THE PERENNIAL BORDER 



215 



Fig. 74. — ^Thb Habdy Plant Border. The irregular perennial border is best 

 placed on the outskirts of the lawn, but an equally pleasing eflfect can be produced 

 along a straight walk bordered with hardy flowering plants set against a background 



of shrubs 



all of these perennial plants have attractive foliage or are good to 

 look at when out of flower. If a customer insists on having a long, 

 narrow border filled with a row of Peonies, give it to her, but call 

 attention to the fact that something else should go with the Peonies. 

 For such a border a display of bulbous stock in Spring, followed by 

 Gladioli, Snapdragons or other annuals might be suggested. The 

 foUage of Peonies stays good almost aU Summer, but that is about 

 all that can be said about it. 



On the smaller home grounds the most satisfactory way to 

 get the most out of perennials or biennials is to plant them in an 

 irregular border, maybe with a background of shrubs. If the border 

 is six feet or so in width, you can plant them in groups and arrange 

 things so as to have flowers coming along over the greater part of 

 the season. But even here, you won't make a mistake by leaving 

 spaces for annuals between the clumps or groups. 



You cannot afford to take an acre of your own and spend a lot 

 of money preparing the soil for the planting of perennials; but if 

 there is a chance and if the owner is willing to pay for it, always 

 work the beds and borders over deeply and put enough manure in 

 them. If the soil is very poor, put good loam in its place; you will 



