There are many arguments in favor of the hardy garden of perennials, not the least of which is that the flowers are more beautiful by remaining 
undisturbed. Start now and have an established garden next season 
The Twelve Best Perennials to Plant Now 
SOME OF THE VERY BEST FLOWERS THAT THE AMATEUR SHOULD CONCENTRATE HIS ATTEN¬ 
TION UPON THIS FALL, THAT THE PLANTS MAY BE WELL ESTABLISHED BEFORE SPRING 
by H. S. Adams 
Photographs by N. R. Graves and Chas. Jones 
/"N NE of the hardest things to “drum’’ into the head of the aver- 
N-' age grower of perennials is that when spring ends, the 
planting season is not over. Far from this being the case, fall 
offers a boundless, and certainly a most interesting, field of gar¬ 
dening endeavor. 
Spring, like time in general, must be taken by the forelock. 
\\ hen it comes to the matter of planting perennials, the only part 
of the year in which you can do this is fall. The reasons, though 
so frequently overlooked, are obvious enough. In the first place 
one of the little axioms of the garden is that the planting that is 
done in the fall will not have to be done in spring when there is 
always too much work out-of-doors, no matter what pains have 
been taken to discount the exigencies of the vernal season. Then, 
too, perennials planted in the fall have ample time to get a good 
root growth before winter sets in and thus are firmly established 
in the garden when spring is at hand, and are able to forge right 
ahead. If not put into the ground until April or May they have 
to take time to acclimate themselves. There may be only a brief 
setback, but now and then the readjustment is so slow a process 
that a season s bloom is lost. Finally, some of the most beautiful 
of the perennials flower so early in the season that in their case 
fall planting is imperative if satisfactory results are wanted the 
first year — and, of course, they are. 
Here then are three unassailable reasons why the amateur 
should not rest from his labors in fall; but, on the other hand, 
should be planting now against spring. All three need to be 
borne in mind especially by those who are saying to themselves 
that they are “going to start a hardy garden next year.” Start 
now and when next year comes you will be actually under way. 
The word start is used advisedly. In these advanced days of 
potted perennials, it is possible to start and finish a hardy garden 
in the fall of the year. Except in the case of young plants from 
seed or cuttings, however, it is wisest to leave until spring the 
perennials that come into bloom in October. 
Which perennials are the best to plant in the fall ? That is 
about as puzzling and as arbitrary a game as making a list of the 
best books. All sorts and conditions of tastes must be considered; 
there are questions of color, weight, form, fragrance and what 
not, to be taken into account and then there is the seasonal idea 
—some, for reasons of convenience, prefer a spring, summer or 
fall garden. Under the circumstances the only thing to do is to 
strike a sort of average and suggest a list of unquestionably re¬ 
liable perennials, iron-clad as to hardiness, and offering no cul¬ 
tural difficulties — a list of plants that no one need regret making 
a permanent investment. Here it is: 
Arabis albida white April — May 
Alyssurn saxatile yellow 
Primula veris superba “ May 
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