HARDY PERENNIALS FROM SEED 47 



to-day a far greater desire than formerly to raise the best 

 hardy perennials from seeds. At no time in the history 

 of hardy plant gardening have seedsmen in general paid 

 so much attention to this particular branch, and not only 

 are the best-known seed-houses affording increased facilities 

 to purchasers, but new sources of supply are opening up on 

 every hand. This is but the natural outcome of an increased 

 demand, the amateur having realised somewhat of the wealth 

 of beauty and variety such gardening- affords. Hence the 

 raising of perennial plants from seeds is calculated to be far 

 more popular in the future than it has been in the past, and 

 where permanent beds or groups are the object in view, 

 nothing can surpass the system we have in mind. A single 

 plant of this or that may cost sixpence, or even twice that sum, 

 while a packet of seeds, even if of equal cost, which is only 

 rarely the case, may yield two or even three dozen plants. 

 Let us take, for example, so useful a subject as the long- 

 spurred hybrid Columbines. No flowering perennial has a 

 more elegant or distinctive grace, we see at once the value of 

 dozens of plants in beds or borders, a value which is only 

 equalled by the utility of the flowers in the decoration of the 

 home or their importance in the exhibition arena. Moreover, 

 the plant so raised, if grown in well-cultivated soil, will give 

 of its best for years a " best " whose productiveness is 

 increased in proportion to the care and intelligence bestowed 

 in its cultivation. 



In like manner the Gaillardia, Hollyhock, Larkspur, and 

 Coreopsis, among many others, are each amenable to similar 

 treatment, and alike valuable from the decorative point of 

 view. What is most necessary to impress upon the amateur 

 or beginner in gardening who undertakes such work is the 

 need of starting in season and in reason, and of possessing his 

 soul in patience until such time as a first flowering is secured. 

 That energetic individual should remember, too, that a plant of 

 perennial duration does not often attain to the flowering stage 

 in the first year, and that, should a flowering ensue, it should 

 not be regarded as characteristic of the flower or representative 

 of the group to which it belongs. It is quite true, however, 

 that seeds of the perennial Larkspur, among others, may be 

 sown in gentle warmth in January and February, and pushed 

 along with all speed and planted out in May in deeply and 

 richly cultivated soils to give a flowering during the late 

 summer or early autumn ensuing. The fact is interesting 

 rather as the result of intensive cultivation, though it is not 

 general or reliable in all seasons or localities alike. 



