AUTUMN NEEDS 55 



Again some roots, like bleeding heart, are dug up 

 in autumn and stored as the only means of early 

 spring delivery. Better winter them in your gar- 

 den than to buy them in spring, possibly sprouting 

 and consequently weakened. 



Of later-blooming flowers it is well to plant all 

 of the irises excepting the bulbous ones in Sep- 

 tember, as spring will then find them well estab- 

 lished instead of trying to readjust themselves the 

 while they are gathering strength to bloom. Bul- 

 bous irises are planted in October. It is well also 

 to plant Phlox paniculata in September, or Octo- 

 ber. The reason is the same; though less urgent, 

 as the blooming period is later. 



Frost begins to be a serious problem some time 

 in September. Very often one or two frosts come 

 quite early and then there will be no more, per- 

 haps, until October. For this reason it is deplor- 

 able that the first frosts are allowed to blight the 

 garden. Most of the hardy plants will stand frost 

 after frost. The Japanese anemone is an excep- 

 tion; this needs to be covered on frosty nights, 

 otherwise its beautiful bloom is likely to be lost. 

 When hardy chrysanthemums are neither close to 

 the house nor where there are tree branches over- 

 head, the large-flowered kinds would better be 

 protected; they endure cold but the frost gets in 

 the mass of petals and, melting, streaks the blos- 

 soms with brown. 



Some of the annuals and all of the tender bed- 

 ding plants are the ones to look after chiefly; and 



