98 FLOWER GARDENING 
poppy, Amsonia Tabernaemontana, the maiden 
pink (Dianthus deltoides) and some of the primu- 
las, to name only a few perennials, while it is a 
very slow way to accumulate herbaceous peonies. 
The only thing to go by is a knowledge of habit, 
which varies greatly in the length of time required 
for germination as well as for the attainment of 
the capacity of blooming; it is often difficult to 
get the seed of trollius and Gentiana acaulis to ger- 
minate until its second spring underground. 
Creeping and prostrate plants commonly send 
out a large number of shoots that root readily and, 
indeed, often strike root before being attached. 
All of the spring-blooming phloxes, arabis, doron- 
icum, Polemonium reptans, the ajugas, the veroni- 
cas and the stonecrops are readily propagated in 
this wise. Others, like the primulas and dropwort, 
cannot be grown from cuttings; they form crowns 
that are easily pulled apart. Cuttings may be ta- 
ken of Phlox paniculata, and it grows quickly from 
seed, but for ordinary purposes the best plan is to 
separate the roots. Large clumps may be safely 
cut with the edge of a spade and the same is true 
of Tradescantia virginica, the funkias, hermero- 
callis, Siberian and Japanese iris and all perennials 
that form a mass of roots so closely bound together 
that division by hand is out of the question. 
There need be no fear of taking cuttings, within 
reasonable bounds, or of much subdividing; both 
are good for perennials, which, it must not be for- 
gotten, occasionally thrive more luxuriantly in the 
