POPULAR PERENNIALS 169. 



insure a succession of flowers. Wlien these few 

 points are mastered — surely not much to know 

 about plants which are to be introduced in our 

 yards or gardens as our companions for several 

 years to come — effective groupings can be ar- 

 ranged without difficulty. For instance, where 

 peonies are planted, phloxes could also be 

 used; the bed or border then would not be bar- 

 ren of bloom when the peonies have departed 

 in early summer. As another instance, orien- 

 tal poppies would not be planted by themselves 

 if the situation selected were a conspicuous one, 

 for the planner and planter would know that, 

 by the end of June, when the poppies have 

 bloomed, the foliage of the plants becomes rag- 

 ged and, a little later, disappears entirely. To 

 avoid leaving a gap in the border or a barren 

 bed in the yard, other perennials, later in their 

 period of blooming, would be planted with the 

 poppies to follow with flower and foliage when 

 the latter have ceased to be decorative. 



Perennials serve another exceedingly useful 

 purpose when planted with shrubs. When the 

 blossom of the latter has passed, the herbaceous 

 plants will throw their flower spikes to add a 

 touch of color here, another there, to groups 

 which otherwise would be without flower. 



