Planning 
YOUR 
Perennial 
Ga rden 
The number of perennials which may be grown in your garden 
is limitless, so far as variety is concerned. How many you grow and 
what varieties you grow will depend entirely upon your interest in 
perennials and your likes and dislikes for coloring, etc. 
The present trend in perennial growing is to grow a number of 
different sorts in informal beds or along the shrub border and include 
only a few which are classed as rare plants. Perennials, or plarts 
which live for more than one year, are very essential on the grounds 
of anyone who likes color all through the different seasons. They 
may be planted in beds, in wide borders, in front of shrubs, around a 
pool, and the lower growing or dwarf sorts are widely used for rock 
garden planting. They may be planted in rows in a small garden for 
cutting purposes. They may be used singly but it is recommended 
that they be planted in clumps or groups of from three to twelve 
plants of a kind, as a mass of color is much more effective. 
Most perennials need a sunny location although some _ varieties 
will grow in semi-shade. Perennials should be kept well away from 
the roots of trees as they rob them of food and moisture. Be sure 
that the bed or ground that you are going to plant perennials in is 
well drained, as perennials will not stand a lot of water remaining 
upon the surface of the ground for long periods of time. The soil 
should be made loose to a depth of 1% to 2 feet, with a plentiful 
supply of fertilizer thoroughly mixed into the ground when it is spad- 
ed up. If the soil is clay that becomes extremely hard during the 
summer season it would be well to throw out the top six or eight 
inches of soil and mix with this a liberal amount of peat moss or other 
commercial humus before putting it back into the bed and proceeding 
with the planting. Perennials like a porous soil in which they can 
throw out their roots. The soil in which perennials are planted should 
be kept rich at all times. Many of the plants are shallow rooted ard 
are not able to send out their roots in search of new food supply. 
Perennials may be planted in the fall as well as in the spring with 
certain exceptions. Iris should be planted any time during early spring 
or fall. Peonies are best planted in September or April. Oriental Pop- 
pies are dormant in late August and should be transplanted at that 
time. Otherwise perennials can be planted as other nursery stock, 
either spring or fall. When the plants are received from the nursery, 
unpack and plant them at once if possible. Those which cannot be 
planted at once should be heeled in moist soil and kept well watered, 
both roots and tops. 
In planting a perennial planting, lay out the space you have avail- 
able for them on a piece of paner and spot in the taller growing sorts 
for background. Then select the plants for the border and jot them 
on your layout. Fill in with the medium tall growing sorts in the cen- 
ter of the bed. Select and plant for color display so that you do not 
have two kinds of perennials with the same color of blossoms beside 
each other. Color variation in a perennial bed is essential. 
Many types of perennials will do better if frequently transplanted, 
that is, about every third year. This is especially true of the Coreop- 
sis, Gaillardias, Shasta Daisies and other varieties which have dense 
foliage just above the ground. The plants should be removed from 
the bed and torn into several divisions, and these divisions replanted, 
the Sata as new plants. Iris also does better if transplanted occa- 
sionally. 
There are only a few simple rules necessary to the successful 
growing of perennials and may be summed up as follows: 
Good, well drained, rich soil in a sunny location. 
Plant with crown or eye of plant just barely below ground level. 
Plenty of cultivation of beds to keep the soil loose and mellow. 
Keep the beds thoroughly soaked during dry weather. 
Frequent fertilization to produce best growth and bloom. 
Keep blooms cut off as they begin to fade and the blooming sea- 
son of all sorts of perennials will be greatly lengthened. 
A few wood ashes worked into the soil around Delphiniums is ad- 
visable for best growth and bloom. 
In climatic and soil conditions where the ground heaves with 
winter freezing and thawing the beds should be thoroughly 
mulched in late fall. 
If these simple rules are followed and proper care is exerised in 
selecting the varieties for your plantings, there is no reason 
why the average gardener should not be a successful grower of 
perennials and enjoy their beauty all through the season. 

