HARDY GARDEX PLANTS, 21 



the whole. This, as indeed all planting of hardy plants, is best 

 done early in the fall, about the time the heavy rains begin ; the 

 earth has not then lost its warmth, moisture is present to enable 

 the young roots to take hold quickly, and in most cases there 

 will be no reason the next year to suppose any change has been 

 made as far as the health of the plant is concerned. Spring 

 planting is unwise in many ways, always supposing one has the 

 other alternative ; we all have enough to do in sining, dealers 

 included, and I have invariably found that we could procure 

 better stock in fall than in spring, and could rely on getting it 

 in a condition fit to plant, whereas in the spring, in sending to a 

 distance, perhaps we get plants that have been in the best con- 

 dition to plant a month before our ground was free from frost. 

 It is at all times desirable to get all the work done that we can 

 in the fall, to avoid the spring pressure at home. 



Lilies should most surely be planted in the autumn, and also 

 Narcissuses and other bulbs. It does seem sometimes that Lilies 

 are not appreciated as they deserve in our outdoor effects. At 

 Kew last summer I was impressed with the freedom with which 

 they were planted, not alone in their natural order, but among 

 beds of low-growing shrubs and evergreens, especially Rhodo- 

 dendrons. The effect was very beautiful at the time of my 

 visit, and would be for the greater part of the summer, as 

 the various species came into bloom. We can grow these 

 beautiful plants here with as great or greater success 

 Japan Lilies are well adapted to our climate here in the East- 

 ern States, and with few exceptions are permanent garden plants. 

 This is easily explained by the fact that our territory east of the 

 Alleghanies is identical in extent and latitude with that of Japan 

 the climate also being very similar, having the same extremes of 

 heat and cold, so that plants from the East thrive here much bet- 

 ter than in Europe. To illustrate, I was much surprised to see 

 at KcAV last summer large numbers of Hydrangea 'panicAilata 

 grown in pots in the greenhouses, and, on asking the reason, was 

 told that they could not flower them unless the growth was 

 ripened up indoors. We ought to see more Lilies planted here in 

 gardens ; they are impatient of a dry soil in summer, or of one in 

 which moisture is superabundant in winter, but in ordinary gar- 

 den soil they thrive with great success. The best of all positions 

 is among the Rhododendrons, and here we can have a succession 



