♦TT LTMOUGH popularly known as old-fashioned plants 

 r\ Perennials have never been so popular as they are 

 « at the present time, and we feel safe in saying that 



a perm-inent taste for this class of plants has been devel- 

 oped, which is certain to continue and make Perennials as 

 popular in the United States as they have been in the lioni- 

 ticultural centres of Europe for many years. While there is 

 much richness in the intricate lines of carpet bedding, and 

 much gorgeousness about a large bed of highly colored 

 ■Geraniums, the eye of the true lover of flo 



jrows tired 

 of these, on ac- 

 count of the general same- 

 ^/T ness and monotonous uni- 

 formity of lines and color, 

 whereas a small bed or border, 

 even of less than 50 species, of Per- 

 ennials, can be so arranged as to present 

 something fresh continuously during the 

 entire season, and, by the addition of a few 

 early-flowering bulbs, flowers appear almost 

 as soon as snow leaves the ground, and con- 

 tinue until late in the autumn ; yes, even on frosty 

 mornings, when all tender plants have been killed, 

 the Hardy Pompone Chrysanthemums may be cut by 

 the armful, sparkling with crystals of frost, none the 

 worse for their exposure. 



Cultivation is of the simplest, beginning with any good 



garden soil for a foundation, which may be enriched with any 



good fertilizer, such as well decomposed covi' manure or bone meal, 



deeply dug, well pulverized, in which the plants should be set as early in the season 



as possible, so as to enable them to become well rooted and established before hot, 



dry weather sets in, keeping the ground well stirred, and where it is not convenient 



to water the beds during hot, dry weather, a mulch of any loose material, which will 



keep the soil from baking, will be found very beneficial. Short grass, the rakings of 



the lawn after cutting, will be as good for this purpose as anything. 



A covering of manure should be applied in the fall ; this may be forked into the soil 



early in spring, and, beyond this, little care need be given, the occasional staking of a 



plant, the cutting off of decaying flowers, which will prolong the flowering season of many 



species, and the dividing and replanting occasionally of such varieties that have become 



too large, being all that is needed. 



Many additions have been made to our collection this season, and, though our list is per- 

 haps not the largest offered, it is the most complete and up-to-date collection in the country, our 

 aim being to offer only the most desirable, excluding all weedy and undesirable sorts. 

 For such of our customers who are not acquainted with the different varieties we offer the follow- 

 ing collections, that, when once planted, will, with very little care, keep the garden gay with flowers from 

 the lime frost leaves the ground until late in the autumn: 



12 iHstinct species, our selection $1 50 1 50 distinct species and varieties, our selection $ 5 50 



25 " " " " 3 00 1100 " ' " " 10 00 



(149) 



