i8o HARDY PERENNIALS 
way will simply break into fresh growth. If allowed 
to grow in a tangled mass the greater part of the 
branches will be smothered so that they do not 
ripen. The proper method is to tie out the long 
strong shoots, leaving them their full length. Then 
cut hard back all short, spindly and tangled growth, 
thus admitting air and sunlight to the strong wood. 
The pruning should be done in early Summer, and 
again before growth starts in Spring, any side-shoots 
that have felt the hand of Winter should be cut 
away. In this manner a strong hard-wooded plant 
is built up, and it is from such that flowers are 
produced in abundance. 
Potentilla. — With leaves like those of the Straw- 
berry we have a host of single-fiowered Potentillas, 
that resemble also the Strawberry blossom in shape, 
but the colours include clear yellows, delicate buff 
and salmon, as in P. Hopwoodiana, orange and terra- 
cotta in P. Tonguei, and the brightest of scarlets as 
in argyrophylla atrosanguinea or Gibson's scarlet, 
as well as many lovely intermediate tints. 
Larger and more showy are the double-iiowered 
Florist's type, of which named varieties are obtain- 
able which are capital subjects for prominent 
positions in the border. A well-drained, gritty soil 
is best suited to Potentillas, their only suspicion 
of delicate constitution being a dislike of excessive 
moisture in Winter. 
Primula. — So extensive, so engrossing, and so 
varied in character and cultural requirements are 
