RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 



MOST gardeners show curiously little enterprise 

 in the matter of raising perennial plants from 

 seed. Of course the expert gardener increases and 

 improves his stock of plants in this way more than 

 in any other. But the ordinary amateur seems to 

 be very shy of attempting what is both the most 

 profitable and the most exciting process of all the 

 many delightful processes of gardening. Wallflowers, 

 Snapdragons, Pentstemons, Hollyhocks, and other 

 doubtful perennials are raised from seed as a matter 

 of course. But the true perennials are usually either 

 bought or begged to start with, and afterwards in- 

 creased by cuttings or by the slow and sometimes 

 injurious process of division. Now it is true that 

 some perennials are difficult to raise from seed, and 

 others take a long time before they flower. Many 

 bulbous plants, for instance, such as Daffodils, Tulips, 

 and Lilies, often take six years or more. But the 

 great majority are scarcely more difficult than an- 

 nuals or biennials, and even those that are difficult 

 or slow will come much more easily and quickly from 

 seed sown as soon as it is ripe. Besides, seed even 

 of rare plants is seldom very dear; and it is always 

 worth while to experiment even if nothing comes of 



it. But the great advantage of raising perennials 



273 



