DEPENDABLE PERENNIALS 133 



CHAPTER XIV 



DEPENDABLE PERENNIALS— WHEN TO PLANT THEM 



FROM the long list of perennials given in the catalogues of 

 the nurserymen and by the writers of garden books for 

 other sections, it seems hard that we who make gardens in the 

 South should have our list of desirable and dependable perennials 

 reduced to a mere baker's dozen, but this is a true statement of 

 the case — not only of my case, but of that of many of my garden- 

 loving friends who have been beguiled by the pictures and stories 

 in the above-mentioned books and also by their memories of the 

 beautiful gardens of the East. 



Many trials, in every possible situation and under every 

 known condition, much wasted energy and money, have con- 

 vinced me that in order to grow perennials successfully in the 

 South it is necessary to have southern-raised plants. 



FALL PLANTINGS 



It is rather an easy matter to grow perennials from the seed. 

 One September I planted the seed of Aquilegia (Columbine), 

 Gaillardia, Hollyhocks, Phlox paniculata^ Dianthus barbatus 

 (Sweet William), Dianthus plumarius (the Scotch hardy Pink), 

 and Oriental and Iceland Poppies, in rows in the borders on the 

 west side of my garden. The situation is sheltered but sunny. 

 The seed germinated promptly and the plants were left in these 

 positions and unprotected until large enough to be transplanted, 

 which in most cases was not until February and March. In 

 colder sections it is necessary to protect these seedlings. The 

 Poppies needed only to be thinned out, the seed having been 

 sown in the parts of the borders where they were to bloom. 



