94 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 



mentioned, have been added where required, one can raise 

 every variety of plant suited to temperate regions. In the 

 Appendix I have given the particular kind of soil recom- 

 mended for the plants named, and it is worth while to give this 

 subject serious consideration. 



There are various methods of propagating plants the 

 commonest is from seed; yet I have shown in my chapter on 

 Seeds, and also in the cultural conditions given in the Appen- 

 dix, that it is not enough to plant a seed in good soil and 

 water it. Certain seeds are more exacting than this, and it 

 is well to give attention to the time of year when it is best 

 to sow them; also the length of time they retain vitality. 

 It is not prudent to plant perennial seeds in a cold northern 

 climate as late as August or the first of September; for if they 

 come up promptly the little seedlings will not grow large 

 enough to establish themselves before winter. It is a waste 

 of time and seed to try it. Either plant them later, so that 

 they may lie dormant until spring, or wait until spring, unless 

 you have a cold frame, and can give them attention through 

 the winter. Seeds that take six months to germinate may 

 be planted in September or October. 



Further, the amateur may not realize it, but the price of 

 seeds bears a close relation to his probable success with them. 

 Five-cent packages will prove an excellent training-school for 

 one, as they represent prolific sure seeders that will grow if 

 you but throw them out of a window. The ten-cent ones 

 will survive many ignorances; the fifteen-cent ones require 

 specific knowledge, while the twenty-five and fifty-cent kinds 

 are a pure gamble, being seeds of costly hybrid varieties that 

 are apt to revert, or new acquisitions that may not be entirely 

 acclimated to our difficult climatic conditions. Do not sow 

 the whole package at once; seeds have been known not to 

 come up, and a second and even third trial are often neces- 



