736 



HERBS 



HERBS 



The propagation of plants by divisiou is simply the 

 separation of a larger clump of roots and crowns into 

 smaller plants, in the case of plants having buds on 

 the roots, this division may be carried further, and 

 small pieces of the root used to grow other plants. 



The separation of plants as practiced in the garden is 

 not usually so much for the purpose of increase as to 

 avoid over-crowding of roots and crowns, with loss of 

 vigor to the plant; for instance, a plant of iris having 

 been undisturbed for a number of years, becomes a 

 tangled circular mat of rootstocks, which in the center 

 cannot find room to grow, and so the plant appears as 

 a large clump of roots, throwing up foliage only on 

 the outer ring. The period during which a plant may 

 remain in any one place without needing separation will 

 vary with the vigor of growth of the plant in each posi- 

 tion; for instance, a group of plantain lily in a favorable 

 situation will need separation every two years, while 

 in a poorer place it might remain four. However, the 

 average length of time for a few typical species may be 

 given thus : Bellts pe^'eyinis, pompon chrysanthemums, 

 and other strong-spreading, shallow-rooted and easily 

 established plants do best with yearly separation; Phlox 

 maculafa and mouarda every two years ; helianthus, 

 asters and many of the corapositj© and Phlox decussata 

 about every three years; Convallaria majuUs and many 

 spring-flowering bulbs every four years; while such 

 plants as peonies may be left for a longer period. 



In general, better flowers are obtained from a plant 

 with but one crown than when two or more are left, but 

 unless the new growths are crowding out the central 

 portions or are themselves too numerous to make a vig- 

 orous growth possible, divisiou is not necessary. In 

 fact, many plants require a better establishment in the 

 soil than can be given by transplanting or than they can 

 quickly obtain, and such are best undisturbed until quite 

 over-crowded. The question is whether by dividing a 

 plant better flowers and foliage may be obtained than by 

 allowing it to become more thoroughly established. 



The time of the year for separation will vary as to the 

 blooming season of the plant; that is, for early-blooming 

 plants late summer or early fall, and for late-blooming 

 plant3 either late fall or spring, preferably the latter, as 

 many otherwise hardy plants are either weakened or 

 killed if disturbed in the fall. 



Propagation by cuttings is rarely useful for the ama- 

 teur, in the case of herbaceous perennials, but it is an 

 important commercial method. Plants may be obtained 

 from almost any plant having foliage stems by taking a 

 short piece of the growing wood with a bud, eitherlateral 

 or terminal, and placing the lower end in moist sand or 

 other material suitable for root growth. It is usually 

 necessary to have the lower end of the cutting a node of 



the stem, and to make the temperature of the material 

 in which it is placed higher than that of the atmosphepe 

 (which is the relation of the soil and air in sunshine}, 

 and to diminish the evaporation from the exposed parts 

 of the cutting by maintenance of a moist atmosphere 







'\\' 



lOSO Pool made attractive by planting of Herbs 



1051. A healthy clump of Joe Pye Weed. 



and by removal in part of the foliage on the cutting. 

 Some experience will be necessary to know the best 

 temperatures for sand and atmosphere and the most 

 desirable degree of ripeness in the wood to be taken, as 

 they will vary somewhat with species. In general, any 

 cutting of growing wood will form roots in moist sand 

 at a temperature suitable for vigorous root growth of 

 the plant. The increase of plants by cuttings has the 

 advantages of being rapid and of allowing the perpetua- 

 tion of any variation noticed on a portion of any plant. 

 See Cnffage. 



Whichever method of propagation is used, selection of 

 stock for increase should be practiced. If by seed, then 

 the best seed from the best plant should be taken. It is 

 considered by many growers that seeds borne the least 

 number of nodes from the root tend to produce dwarfer 

 and earlier-blooming plants, while the opposite is equally 

 certain. All plants vary, and often the seeds which will 

 produce the most striking variations are the slower to 

 germinate and weaker as seedlings, but any mistreat- 

 ment of young plants is apt to be against any desirable 

 improvement. The double flowered 

 and higlily colored forms of our gar- 

 den plants are generally the results 

 not only of intercrossing of species or 

 selection, or both, but of intense and 

 perfect culture. A poor, starved 

 plant may not retrograde itself, but 

 it is apt to produce seed which wil' 

 vary to suit its location. 



In propagating by divieion, the aim 

 should be not only to secure vigorous 

 plants but to select for increase such 

 plants as appear to be the best. Cut- 

 tmgs also should be obtained from se- 

 lected plants — and the more so since 

 the method is rapid. 



F. W. BARCLAy. 

 The Most Popular Kinds. — If all 

 hardy herbaceous perennials were di- 

 ■\ ided into 3 groups, based upon their 

 popularity, the first group would per- 

 haps include 10-12 kinds, the second 

 iO-50, and the third would lie too 

 numerous to list in detail. Several of 

 the largest dealers in these plants 

 were asked for such selections, basing 

 their judgment on actual sales and 

 general experience. Replies were re- 

 eived from Ellwanger & Barry, J. 

 Woodward Manning, and the Shady 



