62 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



hard}' plants are planted, they will go on satisfactorily for many 

 3^ears without any further cultivation is one of the greatest delu- 

 sions possible ; for, unless the soil in which they grow is kept in 

 good order, the vigor of display and of bloom ceases to be what 

 it should, and the whole thing is a failure ; still it must not be 

 inferred tliat the}^ require the attention of yearly transplanting. 

 An annual top-dressing of well-rotted manure, or leaf mould, is a 

 great aid to most hardy plants, but they dislike the spade, and 

 ought not be dug about, except when lifted or divided. It is well 

 to let the leaves which fall upon herbaceous beds remain there 

 during the winter, this natural covering and nutrition proving 

 beneficial. 



A large proportion of this family is greatly benefited by being 

 lifted every few years, and divided and transplanted. Pyrethrums, 

 Phloxes, Delphiniums, Narcissuses, and the rest, all feel the good 

 effect of transplanting and division at intervals of two or three 

 years. Many make rapid growth and form large clumps in the 

 ground, and these can be lifted and divided in early spring, before 

 active growth begins, and successfully transplanted. This facility 

 is a benefit to the grower, who can increase his stock without cost, 

 and contrasts favorably with the constant labor and expense requi- 

 site to keep up the stock of bedding plants, the propagation of 

 which, even where the facilities exist, is, as I have shown, a serious 

 tax upon time and space. 



One of the favorite arguments used against the cultivation of 

 hardy plants is that they do not give continuous bloom through 

 the summer, and that the beds containing them are not as showy 

 as those which afford a mass of color, Tike those filled with gera- 

 niums or petunias. This is very true where no provision is made 

 for a succession of bloom b}' selecting such varieties as come into 

 bloom at different periods in the year. The intelligent grower, 

 however, does not make this mistake ; and here it may be said 

 that the greatest loss under the bedding-out system is that of the 

 blossoming in spring and early summer of Tulips, Scillas, Grape 

 Hyacinths, Narcissuses, hard}' Primroses, Saxifrages, Irises, Fritil- 

 larias, Globe Flowers, Crocuses, and hosts of other choice plants 

 and bulbs, rarely seen under general cultivation. 



Our list of spring-blooming hardy plants and bulbs would be 

 greatly extended could we include the varieties which are hard}^ in 

 England, but whose endurance through our trying winters is uncer- 

 tain. Cold frames, therefore, should be utilized for this class, 



