342 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1913 



Pyrethrum may be used successfully for landscape effects 



of growth. That is not the size of dump, but size of indi- 

 vidual plants, — stalks, leaves and flowers. Furthermore, 

 it may be said that as a general thing those Perennials which 

 bloom early in the season and form a "crown" with compact 

 roots, such as the Peonies and Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra), 

 do not need to be separated and replanted for a number of 

 years. While, on the other hand, those which make a 

 greater amount of blown later in .the season (usually making 

 a greater growth of wood and foliage in proportion to the 

 flowers borne), and of which the original plant dies out 

 each Fall — such as hardy Asters and hardy Sun-flowers and 

 "Golden Glow" (Rudbeckia) — should be replanted every 

 season or every other season at least. This is easily accom- 

 plished by taking two or three of the strongest of the new 

 plants which form around the old, forking the ground thor- 

 oughly — adding manure, bone meal or sheep manure to en- 

 rich it — 'and resetting. The surplus plants should be either 

 set out elsewhere or given or thrown away. This will not 

 only insure better results than would be 

 obtained otherwise from flowers of this 

 class, but will protect the weaker sorts 

 that are less vigorous in growth, but not 

 the less beautiful and desirable, from 

 being in the course of a few years en- 

 tirely crowded out. A clump of Rud- 

 beckia, Golden Glow, for instance, if 

 left to itself would in the course of a 

 few years occupy the whole bed and be 

 spreading out into the grass beyond. 



In selecting your plants for the hardy 

 Perennial border and planning their ar- 

 rangement, a number of things should 

 be kept in mind. Avoid "bunching" the 

 season of bloom by not having too many 

 plants that will flower at about the same 

 time. Be careful, too, to see that your 

 collection includes plants of various 

 heights — they range from half a foot 

 to a foot to four or five feet tall. And 

 then there is the color question also to 

 be considered. In this matter many peo- Love-in-a-Mist 



pie make the mistake of putting a number of different 

 varieties of things with colors more or less alike, but not 

 in harmony, near one another. This may be avoided, and 

 better results secured for the general effect besides, by plant- 

 ing the hardy border in long lines rather than in plots 

 or beds. Instead of having all of your Irises or Phloxes or 

 hardy Lilies grouped in one place stretch them out along 

 the whole length of the border, keeping, of course, the 

 tallest things in the background and the lowest growing in 

 front. As a general rule, planning of this kind, colors which 

 contrast with each other are much more harmonious to- 

 gether than those of similar shades which do not "match." 

 This is for the mixed border. The person with a limited 

 amount of space and taking care of 'his or her flowers will 

 find this the most satisfactory sort to plant. Where color 

 or mass effects are wanted, however, for their own sake 

 or as part of a general landscape, stick to one thing; or two 

 sharply contrasting colors of the same thing, such for in- 

 stance as very dark red in hardy 

 Chrysanthemum (Julia Lagravere) con- 

 trasted with a pure white (Princess of 

 Wales or St. Elmo). 



The garden should be arranged first 

 on paper — then if you make mistakes it 

 is an easy matter to rectify them. Draw 

 your border to scale and then divide it 

 up into squares. When your plants 

 arrive a small tag will accompany each 

 one. 



Either fasten this by a wire to a 

 short stake or get some twelve-inch gar- 

 den tags and make a duplicate set. You 

 may think you will remember where 

 everything goes, but long before Spring 

 returns you will have forgotten. And 

 furthermore each plant should be 

 marked so that you will know just where 

 it is when you begin garden work in the 

 Spring, as it may not have started to 

 active growth when you are taking off 

 the mulch or any other surface material. 



