June lo, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



The Modern Herbaceous Border 



ITS ADVANTAGES 



To most persons there is no kind of gardening that 

 gives as much pleasure as a properly planted and thor- 

 oughly conducted lierbaceous border. The old-fash- 

 ioned border where 'only perennials were used with 

 2>robably one or two kinds of lilies is a thing of the past. 



Bulbs Blooming In Herbaceous Itunler in Eai'ly Spring. 



The modern border iiuist contain a liberal supply of all 

 kinds of bulbous plants and all sorts of hardy herbaceous 

 plants which will give a continuous show of blossoms 

 from early spring until the end of October. The 

 charm of a border like this is its changeableness. One 

 has not to look at the same picture for more than one 

 week or sometimes for not more than one day. There 

 is a continual changing of flowers. Eight here is where 

 the herbaceous border has the advantage over the 

 bedding system. 



Not only is the frequent changing of the flowers of 

 special interest, but in early spring to a keen observer 

 the color effects of the young, foliage and stems are 

 quite conspicuous and very interesting. The her- 

 baceous border comes nearer nature's way of doing 

 things than the bedding system, hence the reason we 

 fnjoy it so much. 



No doubt a herbaceous border is more attractive and 

 gives more satisfaction when it has a suitable back- 

 ground. A background of shrubbery is always pleasing, 

 but such a background is not always procurable. There 

 is one precaution which one should always take and 

 that is to see that the border is not near large trees. 

 Otherwise there is sure to be failure and disappoint- 

 ment. The roots of the trees get into the border and 

 steal the food from the plants. The strong-growing 

 kinds soon grow weak and sickly and fail to give the 

 show of flowers they were expected to produce. The 

 outline of the border is not of so much importance, but 

 the one that gives the most satisfaction is one where 

 tlie lines are uneven or sinuous. 



PLANTING 



In making a border we are always careful to dig the 

 ground as deep as possible, two to two and a half feet 

 deep. Wc- incorporate into the soil as much rotten 

 stable manure as can safely be put into it. We like 

 stable manure much better than commercial fertilizers 

 as it is more lasting and gives better results. The rea- 

 son the soil is made so rich at the start is that the 



border after it is planted is not disturbed again for at 

 least four or five years. The only safe way to enrich 

 the border during this long period is to give it a liberal 

 top dressing, late in the fail, of well-rotted stable 

 manure. The snow, frost and rain mil wash most of 

 the top dressing into the soil before the plants begin 

 to grow. In spring when the soil needs loosening a 

 fork should be used in place of a .'^pade. 



Many people make a great mistake when they 

 imagine that herbaceous plants when once planted will 

 lake care of themselves afterwards. There is no class 

 of pliints that 1 know of will give good results if con- 

 stant attention is not paid to them. Herbaceous plants 

 are just like other plants; their wants and needs must 

 be carefully loolced after. 



In planting our borders we try to get the tallest plants 

 near the back and are careful not to get plants of the 

 same height to follow one another, as an uneven line 

 when the plants are fully grown is much more pleasing. 

 We work the smaller plants to the front where they have 

 not to struggle with the tall-growing kinds, and as they 

 are mostly all lovers of sunshine, in such a position they 

 have a raucli better chance to get sufficient light. 



Of late years we have adopted the system of setting 

 the large plants in the back rows about four feet apart 

 and in tlie spaces between we grow large colonies of 

 !;iill)Ous |)lants such as tulips, narcissi and fritillarias. 

 In th.e front rows between the herbaceous plants we 

 use scjllas. chinnodo-^-i's. crociwcs. snowdrops and 

 grape hyacinths. In early spring, before the herba- 

 ceous plants have much more than made their appear- 

 ance above the ground, the tulips, narcissi, scillas, chi- 

 onodoxas and grape hyacinths are in full bloom. I 

 have failed to meet any person who has not been 



Fritillarias. 



pleased wit/i this system of planting when it is properly 

 done. 



EARLY SPRING BLOOMING BULBS 



The following is a list of the plants as they have 

 blossomed in the border during April and May of the 

 current year. The first to open their flowers were the 



