PLANTING 



of its foliage, cause it to be loved as dearly as many 

 plants more brilliantly arrayed. 



Spring is also an admirable time of year in which 

 to plant ornamental grasses which are used to give 

 tropical effects in certain places as well as to supply 

 backgrounds for perennials. Clumps of ferns can 

 be planted in naturalistic places in the spring as long 

 as the work is done before their fronds have made 

 enough growth to render them liable to break in trans- 

 portation. Ferns that are not moved until the autumn 

 should be in their new homes not later than the middle 

 of September. 



As with nearly all rules for garden building, the 

 time of planting is subject to many exceptions and 

 modifications. Peonies are much planted in the spring, 

 especially in gardens that are new. They seldom, 

 however, give much satisfaction the first year, often 

 causing disappointment to their owners, who had 

 thought to see them rise and bloom like old and well- 

 established plants. August is the really ideal time to 

 plant peonies. Their bed should then be made deep, 

 amply enriched with manure, and given, if possible, 

 a position open to full sunlight. Barring a liberal 

 mulch in the autumn, the plants can then take care 

 of themselves, and in the following season will give 

 to the garden a wealth of gorgeous bloom. 



The so-called piny of olden gardens, Pceonia offici- 

 nalis flora plena, may be aghast to-day at the number 

 and diversity of relatives which horticultural skill has 

 attained for it, provided that, like other plants, it 

 has the sensibility accredited to it by some observant 



[1391 



