26 BEGINNER'S BOOK OF GARDENING 



better planted not later than September, and herbaceous 

 plants are best moved at a time when their old stems 

 have died down and new growth has not commenced. 

 Most hardy perennials are propagated by division of the 

 roots, but many are easily raised from seed. The seed 

 should, as a rule, be thinly sown in April, in pots, the 

 surface of the earth having been previously watered. 

 The seed should be just covered with fine soil and a 

 piece of glass placed over the top to check evaporation. 

 As soon as the seedlings are above ground, the glass 

 should be removed, and when the young plants are fit 

 to handle, they should be transplanted into separate 

 pots, and gradually hardened off. The pots in which 

 the seeds are sown should be placed in a cold frame 

 or an unheated greenhouse, and kept there until the 

 seedlings are fit to transplant. 



The number of beautiful herbaceous plants is almost 

 infinite, but we shall give here a short selection of 

 plants arranged according to their height and according 

 to the season in which they flower. These lists will 

 be of some help to the beginner until he has had time 

 and experience to select for himself. 



Some few years ago the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 as the result of a large number of inquiries, drew up a 

 list of the most valuable hardy summer perennials, and 

 from their lists the following abridged lists have been 

 prepared : — 



The most useful perennial herbaceous border plants, 

 4 feet high and upwards. 



Delphinium — cardinale, formosum vars.. Belladonna, 



hybridum vars. 

 Rudbeckia — laciniata, maxima, nitida, purpurea. 

 Kniphofia — caulescens, nobilis, Uvaria. 

 Thalictrum — aquilegifolium, glaucum. 



