September : Fourth Week 



PERENNIALS FOR PLANTING AND RE-PLANTING 

 THIS FALL: PHLOX, IRIS, PEONIES 



Most perennials can be planted in the fall with advantage, 

 because there is more time to do the work, and they will get 

 a stronger and much earlier start, than would be possible by 

 spring planting. The spring blooming perennials, in fact, 

 must be planted in the fall if one would be certain of resftolts 

 the first year. In addition to new beds to be made, or new 

 plants added to one's collection, there are quite sure to be a 

 number of perennials which should be taken up, separated, 

 and replanted, to continue to give the best results. Both 

 those which form new "crowns," like Golden Glow (rud- 

 beckia), hehanthus, Physostegia, and others similar, and 

 those which propagate by making increasingly larger 

 clumps, such as phlox, hibiscus, iris, and others of similar 

 growth, gradually exhaust the plant food and overcrowd, 

 reaching a point, after several seasons' growth, where they 

 will deteriorate rapidly unless separated and replanted; 

 preferably they should be given fresh soil, although replant- 

 ing in the same place, after the ground has been thoroughly 

 dug and enriched, will renew their vigor and size. 



As all of this work will more or less upset the garden it is 

 best to delay it until after the first killing frosts. New beds 

 or borders, however, should be made in the meantime. 

 They should be trenched to a depth of some two feet. Nat- 

 ural drainage should be good, and the beds so located that 

 no surface water will stand on them during the winter. 

 As the plants are to remain for several years, the soil can 

 hardly be made too rich, and plenty of coarse ground bone 

 should be used in addition to the manure or compost em- 

 ployed, as this will decay gradually and continues to furnish 

 an even supply of plant food for several years. 



240 



