PERENNIALS 97 
familiar bulbs, it is rare to see any plants but 
pansies, English daisies, arabis and forget-me-not 
bedded out in spring. There is a long list to 
choose from, without touching the doubtful flower 
such as various kinds of ranunculus and anemone. 
It is not an expensive form of gardening, if one 
has the time for the additional labor required. 
Seed of perennials does not cost a great deal and 
as soon as a stock is started, propagation by cut- 
tings uses up no money and very little time. 
When seed is purchased, secure the very best 
obtainable. ‘This costs more, but is worth every 
bit of the difference. Americans are apt to imagine 
that they are paying a high price for seed when 
they exchange a dime for a packet and to regard 
a nickel as a sort of standard price. The Eng- 
lish, on the other hand, think nothing of paying 
the equivalent of twenty-four, thirty-six and forty- 
eight cents a packet; they know what superior 
seed means and the choicest is never too good. 
Seed is the best means of securing some of the 
perennials that are not in the American trade. Not 
only is the risk of importing plants done away with, 
but specimens born here are better fitted to stand 
the climate. One of the few American alpine gar- 
dens of importance has been thus stocked. Aside 
from this, the question of using seed depends a 
great deal on circumstances. It is the quickest 
way of getting a considerable quantity of larkspur, 
Iris pseudo-acorus, aubrietia, Baptisia australis, 
blackberry lily (Pardanthus sinensis), oriental 
