388 
PARK AND CKME-TERY 
Hardy Herbaceous Perennials. 
A paper read by Robert Cameron before the Boston Convention of Cemetery Superintendents. 
In a short paper like this one it is manifestly impossible to 
do more than call attention to some of the best of the many 
useful and showy hardy herbaceous perennials that can be 
grown and used to ornament and give effect in cemetery plan- 
tations. Therefore, my object is to recommend and treat 
briefly plants that bloom in early spring and onwards until 
late autumn ; and also to show a few of the many ways in 
which they may be used to advantage. 
Herbaceous perennials are plants having perennial roots 
with tops that die down to the ground annually, such as 
Delphiniums, Paeonies, Veronicas, grasses and ferns. There 
are many other species which have evergreen leaves, and are 
usually placed under the above heading, such as some of the 
Pentstemons, Saxifragas, evergreen creeping Phlox, Semper- 
virens, and some Sedums. 
Hardy herbaceous perennials are exceedingly important in 
landscape work, and although many of our landscape archi- 
tects do not give them the same rank in importance as they 
do to hardy trees and shrubs, nevertheless some of them ask 
us to imitate Nature, and if we do, we find She always gives 
us a generous supply of herbaceous perennials well inter- 
mixed with the trees and shrubs. Probably the actual reason 
why they do not stand as high in their estimation as trees 
and shrubs is that this class of hardy plants are so numerous 
that it requires more careful selection than any other class 
to do effective work with them. Any one who knows a 
Phlox, a Paeony, a larkspur, an oriental poppy,’ a Japan Iris 
or Japan Anemone will admit that many perennials are very 
beautiful, but they will also admit that there are many which 
are not so showy and useful for ornamental purposes. Con- 
sequently, a person has to have a good knowledge of this 
kind of plants to get the best results. He not only requires to 
know the height, the habit and color of the flowers of the 
plants, but he also ought to have good taste to arrange the 
various plants so that the flowers which are in bloom at any 
given time shall group well in form and color. It also re- 
quires study and forethought to get the best and most suitable 
plants for the different seasons. 
One of the most common ways of growing herbaceous per- 
ennials is in the mixed border. The first step to take in 
making a border of this kind is to select a suitable location. 
There are many fitting locations to be found in cemeteries, 
such as alongside a drive, a fence, a walk, an avenue, the 
foreground of shrubbery beds, or at the foot of a stone wall. 
There is one precaution that ought to be taken when selecting 
a location, that is, if possible, not to place the border near 
large trees, as the roots of the trees will deprive the perennials 
of their nourishment. 
The outline of the border is not important; it may be 
straight, curved or irregular, according to the situation. 
After selecting the location the next consideration is the 
soil. If of moderate depth, any kind of soil will grow the 
plants, that is, many of the kinds, provided that plenty of 
manure is given ; but a deep loam, if well trenched, of medium 
texture that does not need an annual supply of manure is 
the best. Of course, all have not such a soil at their com- 
mand, and therefore recourse must be had to supplying the 
most suitable ingredients to the varying soils that have to be 
dealt with. A deep loam, if well trenched and given a good 
dressing of well-rotted manure, will need little if any other 
dressing for three or four years. This is of great importance, 
both as regards saving of labor and well doing of the plants, 
as many kinds of herbaceous perennials attain their most 
perfect development when left undisturbed for years. Clay 
soils should be trenched at least two feet deep, and plenty 
of leaf soil worked in with the manure. 
In the arrangement of the plants in the border it is a mat- 
ter of taste, but here I would advise the grouping style, which 
consists of planting a number of plants in a mass, the aim 
being to obtain color in such quantity as to prove effective 
when seen from a distance. The taller growing kinds should 
be arranged at the back, and the dwarf kinds confined to the 
front of the border, but a too strict line of uniformity of 
height should be scrupulously avoided and pains should be 
taken to so dispose of the plants as to color that there shall 
be no violent or jarring contrasts. The time of flowering of 
the different kinds should be thought of, so that there may 
be throughout the season a regular dispersion of bloom over 
the entire border. The best example I have ever seen of this 
grouping style was last year at Drummond Castle, Perthshire, 
Scotland. Indeed, it was a surprise to me. 
Every fourth year we dig all the plants from our herbaceous 
borders and trench the ground. In this process of trenching 
the earth is completely turned over to the depth of two feet, 
and we work into the soil a liberal supply of well-rotted cow 
manure. In turning over the soil to this depth it gives an 
opportunity to remove all roots and weeds from the soil. 
Not only does the soil need enriching, but there are many of 
the strong growing kinds of herbaceous plants that need lift- 
ing and breaking up ; the plants degenerate, the growth be- 
comes weak, the flowers small and few in number, examples 
of such are Phloxes, Delphiniums, Asters, Rudbeckias and 
Chrysanthemums. When overhauling the border in this way 
there are many plants that require just as careful handling as 
if moving a large tree. The plants are very sensitive to rough 
handling, and if not done with care they do not grow or 
flower as well for some time afterwards ; examples of such 
plants are Adonis Vernalis, Statice latifolia. Clematis recta, 
if not lifted and planted with care, does not grow more than 
eighteen inches the first season, when it ought to grow four 
feet. The best time to do this kind of work is in September; 
the nights begin to get cool then, and we are liable to get 
showers and the soil has not lost any of its warmth and the 
plants are able to make new roots and growth before winter 
sets in. 
During July and August there is always a scarcity of bloom 
in the mixed herbaceous border, and there are many places 
that need filling up, as some of the plants that bloom in the 
early spring die down, such as oriental poppies and all early 
flowering bulbs. The empty spaces which these plants leave 
are not p'easing, and can be filled with such good annuals as 
Zinnias, Tagetes, Asters, Phlox, Drummondi and many others 
which give a profusion of bloom during the summer months. 
The only care the borders need during the summer is keep- 
ing the ground clear of weeds, cutting out dead leaves and 
stems, and tying up such kinds as need support. A few 
words on tying and staking will not be out of place here. A 
plant should not be tied that is at all likely to be self-support- 
ing. The height of the stakes never ought to exceed the 
height of the plants and the ties should not be drawn so 
tightly that the plants present a broom-like appearance. In 
dry weather the strong growing kinds need a liberal supply 
of water. 
There is an endless supply of hardy plants that can be 
used in the herbaceous border, but I will only mention twen- 
ty-five of the best spring and early summer flowering kinds, 
and twenty-five of the best late summer and autumn flowering 
kinds. For the early kinds, the following are exceedingly 
