44 HARDY PERENNIALS 
It is well to allow time for the soil to settle after 
digging and before planting, otherwise there is 
danger of fine particles being washed from around 
the roots into the crevices between larger clods, 
and this renders it difficult and sometimes impos- 
sible for the plants to gain a fresh roothold in their 
new quarters. 
A question frequently asked by novices is : 
' When is the proper time for transplanting her- 
baceous plants ? ' Too often the answers are 
given in general terms, suggesting that Autumn 
and Spring are suitable seasons for all such operations. 
It is perfectly true that planting of most things 
in most places may be successfully done in Autumn 
or in Spring, but whereas on light dry soils Autumn 
planting is better than Spring, because the latter 
involves risk of injury to the plants through drought 
setting in before they have made good root, a great 
many losses may be involved by planting in late 
Autumn where the soil is stiff, heavy and liable to 
be excessively wet during the Winter. 
That should be the first consideration, and 
obviously is a point that the individual should best 
be able to decide for himself. 
Another very good rule is that early flowering 
plants move best in Autumn simply because dis- 
turbance of the roots in Spring inflicts a check from 
which the plant has not time to recover before it 
should be in bloom. Autumn-flowering plants are 
so full of growth and sap until the advent of sharp 
