HARDY HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS. 



341 



plant it with a collection of hardy plants, would 

 be to court failure. By applying the same 

 common-sense principles to the preparation of 

 the ground for these plants as to the prepara- 

 tion of a good kitchen-garden satisfactory results 

 may be expected. 



If the border is skirted by trees or shrubs it 

 must be periodically freed from the encroach- 

 ments of their roots. This is the one drawback 

 to such a position, which in all other respects 

 is the best. Although some authorities recom- 

 mend the planting of the herbaceous border so 

 that it will not require digging or renovating 

 for years, in practice we find that it pays to 

 lift the plants and re-trench and manure the 

 border every second or third year. Unless this 

 is done the strong-growing plants encroach on 

 their weaker neighbours, often killing them 

 outright. It is a bad practice to attempt to 

 prevent this by cutting off with a spade all 

 the outside of the clumps, as this means the 

 destruction of the youngest and most vigorous 

 portions in favour of the old and weakened. 

 Such plants as Asters and Sunflowers, and even 

 Lilies, are much better when lifted periodically 

 and replanted. On the other hand, there are 

 those which are best left undisturbed; for in- 

 stance, Paeonies, Hellebores, and Phloxes are 

 impatient of root-disturbance. The restriction 

 of the roots of trees and shrubs would form a 

 part of the operation of the periodical renova- 

 tion of the border. Whether the plants are to 

 be grown in borders, or in beds on the lawn, 

 or in groups amongst shrubs, the same thorough- 

 ness in regard to preparation of the soil is de- 

 sirable. 



A word on staking will not be out of place, 

 for on the neatness and appropriateness with 

 which this is done in a very great measure 

 depends the satisfactory appearance of a border 

 of this sort. As a rule never stake unless sup- 

 port is absolutely required. In our opinion 

 there is no operation in connection with the 

 management of herbaceous plants in which dis- 

 cretion and knowledge are more essential than 

 in this; nothing looks more unnatural than to 

 see a procumbent plant tied up to a stake, and 

 nothing worse than to see a strong stake placed 

 where a slender one would do, or a stake ob- 

 truding itself on our notice, as it is sure to do 

 if it be twice the height of the plant. That 

 knowledge is absolutely essential in whoever 

 allots the stakes to the different plants will, 

 we think, be obvious when we say that the 

 supports should be furnished in the early stages 

 of growth so as to secure the young shoots 



while perfectly erect, and prevent them from 

 being blown about by the wind; since the partial 

 dislocation that takes place in their falling 

 down is almost sure to be completed in the 

 attempt to render them amenable to any tying 

 process afterwards. 



The arrangement of the plants in a mixed 

 border requires a knowledge of the plants 

 themselves and of their requirements as to 

 position and space. " It is here that we can 

 show the true summer flowers at their best; 

 but it is here, more than anywhere else, that 

 the ' art of many sacrifices ' must be put in 

 practice. For the main spaces plants should 

 be chosen of bold and striking beauty, but 

 as a border of all large plants would have a 

 kind of monotony, certain spaces, chiefly to- 

 wards the front, but also running back in many 

 parts among groups of taller things, should be 

 planted with those of taller growth. The chief 

 plants for such a border are Oriental Poppies, 

 Paeonies, the boldest of the Irises, Day Lilies, 

 herbaceous Spiraeas, (Enotheras, a few of the 

 best Campanulas, Delphiniums, Lilies, three or 

 four of the best perennial Sunflowers, the tall 

 blue Sea Holly, Kniphofias, Mulleins, Thalic- 

 trums, Dahlias, Hollyhocks, and a few others. 

 These are the plants that will form the great 

 effects of the border. The nearer parts and 

 some spaces between the taller growths should 

 have groups of plants of lower stature, and yet 

 of a somewhat bold form of foliage. Of these the 

 broad-leaved Saxifragas and Funkias are among 

 the best. Still dwarfer plants, such as Pinks 

 and Pansies, are suitable for the extreme edge. 

 Each kind of plant in the mixed border should 

 stand in a bold group, and the groups, differing 

 in size and shape according to the aspect of the 

 plant, should follow one another in a carefully- 

 arranged sequence of colour, keeping plants 

 of a colour together, such as Mulleins with 

 Oenotheras, and Kniphofias with Oriental Poppy. 

 In the case of the last-named it is convenient 

 to actually intergroup the two kinds, for the 

 foliage of the Poppies dies away early, and the 

 blank space it would have left becomes covered 

 by the later-growing leaves of the autumn- 

 blooming Kniphofias (Tritomas). In practice it 

 is perhaps best to exclude bulbous plants from 

 the mixed border, as the disturbing of the 

 ground occasioned by division of the plants 

 and manuring is perilous to the bulbs. Ex- 

 ception should be made in favour of three 

 common Lilies, L. candidum, L. bulbifcrum, and 

 L. tigrinum. 



"Some families of plants, especially those 



