WHEN TO PLANT HARDY FLOWERS. 
is to select genial days for the work, when the soil is 
neither too wet nor too frosty. 
Autumn Planting . — A large number of hardy 
flowers are best transplanted in early autumn — say 
from the middle of September to the end of October 
—chiefly because they happen to flower rather early 
in the year, and spring planting would probably 
spoil the blossom for the season. If planting is done 
much later than October there is a danger of the 
plants with their injured roots being unable to sur- 
vive a hard winter. The cold rains, even more than 
frosts, are responsible for the death of many plants 
in winter, even when they have not been disturbed 
at the roots at all. 
DIGGING AMONG HARDY FLOWERS.— This is 
a matter of great importance. Assuming that one 
has a good collection of well-established hardy her- 
baceous perennials, it is obvious that some little care 
must be exercised if it is necessary to dig between 
them. And it is also of importance that the man 
who does the work should have a good knowledge of 
the plants amongst which he is operating; otherwise, 
the chances are that many fine plants will be dug in 
as weeds, owing to ignorance. 
A spade should never be used for digging amongst 
herbaceous plants ; an old fork is perhaps the best 
implement, and the most suitable time for performing 
the work is when the plants have thrown their young 
growths well above the surface — say at the end of 
March or early in April. During the winter months 
in frosty weather, a good layer of well-decomposed 
manure, or the remains from an old musliroom-bed 
