LTerbaceous Perennials. 587 
and mixed with it. The method of planting will be deter- 
mined by the taste and requirements of the cultivator. The 
principal considerations are: size and colour, and flowering 
season, and space for the introduction of bedding plants 
where it is desirable. There should also be some proportion 
in the relative size of the plants of different species. Frec- 
growing species that soon cover a large space should be kept 
in check, and the more delicate ones encouraged by special 
study of their habits and peculiar likings. Thinning out of 
superfluous stems and supports where needed should always be 
seen to as soon as needful. The stakes or other supports used 
should be selected according to the respective heights of the 
plants, and as much hidden from view as circumstances will 
permit. If painted green, so much the better, as they are then 
less striking ; but even common hazel or other stakes with the 
bark on are scarcely noticeable when properly putin. Nothing 
is more unsightly than the common practice of tying up the 
stems of a plant like a broom to a single rough stake standing 
a foot or two higher than the plant itself. One support or 
more may be necessary according to the habit of the plant, and 
in no case should they exceed the full-grown plant. Care 
should be taken to preserve the natural habit of each species. 
The best material for tying is bast or soft string. Much time 
is gained by performing this and many other operations as soon 
as the plants are sufficiently advanced; and not only time in 
this case, but likewise a better effect. For when plants are 
neglected, the stems spread out and lean in all directions, so 
that when they are tied up they remain unsightly for some 
time, even if they ever assume an elegant appearance, in con- 
sequence of the stems being crooked and the leaves twisted. 
A large proportion of the perennials in general cultivation 
are easily propagated either fram off-sets, cuttings, or seeds in 
the open borders; hut that is not the case with many of those 
species which will not bear root-division, and whose seeds are 
very minute. The familiar Wallflowers, Pansies, Polyanthuses, 
Monkshood, Columbines, Antirrhinums, Michaelmas Daisy, 
Scarlet Lychnis, Arabis albida, London Pride, &c., owe, no 
doubt, some portion of their popularity to the facility with 
which they are increased. Where, as in the case of Antir- 
rhinum, Polyanthus, Larkspur and Pansy, propagation is 
usually from seed, this should be thinly sown in beds or 
patches, not earlier than the middle of March, as it will then 
