PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 307 



through here, and you will say so. Here is a special seedliug^; the 

 tree is not less than twenty years old; it was planted about the same 

 time the Wealthy apple came out; the tree came from the root on 

 which the Wealthy was grafted. I thought it was some standard 

 variety, and the next fall I discovered a little Wealthy tree come up 

 with two Wealthy apples on. That tree has borne for years and 

 years. I had a lot of the apples, and I — 



Mr. Dartt: Did you send it out as Pearce's Unknown? 



Mr. Pearce: It belongs to a man on the other side of the lake. 

 This tree has borne for j^ears and years. You see it is a solid apple. 

 That has been there ever since the origination of the Wealthy apple. 



THREE HARDY PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 



MRS. ANNA B. UNDERWOOD, LAKE CITY. 



In the first place, it may be well before naming any varieties to 

 describe what is meant by "perennials," an apparently useless or 

 unnecessary effort when directed toward old, tried members of the 

 horticultural society, but there are many well informed along other 

 lines where 3fOU and I would exhibit gross ignorance who would be 

 able onl}' to say, '"annual" means one j^ear and "perennial" continu- 

 ing longer than two years, knowing nothing of the nature of peren- 

 nial plants, or, to adopt a term more fully descriptive, perennial 

 herbaceous plants. These are plants that after flowering and ma- 

 turing the leaf-growth die down to the ground and after a period of 

 rest through the winter are ready to start up from the roots with 

 renewed vigor and with added size each spring. Given a good loca- 

 tion, good soil and care enough to keep down grass and weeds, 

 there are countless varieties of the hardy herbaceous plants that 

 would keep the flower garden an attractive resort for the flower 

 lover from early spring until after hard frosts in the fall. 



Only two or three of the late blooming varieties will be enumer- 

 ated. 



Aster Novae Angliae. — This plant grows to the height of four or 

 five feet. During the summer it presents an attractive appearance, 

 the rich, dark green foliage and vigorous growth forming a fine 

 background to earlier blooming varieties. The last of August it be- 

 gins to branch out and in September assuines a stout, shrubbj'^ 

 appearance, every branch covered with buds that are harbingers of 

 a delight in store when Jack Frost has nipped the foliage beds and 

 the annuals that have been so brilliant and attractive. And then 

 when the first buds open into flowers the heart rejoices in the 

 thought that there is still a friend left in the garden to welcome 

 with cheerful countenance, though surrounded by many signs of 

 sorrow and misery. A well grown flower is nearly the size of a sil- 

 ver dollar, the average size like a 50-cent piece, of a rich, rosy color 

 that, with the sunlight upon it and the whole plant in bloom, is 

 really a beautiful sight. A little harder frost than usual will make 

 the half-open buds close up until the rising sun and warming tem- 

 perature announce that it is safe to come out, and there they are to 



