CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM 



THE PLANTING AND CARE OF HARDY HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS. 



As many of the persons who receive this bulletin may not have had much experi- 

 ence in gardening, and as the descriptions and illustrations of the flowers may lead 

 some persons to grow herbaceous perennials who have not done so before, a few words 

 in regard to the planting and care of them should prove useful. 



No flower garden is complete without perennials. Even though the plot of ground 

 be small, some of the space should be devoted to this useful and varied class of plants. 

 Few flowers require as little care as hardy herbaceous perennials if given the proper 

 conditions to start with. The soil should be a good loam which will not bake, and 

 well drained, for thorough drainage is very essential. When planted, most perennials 

 should be left undisturbed for a long time, hence the soil should be well prepared in 

 the beginning by trenching and digging under a liberal supply of well rotted stable 

 manure. Most perennials thrive best in full sunlight, and, where possible, they 

 should be planted where they will get the most favoured conditions. A southern 

 aspect is the most suitable, and where there is protection from the cold winds the 

 plants do best. Planting may be done either in spring or autumn, but the month of 

 September is the best month to plant most kinds of perennials. In making and plant- 

 ing a border it is most important to plant those kinds which will give a continuity 

 of bloom from early in the spring until late in the autumn, and to arrange them so 

 that they will be most effective. The dates of blooming, heights of the plants and 

 'colours of the flowers given in this bulletin will be a great aid to those who desire 

 to make the most of the material they have or may get. In large borders the best 

 effects are obtained by massing several plants of one colour or several varieties of 

 one species, and also arranging for a continuity of bloom, but in smaller borders and 

 where the number of plants is limited it is often not thought possible to get this, 

 and sometimes one part of the border will be without bloom. 



There are a number of good perennials which can be grown readily from seed, such 

 as Iceland and Oriental Poppies; varieties of Columbine, Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Cam- 

 panula, Platycodon, Delphinium, &c., and at a comparatively small outlay, and in two 

 seasons many hundred plants may be grown from seed, which will furnish bloom 

 from early in the spring until late in the autumn. The planting of small clumps of 

 bulbs between the later blooming perennials also furnish bloom in the spring when 

 flowers are most desired. A seed bed four feet wide and as long as desirable of good 

 loamy soil which will not bake, and enclosed with six-inch boards, will be found a 

 very suitable place for raising young plants. Seed should be sown in rows about six 

 inches apart across the bed. Autumn is the best time to sow the seed, as it will be 

 softened by the moisture then in the soil and cracked by frost before spring, and will 

 then germinate readily, whereas if it were sown in the spring it may lie a whole year 

 without germinating. The depth of sowing will depend on the seed. Very small seed 

 merely needs "enough soil to prevent its blowing away, while the larger seed may be 

 sown half an inch deep. If sown much deeper most seed will not germinate. The 

 young plants at the end or in the middle of the first season's growth may be either 

 transplanted direct from the seed bed to the border or be pricked out about six inches 

 apart into another bed and left growing for the remainder of the season or another 

 year, by which time there will be fine strong plants. During the growing season the 

 surface soil should be kept loose and free from weeds, and in the summer the taller 

 growing plants will need staking, as fine specimens are liable to be broken by storms 

 if this is neglected. When the plants have ceased blooming the old stalks should be 

 cut off near to the ground. Just before permanent frost sets in, the border or bed should 

 be given a dressing of about four inches of strawy manure or leaves. This will form 

 a good mulch for the protection of the plants in winter and at the same time enrich 

 the soil. The mulch ought not to be removed too soon in the spring, as often most of 

 the damage done to perennials is at that season of the year when so much thawing 

 and freezing takes place. After raking off the coarse material in the spring the shorter 

 manure may be dug in to enrich the soil 



