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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



September, 1908 



Transplanting Herbaceous Plants in the Fall 



J. McPhcrson Ross, Toronto 



TO have herbaceous plants in the best 

 possible flowering condition, it is 

 necessary to transplant them fre- 

 quently ; that is every three or four 

 years. Being rank growers and strong 

 feeders, they soon exhaust the soil un- 

 less they get an annual top dressing of 

 rich manure, which should be thorough- 

 ly forked in in the spring. This opera- 

 tion permits the checking of strong 

 growers, such as rudbeckias adn other 

 kinds that multiply by rhizomes and lay- 

 ers. It is easy to dig them under which 

 practice keeps your plants within bounds 

 when you do not sell them or give them 

 away. When borders become congested 

 with growths of this kind, it is a good 

 plan to make an entire new border, and 

 plant the varieties in clumps of each 

 kind, massing them, as it were, which 

 makes a much finer effect. 



Ail herbaceous plants are the better for 

 such dividing, with the exception of 

 pa?onias, which are better if left undis- 

 turbed for many years, so long as you 

 keep them manured. Phloxes have to be 

 divided and replanted every three years, 

 if you wish to have fine flowers. Any 

 variety may be divided and replanted 

 after its flowering season is over. Sep- 

 tember is a good time to do this work. 

 Gardeners find this a busy* month. There 

 is so much to do with transplanting per- 

 ennials that have been grown from seed, 

 also biennials such as hollyhocks, fox- 

 gloves, pansies, daisies, and so lorth. 



To have the best possible success with 

 perennials, the bed or border in which 

 they are to grow must be thoroughly 

 drained, and even with good drainage, 

 it is well to make the bed good and high 

 above the surrounding ground, so as to 

 insure good surface drainage. The best 

 results are obtained by subsoiling the 

 bed; that is, to dig in a good coating 

 of manure, and to dig the bed as well 

 two spades deep. This may mean a 

 little extra labor, but by so doing you 

 provide deep loose soil for the roots to 

 go down in, which means largas and 

 richer growth of foliage and flower, be- 

 sides enabling the plants to withstand 

 dry spells when and where it might not 

 be convenient to water. 



When your bed or border is ready for 

 planting, cut off this season's tops. Dig 

 up the plants and divide them into three 

 or more plants as you desire, or if anx- 

 ious to have as many as possible you can 

 divide them into smaller sizes. Dig the 

 hole plenty large enough. Place in your- 

 plants, fill in the soil and tramp firmly. 

 Finish by watering liberally and level- 

 ling the surface soil evenly and neatly. 



Any of the following plants may thus 

 be treated during the month : Phloxes, 



the too promiscuous use of the rud- 

 beckia almost make this plant tiresome, 

 if not kept well to the back. It should 

 be but sparingly planted as it is apt to 

 overshadow and over-balance your other 

 flowers. For late summer blooming we 

 cannot recommend the phloxes too much. 

 Good vigorous plants of this useful flow- 

 er make the garden radiant. The 

 physoslegias and bocconias are valua- 

 ble for their late summer blooming habit, 

 likewise the heleniums. 



The great interest taken in herbaceous 

 plants of late, shows that the public are 

 beginning to appreciate them, net only 

 for their beautiful flowers and foliage, 

 and- hardiness, but for their practical 

 and economic value and permanence, 

 They are always on hand to do with as 

 you wish. You can purchase them as 

 cheaply as geraniums but, unlike bed- 

 ding plants that only get to their best 

 when they are destroyed by frost, the 

 perennials are always on hand to grow 

 again with but little care. They reward 

 the grower by their permanence. You 

 may admire the bedding plants, but it is 

 always with a certain sympathy and re- 

 gret for their certain doom, but the 

 hardy delphinium and phlox yields to 

 the flower lover a certain satisfaction in 

 their possession not given by the geran- 

 ium, aster or coleus. Newly planted 

 herbaceous beds should be well mulched 

 with strawy manure as a winter protec- 

 tion. 



summer and autumn flowering ; paeonias, 

 if you desire to propagate ; Diletea spec- 

 tabilis ; achillea, in variety, campanulas, 

 delphiniums, aconitum, rudbeckias, hel- 

 eniums, heliopsis, lily of the valley, pyre- 

 thrum, potentiallas, tradcscantias, lilies, 

 pulmonias, physostegias, boltonias, lych- 

 nis, armerias, iris, spireas, hemerocallis, 

 Papaver orientalis, and veronicas. In 

 short, nearly all our hardy garden favor- 

 ites, bear transplanting well at this sea- 

 son. 



As this season's observations of the 

 habits of each plant, their height, space 

 required, and so forth, are fresh in the 

 grower's memory, you can better ar- 

 range the massing and order of the 

 plants in your bed, than by putting it 

 off to the following spring. You can 

 also arrange your beds for bulbs at the 

 same time and plan floral effects for oth- 

 er seasons better when you have speci- 

 mens in full growth before your eyes. 



When planting, the stereotyped ad- 

 vice is to put the tallest growing at the 

 back, the medium in the centre, and low 

 growing in the front, or to serve as edg- 

 ing. Anyway, avoid straight lines. Vary 

 the arrangement as much as you please 

 but keep the various sorts in masses or 

 clumps, allowing for contrasts and a 

 continuity of bloom. 



The majority of perennials bloom in 



the spring. This being so, it is well to 



have clumps of phloxes at diff^erent parts Roses in Saskatchewan 



of your border so as to give abundance G. T. Barley, Prince Albert 



of bloom, as it were, all over your beds. In preparing for a group of roses and 



A useful and showy flower for this pur- shrubs, I planted the bed in the open 

 pose js the tiger lily. This in strong ground. For the summer, I left it open ; 



or the winter I built a 

 frame around it, about 

 three feet hgh, and bank- 

 ed with soil and man- 

 ure, and used some stove 

 heat. The top was cov- 

 ered with boards and 

 sawdust on one side, and 

 a row of glass on the oth- ( 

 cr, with an extra covering I 

 of cotton frames for 

 nights, and very cold 

 weather. 



^y digging a path 

 three feet deep, and a 

 door in one end, the ^ 

 plants could be easily |. 

 seen at any time. I kept t 

 the frost out until the first ^ 

 Growing Rotes in Saskatchewan O^ t^e year, and then, for* 



In February with thermometer outside registerine at times thirty to fifty two months, allowed a lit-?; 



tie rrost in, m order to en--(f 



degrees below zero. 



- clumps at effective points of garden, 

 lights up the whole place. Judicious 

 grouping of gladiolus with a few masses 

 of Hydrangea painculata, makes a showy 

 sight of color. The vigorous habit, and 



sure that everything was dormant. This 

 is only one evidence of what may be done 

 along horticultural lines in Saskatche- 

 wan. Many others might be cited. I 

 shall contribute another article soon. 



