TRANSPLANTING PERENNIALS 197 



they don't change in the winter. Then comes de-cid- 



uous; that 's like lots of trees and shrubs : they pay 



a little more attention 



to the winter, and drop 



their leaves and just go 



in the bare branches. 



Next come perennials; 



those die down until you 



would think they were 



dead, but they are n't, 



for the roots are alive. 



And then there are the 



annuals; they are all 



dead. The deciduous 



shrubs, and perennials, 



and annuals are just like 



that story of Top-off and Half- gone and All -gone." 



"I have forgotten the story," said Mr. Trommel. 

 "But that is very interesting." 



"Then there 's another way to remember it. I 

 think of the animals. A horse or a dog is like an 

 evergreen; they are always around, and look about 

 the same. And a turtle digs down into the mud and 

 stays there all winter, and then comes out in the 

 spring ; he is a perennial. And the dragon-flies and 



