COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 121 



network of small fibrous roots. The character of a 

 plant's roots will also tell him something about when 

 it should be planted, a matter in which many gar- 

 deners are cm-iously unintelligent. As a general rule, 

 deep-rooting plants are best moved or divided in the 

 autumn, because then their roots have time to re- 

 cover and strike down as soon as growth begins in 

 the spring. Such plants cannot usually be moved 

 without much damage to their roots, and before their 

 roots have recovered they are apt to suffer much from 

 drought. If they are moved in the spring and if a 

 drought follows upon their moving, they will not re- 

 cover before the summer heats, and then they will 

 live but a miserable life until the next year. Yet one 

 finds that many gardeners are just as ready to move 

 Oriental Poppies in April as Pansies; and if the Pop- 

 pies remain miserable, stunted, and half withered 

 tufts all the summer, the gardener regards it as an 

 "act of God," not as the result of his own stupidity. 

 Of course, if a deep-rooting plant is not very hardy 

 it should be planted in the spring, and if it is but a 

 a small plant that can be moved with little or no in- 

 jury to its roots spring planting will not check its 

 growth. On the other hand, surface-rooting plants 

 can usually be moved in spring without checking 

 their growth at all, and in heavy soils the spring is 

 often the best time for planting them, so that they 

 may be strong and well-established before they have 

 to endure a winter. There are no arbitrary rules about 

 the time for planting or dividing. Most plants can be 



