fore freezing. Again, early spring is a good time. At the North they 

 should be planted in good season and then they should be mulched. Put 

 the roots about two or three inches below the surface. Of course the 

 ground should be well pulverized and moist. 



ORIENTAL POPPIES. 



These are perennials, bearing flowers from the same root for twenty 

 years. A large bed in full bloom is one of the most striking things in 

 floriculture. It is a blaze of splendor — a miniature sea of fire. The great 

 flowers are from six to nine inches in diameter and inside is some of the 

 nature's finest handiwork all done up in jet. They bloom in June and 

 they go into a dormant condition in July and August and you think they 

 are dying when they are only going to sleep. They should be planted in 

 August or September when you will probably save every one. The root 

 is shaped like a parsnip. It increases with age and then subdivides. If 

 you wait till spring the outer skin slips from the root and you do well 

 if you save 25 per cent. Plant in August and the plant immediately 

 begins to gro\y and furnishes quite a tuft of foliage which covers the root 

 for winter. 



