$6 FLOWER GARDENING 



Again climate differences are such that garden nor- 

 mality is by no means the same everywhere in 

 spring and early summer; the German iris is likely 

 to be in full bloom in northern Virginia the last 

 week in April while in southern New England it 

 is not to be looked for until May. 



In the matter of hardiness the withstanding of 

 the winter's cold without artificial protection 

 there is no fixed rule once a perennial leaves its 

 habitat Taken by and large, perennials are won- 

 derfully adaptive in this respect, often enduring 

 patiently more cold, or more heat, than at home, 

 and quite as often giving no sign of minding at all 

 a drop of a mile or more to about sea level. But 

 with a fairly large number these include, un- 

 fortunately, some of the most charming species 

 the degree of hardiness positively refuses to 

 budge much to accommodate the grower of flow- 

 ers. Such perennials must either have protection 

 that amounts to coddling or, perhaps, be taken 

 up every year and stored all winter where they 

 will not freeze. They it is which are largely re- 

 sponsible for making certain features of hardy 

 gardens of southern Britain the despair of north- 

 eastern America where winters are colder and 

 summers hotter and drier. 



Where a plant's local hardiness has not been 

 tested by cultivation it is a good plan to look it 

 up in an authoritative reference book before decid- 

 ing about planting. First, see how closely native 

 and proposed conditions tally. Then, if the book 



