60 
Dividing Hardy Plants. 
The advantages of a frequent division of 
the tufts of many of our best hardy plants 
are so great that the practice can be strongly 
recommended, and should be extensively 
adopted. Opinions vary as to the best time 
for the work, some preferring the autumn, 
others the spring. After an extensive prac- 
tice of the system for several years I prefer 
the months of March and April. 
Plants that are divided during October 
and November do not make fresh root 
growth, and therefore, even if firmly planted, 
they are apt to be thrown out by frost, and 
in wet or heavy soils the newly-divided 
pieces will even perish during the winter, 
as I found out once to my cost, as I lost a 
good stock of Coreopsis lanceolata, which 
was divided and boldly grouped in autumn. 
It rotted, however, during the winter. This 
was an exceptional case, as the tufts were 
divided into very small pieces and the soil 
was both wet and heavy. On the other 
hand, I once divided tufts of the same plant 
into small pieces early in June and planted 
them carefully and every one grew. They 
were in bloom by July, and continued to 
flower most profusely till severe frost set in. 
This example of failure and success with 
the same plant shows that an operation of a 
most useful character may have disastrous 
results if carried out at the wrong time. 
Generally in March or April the beds and 
borders of hardy plants are overhauled with 
a view to putting them in order for the sea- 
son. The old and orthodox way is to dig 
around the respective tufts and ruthlessly 
chop in any that have overrun the prescribed 
space. Often these are the very things that 
need dividing, and they can be most suc- 
cessfully done at the present time. Where 
a tuft of a good thing has grown large it 
would be best to lift it and shake out, or, if 
necessary, wash out from the roots the ad- 
hering soil, when dividing becomes a very 
simple operation, easily carried out. If a 
few roots are secured with each piece they 
will suffice to keep the plant firm in the 
ground and alive till new root action com- 
mences, which at this time of the year means 
almost immediately. Of course, this whole- 
sale practice of dividing must not be univer- 
sally applied, because, as is well known, there 
are some good hardy plants that resent dis- 
turbance at the root, and which, when once 
established in good, well-prepared soil, will 
stand for some years. Among these are the 
rhizomatous section of Irises, Day Lilies, 
Peonies, Tritomas, Plantain Lilies, and many 
others. 
As a general rule, however, most of the 
fibrous- rooted and tufted hardy plants espe- 
cially such as the Phloxes, Michaelmas Dai- 
sies, perennial Sunflowers, Rudbeckias, Helen- 
iums, Campanulas, (Enotheras, etc., can be 
divided with ease. Moreover, these are 
things that it is most desirable to have in 
quantity both from their effectiveness and 
usefulness for cutting, so that instead of 
leaving a few scattered tufts to form part of 
a confused and inartistic arrangement, the 
same tufts freely divided will give sufficient 
stock to plant in bold groups, which will have 
a more telling effect. Considering the 
trouble taken in propagating and preserving 
a stock of tender things for the flower gar- 
den, it is rather surprising that we have not 
attempted to increase some of our best and 
least troublesome, because most hardy 
plants. We are now finding out that the 
annual or biennial dividing and transplanting 
into fresh soil tend to materially prolong the 
season of blooming, even from weeks into 
months, and in these cases the old objection 
of the short blooming season, even if it ever 
could be legitimately urged, must now be 
waived. The development of a most desir- 
able quality, namely, continuity of flowering, 
will enable such plants, though hardy, to 
play an important part, even in the flower 
Slower (Brower 
garden arrangements especially designed 
for the summer’s display.— A. G. in Gar- 
dening Illustrated. (English.) 
James E. Russell. 
In the little city of Paulding, Ohio, on 
West Jackson street, is a blacksmith 
shop where the fire was wont to glow 
from early morning until the shades of 
night came down like an unfolding cur- 
tain o’er town and country. Here the 
sturdy smith and his brawny assistant 
worked together for twenty-two years 
shoeing horses, mending broken imple- 
ments and machinery for the thriving 
country folk who knew the worth of 
good honest work. 
Jim Russell was honored for his care- 
ful work and loved for the kindness of 
his heart. His worthy helper, who had 
been with him for twenty-two years 
tells us that not once in all those years 
was an unkind word spoken to him by 
his employer. 
For many years Russell was a hunter, 
and a lover of horses and devoted his 
leisure hours to such sports; but some 
years ago through his association with 
flower-loving friends he became inter- 
ested in flowers and in his garden grow 
the choicest Peonies, Gladioli, Iris, flow- 
ering shrubs and flowers of all kinds. 
He studied his flowers, the soil they re- 
quired, their habits of growth, pollena- 
tion and reproduction from seed, so 
well, and cultivated so carefully, that 
his garden was the resort of flower 
lovers for all the country round and in 
the late days of May and the early days 
of June, when the Peonies were in bloom 
and the perfume of his flowering shrubs 
filled the air, or when his Gladioli were 
blooming, his garden was visited by 
many noted flower specialists. 
F Oft he would steal away from his 
shop in the summer time to wander 
among his loved flowers to give them a 
little study or a needed care, or mayhap 
to visit the garden of some flower-loving 
friend. 
All winter long he was planning his 
work for the coming season, studying 
catalogues, placing orders and planning 
anew the form of his garden. 
Some weeks since he was injured by 
a horse which he was shoeing and was 
confined to his home for some days, 
but was reported as progressing well. 
On Sunday morning, Feb. 22, after shav- 
ing himself and carefully dressing, he 
asked for his floral catalogues. Mrs. 
Russell was aiding him to return to his 
couch when he collapsed and soon the 
silver cord was loosened, the golden 
bowl was broken and he passed from 
among the living to the Gardens of 
Paradise. 
He was a member of the American 
Peony Society and a charter member of 
the recently organized American Iris 
Society. He was a Knight Templar and 
among his flower loving friends was 
Sir Knight William Hall Phipps who 
wrote the following poem in commem- 
oration of his esteem of Mr. Russell and 
of the traits of character which devel- 
oped like the bloom of flowers that he 
loved so well. 
J. H. Neeley. 
April, 1920 
IN MEMORIAM. 
JAMES E. RUSSELL. 
There was music in the anvil 
When it rang with mighty blows 
From the arm of corded sinews, 
All the day to night’s repose; 
And the clanging iron did answer 
With a song of tingling joy, 
While the swinging hammer shaped it 
For some useful new employ. 
And his glowing face was lighted 
With a welcome when you came 
To hear the anvil ringing 
While the sparks a-circle, flame. 
Oft his kindly words were spoken 
As he lay his hammer low, 
And turned to swing the bellows 
’Till the forge was all aglow. 
When his daily toil was over, 
In the sunny days of June, 
He would wander in his garden 
Where all nature was atune. 
Where the Peony and the Lilac 
Were the flowers that he chose 
He had laid aside the hammer 
For the beauty of the Rose. 
He has laid aside the hammer 
And the anvil rings no more 
For the twilight shadows gather 
And his labors now are o’er, 
We will leave him in his garden 
With his flowers to repose. 
He has laid aside the hammer 
For the ever blooming Rose. 
— William Hall Phipps. 
j Northwestern Peony 
and Iris Society. j 
W. F. CHRISTMAN, Secretary. 1 
= aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMimimiiiiiiiiiniiMiiiiMiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiMMiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiMiiminir 
The month of April to me has always been 
one of the most promising months of the 
year, for it is during this month that we gen- 
erally get our first glimpse of budding life, 
birds that have returned to cheer us with 
their song and other manifestations of spring 
activities that always mean so much to the 
flower lover. As I gaze from my window, 
the stately Court House tower across the 
way is covered with frost that makes it ap- 
pear as a huge snow pile, the sun is smiling 
with all its wondrous beauty upon mother 
earth and the heavy mantle of snow that has 
been in evidence all winter will soon be a 
memory. There is still fresh in our minds 
the recollections of wielding a snow shovel 
most energetically in order to make a pas- 
sage-way to the streets where the snow plow 
has preceded us, but these thoughts melt away 
as we prepare our garden tools for the work 
that will soon be in full sway. We are still 
a little apprehensive that spring has really 
come to stay, for anyone familiar with the 
eccentricities of Minnesota’s climate has only 
to live here for a season or two to fully sat- 
isfy themselves on this score. We are confi- 
dent, however, that within a short period of 
time we shall greet the tender shoots of spring 
flowers as they venture forth to gladden our 
hearts and beautify our surroundings for 
another season. 
With these early arrivals we know the Iris 
and the Peony will welcome us and we are 
again preparing a royal welcome for their 
first appearance. I wish each of our mem- 
bers wouR. make it a point to make notes and 
study their varieties very carefully this spring 
so they will be able to make a complete re- 
port at the end of the blooming season. I 
still have a supply of Peony questionnaires 
that I will be pleased to furnish anyone in- 
terested. These blanks will be found very 
