334 
THE I ABIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
cause they do not drop their leaves very much or chauge, 
as they do, if left till pretty cold. The large plants 
which are to go into the cellar, I let remain until Octo¬ 
ber. for they will not be injured by real hard frosts. 
Have taken up the last to-day—ftfteen of them. 
I divested them of all their leaves excepting a few at 
the extremity of the branches, and have packed them 
very compactly in a large box with sufficient' earth 
around them to cover well the roots. These will make 
nice plants to bed out again another year, among the 
shrubs. Have been taking cuttings from them during 
the summer, rooting them beside the mother-plant; last 
month rooted cuttings in sand and in glasses of water. 
It is no small care to take up and remodel two hundred 
plants. Just as soon as there comes-a warm day I shall 
prepare my large window-boxes for the small and 
medium-sized plants, first by a drainage of very coarse 
sand mixed with coal siftings. Over that ordinary gar¬ 
den-soil mixed with dressing. The top layer soil from 
the woods. I can pack, without crowding, fifty plants 
in one box and sixty in the other. Intersperse them 
with ornamental foliage plants, so that the miniature 
gju-den is attractive always without flowers, but I ex¬ 
pect to have some of those. Tt is very little trouble to 
care for plants thus arranged. They need watering only 
twice a week, and a minute’s time is sufficient to shower 
them sufficiently with a small watering-pot. Lai-ger 
plants fill window-shelves, brackets, and a stand. 
Mrs. 51. E. Wellcome. 
Yarmouth. October 5th. 
A BED OF PERENNIALS. 
Of late years perennials seem to have almost gone 
out of fashion (fashion reaches even flower-gardens), 
and the so-called “ bedding plants ” reign in their stead. 
Some of us can remember when perennials, with a few 
annuals sprinkled in. and shrubbery were all we had to 
depend on for the beauty of our summer garden. It 
seems too bad to desert old friends when new ones ap¬ 
pear. so I want to say a good word for the old fashioned 
perennials. I can recall to-day as though it were but 
yesterday, my grandmother's “posy bed” of forty or 
more years ago. It was the first place I visited after 
reach i ng the farm-house. She would have a few flow¬ 
ers, although a busy farmer’s wife; she had no time to 
arrange them to please the eye, but put them all to¬ 
gether in one long bed near the house. They grew in 
harmony side by side, ornamental and useful, tall Holly¬ 
hocks, Summer Savory, Tiger-lilies. Sage, Single Pinks 
with the real Clove fragrance (Old Maid's Smelling Bot¬ 
tles was the country name), Worm-wood, Marigolds, 
Lemon Balm, Scarlet Lychnis, Southern Wood, Nastur¬ 
tiums, Carraway (“Meetin Seed ” the old folks called it), 
Sweet-Williams, Lavender, Sweet-peas. Ladies' Delights 
a small edition of the Pansy), Ragged Sailors and Saff¬ 
ron. They grew year after year with little or no care, 
never disturbed unless to take up a root for some less 
fortunate neighbor. 
I remember a garden near the home of my childhood, 
whose flower-beds were bordered with box, kept pre¬ 
cisely proper by the gardener, where great clumps of 
Peonys, Fleur-de-lis, Phlox, Hollyhocks,Tiger-lilies,Can¬ 
terbury Bells, Fox-gloves, Larkspurs, June Pinks, Scarlet 
Lychnis, great trees of Lilacs, Snowballs and Roses, sy- 
ringas, flowering Almonds, Tartarian Honeysuckles, 
Altheas and Climbing Honeysuckles, kept it gay and 
odorous from April until frost. Such gardens now are 
few and far between. I would not have all the flower- 
garden given up to perennials, but one or two long beds 
will give us pleasure and flowers from early April until 
frost, if rightly selected. They look better by them¬ 
selves than when mixed with annuals or bedding-plants. 
After being set out in well-prepared soil, they require 
but little attention, save watering in a dry time, tying 
up the tall kinds, and dividing the roots every two or 
three years. This, according to my experience, is best 
done in fall, although many say early spring is best. I 
divide mine the last of September, cutting off the top 
and pressing the soil firmly around the newly-set plants. 
Just as the ground freezes cover with dry leaves and 
well-rotted manure, which should be dug in the follow¬ 
ing spring: all flowers should be cut off as soon as faded, 
not allowed to go to seed. Perennials look well in a 
wide border next a fence or wall. Gladiolus are pretty 
to mix in between the clumps, take up little room, and 
help keep the bed gay in August and September, if 
planted every two weeks, beginning about the first week 
in May. What improvement has been made in the last 
twenty years in perennials! Single Hollyhocks are pretty 
yet; but look at the great spikes of double ones, larger 
than Roses, as double, and almost rivalling them in del¬ 
icate tints of color; the Sweet-Williams have been im¬ 
proved in color and size, until now a bed of them in 
July is worth looking at. Phlox, too; we used to have 
the white and a liomelj' purple, now we have them of 
all shades of crimson, pink and white, with eyes dark 
and eyes light, plain colors without eyes, until one 
hardly knows what to choose. What changes in the 
Iris family! The old “Flower-de-luce,” as the country 
folks used to call it, would hardly recognize its relations 
if introduced into a bed of Spanish and Japanese varie¬ 
ties. Larkspurs, Columbines, Fox-gloves and Canter¬ 
bury Bells, have all increased in size, beauty and variety 
under the careful hand of the florist. 
The following list will give flowers in their season, 
from April until frost: For early flowering, Phlox Su- 
bulata (pink and white); Dicentra, Peeonys, Aquilegias, 
Astilbe Japonica, Spiraeas, Canterbury Bells, Fox-gloves, 
Hollyhocks, Phloxes, early and late; Delphiniums, hardy 
Pinks, Sweet-Williams, Sweet Rocket, Funkia or Day- 
Lily,. Iris, Pyrethums, Penstemons, Perennial Poppies, 
Anemones, white and rose color. I would have a bed of 
these Anemones if notliing else; the purity of the white 
and rich shade of rose make a fine show until hard frost. 
Next I would have the hardy Poppies: Papaver brac- 
teatum , scarlet, and Papaver croceum, orange, together, 
make a dazzling bed; their time of bloom in July is 
brief, but while they last, are gorgeous; carefully di¬ 
vided in the fall, they will live many years. I have not 
mentioned the newer perennials, as the catalogues are 
full of them. One can hardly go amiss in choosing. 
Mrs. M. Plumstead. 
