98 FLOWER GARDENING 



poppy, Amsonia Tabernaemontana, the maiden 

 pink (Dianthus deltoides) and some of the primu- 

 las, to name only a few perennials, while it is a 

 very slow way to accumulate herbaceous peonies. 

 The only thing to go by is a knowledge of habit, 

 which varies greatly in the length of time required 

 for germination as well as for the attainment of 

 the capacity of blooming; it is often difficult to 

 get the seed of trollius and Gentiana acaulis to ger- 

 minate until its second spring underground. 



Creeping and prostrate plants commonly send 

 out a large number of shoots that root readily and, 

 indeed, often strike root before being attached. 

 All of the spring-blooming phloxes, arabis, doron- 

 icum, Polemonium reptans, the ajugas, the veroni- 

 cas and the stonecrops are readily propagated in 

 this wise. Others, like the primulas and dropwort, 

 cannot be grown from cuttings; they form crowns 

 that are easily pulled apart. Cuttings may be ta- 

 ken of Phlox paniculata, and it grows quickly from 

 seed, but for ordinary purposes the best plan is to 

 separate the roots. Large clumps may be safely 

 cut with the edge of a spade and the same is true 

 of Tradescantia virginica, the funkias, hermero- 

 callis, Siberian and Japanese iris and all perennials 

 that form a mass of roots so closely bound together 

 that division by hand is out of the question. 



There need be no fear of taking cuttings, within 

 reasonable bounds, or of much subdividing; both 

 are good for perennials, which, it must not be for- 

 gotten, occasionally thrive more luxuriantly in the 



