44 GARDENING WITH BRAINS '3? 



Phlox Drummondii must have been verj/ 

 lovely. An Englishman who in 1835 sent some 

 seeds home was rewarded by having his name 

 immortalized in connection with it. It is not 

 often that fame is so easily won. 



Native Americans, also, are the perennial 

 phloxes. E. P. Powell places these, among 

 perennials, right after roses and lilies — and 

 who but a peonyite could disagree? I cannot 

 imagine my summer home without groups or 

 rows of these tall, stately plants; their fra- 

 grance (stronger than that of the annual phlox) 

 is uniquely agreeable and varies in the different 

 varieties, as does that of peonies and lilies. Be 

 sure and get your roots — which it is best to set 

 out in the early autumn — from a reputable 

 dealer, and to select named sorts, thus avoiding 

 the mediocrities which infest flower gardens 

 like everything else. To avoid frequent watering 

 later on, dig the soil two feet deep and put in a 

 lot of moisture-retaining well-rotted manure and 

 leaf mold, with which bone meal and wood ashes 

 should be mixed. But remember that, like most 

 perennials, phloxes, to blossom freely, need 

 several thorough waterings just before and 

 while they bloom. 



The blooming period can be made to extend 

 from June to October by breaking off the spikes 

 as soon as the multitudinous flowers have 

 dropped off. 



In the case of the peonies the blooming 



