HOUSE AND GARDEN 
Au 
GUST, I9IO 
99 
heavy trowel cut 
away part of it, 
leaving the rest for 
nature’s renewal of 
her stock. What I 
took home I divided 
into six pieces and 
put them in my 
little nursery, 
where each had 
made a strong 
plant by spring. 
Then five of them 
went into my bor¬ 
der and one into a 
neighbor's. Great 
Burnet ( Poterium 
Canadensis ) the 
tall white stranger 
proved to be. Of 
the two I think the 
dark foliage is 
more attractive 
than the flowers, 
but the plant is a 
very good acquisi¬ 
tion to the border. 
As a matter of fact it was cultivated in gardens in days gone by. 
In the wild it is plentiful enough in some places. Where I ran 
across it Burnet had never been seen before in my time, how¬ 
ever, and the chances are that the seed came down the river in 
the spring flood. 
Meadow Lilies, as we call Lilium Canadense, I have taken 
from the same locality with the aid of a trowel. It is no light 
task to dig the bulbs thus, but it is also no light task to lug a 
spade four miles of a hot summer day. The Wood Lily ( Lilium 
Philadelphicam) , which shuns our part of the state, I have dug 
up with a pen¬ 
knife and had it 
bloom the next 
summer ; but I can 
not recommend the 
pen-knife, often as 
it has been my sal¬ 
vation in such cir¬ 
cumstances. Both 
of these lilies are 
excellent for the 
home grounds, the 
Philadelphi- 
cum preferably in 
partial shade. 
I think, though, 
that on the whole 
Asters have been 
the most satisfac¬ 
tory things that I 
have brought home 
in my hands from 
the wild. The New 
England Aster ( A. 
Novae Angliae ) I 
began with, it be¬ 
ing one of those 
nearest at hand, and in the more favorable garden conditions it 
has made splendid clumps that give a fine note of purple when 
it is most needed. From another state I have introduced the 
Smooth-leaved Aster (A. levigatus ) with equally happy results; 
its blue flowers are extremely showy. These are only two of a 
dozen or so kinds of wild Asters that have succeeded well in my 
garden ; a few of them altogether too well, as, unless closelv 
watched, some of the taller ones will take possession of all the 
space within reach. 
(Continued on page 119) 
You can dig up bulbs of the Wood Lily and 
have it bloom in your garden the next 
season 
New England Asters are among the most 
satisfactory flowers to bring in from the 
wild 
The Cranesbill (Geranium macuicuum ) has 
stood by me through thirty years 
Columbine transplanted to the home rock garden 
will produce much larger flowers 
The Harebell of the poets —Campanula 
rotund ifolia —a rare find on a hill ridge 
