BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
Series VII Brooklyn, N. Y., November 12, 1919. Nos. 10 and 11 
THE GARDEN OF HARDY PLANTS* 
There are good reasons for the revival of interest in the 
perennial garden, especially when compared with the claims of 
the formal bedding so much in evidence during recent years. 
One big objection to formal bedding is: the plants cannot be set 
out much before the first of June, and just at the time they are 
beginning to look their best they have to be hurried indoors for 
fear they will be nipped by the frost. Not so with the perennial 
garden. With proper management, something of beauty and in- 
terest may be had in bloom from March until November. There 
is nothing monotonous about it. The interest is continually 
changing with the seasons. In early spring snowdrops, crocuses, 
and the glory-of-the-snow spring up to remind us that winter is 
over. These are followed in turn by the irises, fitly termed the 
poor man’s orchid; bleeding heart; peonies, ineffaceably asso- 
ciated with Memorial Day; and then, in the plethoric midsummer 
days, the phlox, golden glow, stately hollyhocks, yucca, fox- 
gloves, the plantain lilies, blanket flowers, the gorgeous marsh 
mallows, and the dainty blue bells. As the days begin to draw 
in, the great composite family has its inning. The many garden 
forms of our wild asters remind us that fall is coming. These 
receive greater appreciation abroad than here at home— more 
support for the adage that “a prophet is not without honor save 
in his own country.” The perennial sunflowers are conspicuous 
in the fall with their bright yellow colors, and toward the close 
of the year the hardy chrysanthemums persist in their splendor 
well into November— glorious at a time when their only rivals are 
the autumn tints of the forest trees. 
One great advantage of a garden of hard) 7 plants that should 
appeal especially to those who like a flowerful garden but who 
*Most of this article was printed in The A r ew York Sun , Sunday, May 
4, 1919. It is here reproduced by permission. 
