FLOWERS FOR THE HARDY GARDEN 



3 



Jn planting lor color ellect, the shades or red from scarlet to orange will be found the hardest to handle- 

 d these are eliminated it will be comparatively smooth sailing. Reds and pinks are better used in harmony 

 or sequence rather than in contrasts, while the opposite is true of blue, which perhaps gives the best elfect 

 in a setting ol white or pale yellow (not bright yellow) or combined with certain lavenders and violets 

 Plenty of white is always indispensable. Of course these are the merest hints; anyone interested in this 

 will do well to consult "The Well Considered Garden," by Mrs. Frances King (perhaps the most useful and 

 suggestive gardening book that has been published in America) as well as Miss Jekyll's classic, "Color 

 Schemes for the Flower-Garden. " 



PREPARATION OF SOIL 



I cannot too strongly advise a thorough preparation of the ground before the plants are set out. Every- 

 one who can afford it should remove the soil to a depth of two feet, (ill in the first foot with well-rotted 

 manure and the remaining space with good loam well mixed with one-fourth manure. Or fill the whole 

 depth with the top soil, mixed with one-third rotted manure. Prepared in this way the borders will need 

 110 extra fertilizer for several years, and the depth of mellow soil will encourage the plants to send out very 

 deep roots, thus giving them a reserve of strength and moisture during the long and trying dry spells so 

 apt to occur during our summers. 1 do not, of course, mean that one can have no success with perennials 

 without doing all this,— on the contrary, many flowers will make a brave showing in ground that has received 

 no more than a thorough spading up — nevertheless, it is false economy to stint one's garden in this matter; 

 the improvement from extra preparation will be quite out of proportion to the labor and expense involved! 



Late September and early October are the best times to set out the majority of perennials. Planted 

 then, they will make some root-growth before winter and be ready to start growing at the first sign of 

 warm weather. In the spring, early planting is advisable, if one wishes a good elfect the first year. 



Wait until the ground freezes fairly hard before protecting the garden for the winter with three or 

 four inches (>r loose stable litter. It should be distinctly understood that the purpose of this mulch is not 

 to keep the plants from freezing but to keep them frozen. A steady cold will injure very few plants; it is the 

 alternate Ireezing and thawing of our rainy changeable winters that plays havoc with them, especially if 

 they are newly set out or inclined to be tender. 



PLANNING THE HARDY GARDEN 



To venture any directions or suggestions concerning the general design or arrangement of the hardy 

 garden would be fat outside the scope or this catalog. The most userul books on these subjects for the pro- 

 spective (lower-gardener arc: "The American Flower Garden," by Neltje Blanchan, SI. 50; "Continuous 

 Bloom in America," by Louise Shelton, $2; "The Well Considered Garden," by Mrs. Frances King $2- 

 and, finally, "Color Schemes for the Flower Garden," by Gertrude Jekyll, $3.7*5. Aside from the more 

 purely decorative and artistic side, there is no more concise and satisfactory book than 'A Woman's 

 Hardy Garden," by Helena Rutherfurd Ely, $1.75, for learning how to prepare for and take care of all 

 the usual hardy perennials. And every ambitious gardener who can afford it should own a copy of the 

 English Flower Garden" ($6), if only for its invaluable and wonderfully comprehensive reference list of 

 garden plants. For the convenience of my customers I have arranged with the publishers that these books 

 may be ordered ol me, il so desired. 



