7G 



A LITTLE BOOK OF PERENNIALS 



And in form, how diverse! We see the dolphin in the unopen bud. 

 We note a bee gathering nectar from a bloom and find, instead, that 

 it is the hairy petals at its center. We regard the tall spikes and see 

 them covered by countless horns-of-plenty, some of them pouring gold. 

 Uses. Can a garden be planted without Larkspurs? Foliage 

 flower, habit and all, every garden lover must have them. The tall, 

 the short, the perennial, the annual— they are indispensable in their 

 chosen places. Consider the long season of pleasure at seeing them in 

 full splendor. Day after day in June, July, and often in September, 

 new spikes open their blossoms. Erect and stately against a fence, 

 majestic accents in a mixed border, sturdy and hardy in the cottage 

 garden, as well as modest and delicate in the beds of annuals, the 

 Larkspurs are incomparable. 



Varieties. The catalogs should be consulted for varieties of 

 Larkspurs; there are many very superior named sorts and in all cases 

 more to be trusted for color and habit than plants grown from seed. 



The modern race has 

 been greatly improved 

 through years of ef- 

 fort, especially in Eng- 

 land. Recently we in 

 America are develop- 

 ing varieties of our 

 own which are better 

 suited to our climate. 

 Besides the tall sorts, 

 the garden lover 

 should note the 

 Chinese Larkspur 

 fisted in his catalog. 

 This is a true joy as 

 it blooms throughout 

 the Summer, yielding 

 short stems crowded 

 with white, pink or 

 violet flowers. The 

 Chinese Larkspurs dif- 

 fer from most other 

 perennial sorts by 

 having finely divided 

 leaves. The real en- 



A noble clump of hardy Larkspur thusiast is tomptod by 



