PLANTING DAFFODILS IN-DOORS 81 



tracts attention and gives delight. Other varieties, the 

 best native sorts and new hybrids, have larger flowers, vary- 

 ing from white to lilac, violet, and light blue in color. Most 

 are but two or three feet in height, but the New England 

 Aster, in its variously colored varieties, attains a height of 

 four feet, and well deserves place in the back of the border. 

 It would be interesting to transplant clumps of the various 

 asters native to any school district or its vicinity to the school 

 garden, and there study the effect upon them of a rich soil 

 and regular culture. The first school garden in America, 

 that at the George Putnam School in Boston, was very suc- 

 cessful in this work with wild plants. 



Most of the tall perennials may be grown from seed with- 

 out difficulty, with the exception of special varieties of asters. 

 The seed should be started in a cold-frame, or be protected 

 by a board placed on pegs above the furrow until germina- 

 tion has taken place. If started early, several sorts will give 

 bloom the first season. Since these plants multiply so 

 rapidly by division, however, and thrive best when the 

 clumps are divided every year or two, they can readily be 

 obtained for a school or home garden from neighbors \vho 

 have established them in their own gardens. Thereby the 

 school receives plants from homes already interested in gar- 

 dening, then distributes their product to other homes of its 

 district. 



PLANTING DAFFODILS IN-DOORS 



The spring flowering bulbs are so easy of cultivation, so 

 interesting to handle, require so little window room, and 

 yield such varied types of beauty that one might depend 

 entirely upon them for the winter display of flowers. In the 



