HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1912 
Starting Plants for the Perennial 
Garden 
T HE perennial garden can be stocked 
with less expense from seed than 
from purchased roots or bulbs, and where 
one plans for a garden of any size this 
saving is important. With some excep¬ 
tions in case of tender plants, the garden 
perennials may be planted where they are 
to remain and given merely a protection of 
leaves or straw in the winter; but since 
with many of us so much of our garden 
space is occupied by blooming plants at 
this time, it is more convenient to plant the 
seed in some special place suited to the 
tender nurslings and where they may be 
watched. Afterward, when the garden 
scheme has matured, it is a simple matter 
to transplant them to their permanent loca¬ 
tion or to winter quarters, as the case 
may be. 
A partly shaded location, drained and 
moderately moist answers best. Sprinkling 
daily after sunset will be necessary if the 
weather is dry. Columbine, fox glove, 
lobelia, pansies, and the lilies thrive best in 
the partially shaded location. Do not make 
the mistake of using a spot that has been 
neglected all summer, and only recently 
cleared of weeds which have ripened seed. 
These warm summer days are as favorable 
for quick weed growth as for the germi¬ 
nation of the flower seeds, and the young 
weeds and young plants are hard to distin¬ 
guish at an early age. The soil should be 
well prepared—as deep and mellow as for 
spring planting, but if it is a good, rich 
garden spot, you need not fertilize it again. 
Sow thinly, as this saves the young plants 
from overcrowding, and makes weeding 
and subsequent transplanting easier. To 
secure strong-rooted plants for flowers the 
following year, the seed planting should 
begin in midsummer and cease not later 
than the middle of August for most of the 
perennials and biennials. Pansies, how¬ 
ever, may be planted as late as September. 
The seed of sweet william and other mem¬ 
bers of the pink family, and the biennial 
hollyhocks and bell-flowers should be 
planted in July—the chimney bell-flower 
early in July. Snap-dragon, achillea. del¬ 
phinium (larkspur), columbine, foxglove, 
forget-me-not and centaureas or corn¬ 
flowers may be planted in August. 
The self-sown seedlings, which appear 
about the large plants now blooming in 
your garden, should also receive attention, 
being kept clear of weeds and carefully 
transplanted after their second leaves have 
formed. The Shasta daisy should be pro¬ 
tected where it has grown and trans¬ 
planted in the spring. 
All other seedlings that are to be moved 
should be transplanted before the last week 
in September. The Canterbury bells and 
other bell-flowers, fox-glove and snap¬ 
dragon are best wintered in a coldframe. 
The young dahlia roots grown from seed 
will, of course, have to be taken up and 
stored, but the hollyhocks, sweet williams 
and other hardy members of the pink fam¬ 
ily, columbine, perennial larkspur, pansies. 
181 
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