Perennials

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Hardy plants we mean those perennial herbaceous plants which will live a number of years without re-sowing seed. We use the word " herbaceous " to contrast them with shrubs and trees, for it means that they die down to the soil each year. Their growth is soft, not woody.

It may be asked why we talk so much about the proper care of this or that perennial when on the whole the commonest ones merely need a medium good soil and their competitors, the weeds, removed. The reply is that we should not be content with Peonies, Phlox, or Iris unless they are grown to perfection, or unless we have the finest varieties.

We are interested in a particular flower often because it seems to possess a certain shape, color, or thrifty habit, which we admire. Our interest broadens when we prefer to get a great many varieties of the same flower. Finally, we are even interested in its botanical relatives. It is then that we become '* cranks " and thoroughly know and truly enjoy a chosen favorite.

Perennials are adapted to such a range of soils and climates that we can surely find something beautiful to suit our situation exactly. If our land is very rocky and shallow we must govern our selection of perennials accordingly, and we can follow nature quite closely in choosing the sort of plants to use.

Each garden should be our own, and should express our likes in color and combination, but we must be governed by good taste, with the possession of which some are born, while by others it must be acquired. A lady told Ruskin that although she did not know good art she knew what she liked. Ruskin replied: " Even the beasts of the field know that." The observations of others often make us able to choose wisely for ourselves

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