OCTOBER 136 



in dry summers, even with mulching and watering, 

 I cannot keep them from drying up. The outside 

 pieces are cut off and the woody middle thrown away. 

 It is surprising what a tiny bit of Phlox will make a 

 strong flowering plant in one season. The kinds I 

 like best are the pure whites and the salmon-reds; 

 but two others that I find very pretty and useful 

 are Eugenie, a good mauve, and Le Soleil, a strong 

 pink, of a colour as near a really good pink as in any 

 Phlox I know. Both of these have a neat and rather 

 short habit of growth. I do not have many Michael- 

 mas Daisies in the flower border, only some early ones 

 that flower within September ; of these there are the 

 white-flowered A. paniculatus; Shortii, acris, and amelltis. 

 These of course come up, and any patches of Gladiolus 

 are collected, to be dried for a time and then stored. 



The next thing is to look through the border for 

 the plants that require occasional renewal. In the 

 front I find that a longish patch of Heuchera Richard- 

 soni has about half the plants overgrown. These must 

 come up, and are cut to pieces. It is not a nice plant 

 to divide; it has strong middle crowns, and though 

 there are many side ones, they are attached to the 

 "nain ones too high up to have roots of their own ; but 

 I boldly slice down the main stocky stem with straight 

 downward cuts, so as to give a piece of the thick stock 

 to each side bit. I have done this both in winter and 

 spring, and find the spring rather the best, if not 

 followed by drought. Groups of Anemone japonica and 



