The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-08-03
THE OLD
FLOWERS
BY MRS. McCUNE

must De planted anew eacn y68A Ouf
grandmothers made their ga1dens With
an eye to their permanent beauty:
they lived in one place all thiel lives
and the gardens grew and enlarged
with the home; SO grandmother put
In perenniAls, knowing that II she did
not see the blooms the first year the
garden would be all the more beGud-
full the next Perennials once put into
the ground will thrive indefinitely and
In grandmother's age there was NOT
time to replant the garden every
spring; flowers once put In must re-
main hardy and blooming rear aftse
year.
II you are a lover OF tho old-tims
ways why not make your garden .
copy of the one grandmother plannsdf
And II you have not space Tor tho
grsyellsd walks nor the patience to
wait for the box hedges to grow to
reasonable size you can IN your.
flower space with the oldttme favor.
ties. Grandmother planted cofumoins
and bleeding hearts Tor her first
blooms. massing sweet Williams In
long beds Of pink and white flowers.
with peonies, the huge double ones.
scattered in the beds. She was care
full to cover these plants In the fall
with manure and did not disturb them
in the spring, as they start 20 early
in the year that there is danger Of
breaking OF the tender shoots.
The wonderful Oriental poppy is q
perennial that blooms early and 1t
must surely have a space in the old
fashioned garden. fall hollyhocks
grew against grandmotheTs walls and
filed the sunny corners where no
delicate flowers were desired, for the
holfyhock grows 60 luxuriously that
1t Is apt to o~errun the smaller
plants II not carefully watched. Ptnks,
too, filed the garden with their spicy
odor and die phlox was not neglected.
These plants viii live Tor years with
hardly any attention, though It Is best
to give them q heavy top dressing Of
manure every year, and by lifting the
plants every third year and digging
in large quantity OF manure you will
improve the size and quantity Of the
blossoms. Perhaps grandmother will
hardly recognize the beautiful newer
varieties Of phlox which have been
lately developed. the large clusters of
dark crimson, fiery scarlet or the
strangely shaded flowers viii be new
to her, but It IL the same hardy plant
blooming from July TIL frost that was
her standby.
1t d well IN planting the flowers to
may have q succession Of bloom and
not clash with each other or with the
| u. Al
genta flowers against the pink ones
for example. or TO have on the porch
climbing roses that viii not harmon-
fashioned garden was complete unless
1t boosted q great showing Of blue
larkspur, or delphtniums. as the seeds
man would say. Blue larkspur, cam
panu1as or bell flowers, the aconitums
or monkshoods, and the platycodons
will make a beautiful combination OF
blue and white for the hot days Of
July and August when one wishes the
garden to appear cool and 1t Is best
to have the FELLOWS and reds out OF
sight
Later on the trftoma or sred-hot
poker plant" will I'LL the garden with
a glow; then come the chrysanthes
NUNS, not the huge dollhouse blooms,
but the hardy flowers Of yellow, white
and rusty pink which will keep the
garden gay almost till Thanks giving
Day. In the spring as soon as the
plants begin to sprout ask your farm
er friends for few roots, for they
will divide them and you can get out
three or four shoots together In veEy
rich soil. About the first Of July and
again in September dig . couple OF
trowelfuls of manure carefully about
the roots and pinch back any buds
which form before September.
How did grandmother start her per-
ennial beds you ask? In those frugal
days she certainly did not purchase
plants Of each variety to make her be.
ginning. Indeed no; she grew the lits
tie seedlings herself in a bed especiafs
Iy prepared for them. 1t will soon DO
warm enough for you to do the Same.
The second week in April Is not too
early to put the perennial seeds In
the ground, but the soil must be pre-
pared first: be sure that 1t is rich and
finely pulverized. The seeds of per-
ennials may be soaked for - houres
before planting to insure germinations
when READY pOuT On luO
water and mix the wet seed with very
dry earth and SOW them, not too close
together. Cover them lightly, about
half an inch is enough for the large
seeds while the very small varieties
need simply to have the earth sprin-
killed. over them. Pat the earth down
carefully and wait; 1t will not be long
before hundreds of tiny plants will
have sprung up and with little care
they will be ready to put into their
permanent beds in September Phloxes,
rudbeckias, monkshood, valerian, trf.
tomas, iris and veronica are best not
raised from seed, but by buying the
plants, and then after time dividing
them. For instance, take a fine large
plant of phlox of some choice variety,
divide all the roots and set out each
one separately; from one plant you
may, in two years time. get 20 splen-
did ones, and 80 you may do with the
other varieties.
Iris grows from q root and win in-
crease rapidly; both the German and
Japanese varieties do well; when nat
uralized in the grass at the end Of
four years the original plants may be
talfen up and separated into many
plants