Chapter 14

Flowers #2

50 Garden Perennials

Name	Color	Season	Height	Planting Remarks
ACONITE	blue, white	June	2 ft.	Plant 6 in. apart. Shade tolerant.
ALPINE ROCK CRESS	white	April	lft.	Plant 9 in. apart. Spreads widely.
AMERICAN COLUMBINE	red, yellow	April	1 1/2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Self-sowing.
AMUR ADONIS	yellow	April	1 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Shade tolerant.
ANEMONE	rose	Aug.-Sept.	lft.	Plant 1 ft. apart, in partial shade.
AZURE MONKSHOOD	blue	Sept.-Oct.	3 ft.	Plant 9 in. apart. Shade tolerant.
BABY'S BREATH	white	June-July	21/2 ft.	Plant 3 ft. apart. Drain soil well.
BEAR'S BREECH	lilac, rose	July-Aug.	3 ft.	Needs lots of sun and good drainage.
BLOOD PINK	scarlet	July	1/4ft-	Plant 6 in. apart. Usually spreads.
BLUE PHLOX	lavender	May	lft.	Plant 9 in. apart. Grows wild.
BUTTERFLY WEED	orange	July-Aug.	2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart, in dry, sunny areas.
CANYON POPPY	white	June	4 ft.	A large poppy. Plant well apart.
CARDINAL LARKSPUR	scarlet	August	3 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. A rather delicate plant.
CARPATHIAN BELLFLOWER	blue, white	June-Oct.	8 in.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Self-sowing.
CELANDINE POPPY	yellow	May	2 ft.	Plant well apart.
CHEDDAR PINK	various	June		Plant 9 in. apart. A spreading plant.
COLORADO COLUMBINE	blue and white	April	1 1/2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Self-so wing.
CYPRESS SPURGE	yellow	June	1.ft.	Plant 9 in. apart. Good foliage.
DANES' BLOOD	violet	July-Aug.	1 1/4 ft.	Plant 9 in. apart.
DAVID'S ASTILBE	rose	June-July	5 ft.	Plant 1 1/2 ft. apart in moist soil.
DRAGON'S HEAD	purple	June-July	2 ft.	Plant 9 in. apart. Resembles Mint.
DROPMORE BUGLOSS	deep blue	June-July	3-5 ft.	Plant 3 ft. apart. Shade tolerant.
DWARF PINK RAY	boltonia pink	September	2 ft.	One of the best pe­rennials. Plant 1 ft. apart.
EARLY BUGLOSS	blue	May-June	11/4 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Shade tolerant.
EARLY TORCH LILY	yellow	Aug.-Sept.	11/2 ft-	A showy plant. Set 11/2 ft. apart.
ENGLISH PRIMROSE	various	April-May	6 in.	Good in most soil and in cool spots.
FORGET-ME-NOT	deep blue	June	9 in.	Plant 1 ft. apart. A spreading plant. Very popular.
FOXGLOVE PENSTEMON	purple	June-July	3 ft.	Easy to grow in woodsy soil.
FRINGED BLEEDING HEART	rose	May-Sept.	11/2 ft.	Good edging. Grows in partial shade.
GLOBE CENTAUREA	yellow	July	11/2ft.	Plant 11/2 ft. apart.
GOATSBEARD	cream	June-July	5 ft.	Plant 2 ft. apart.
GOLDEN COLUMBINE	yellow	May-Aug.	2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart.
GOLDEN GLOW	orange	July-Sept.	5 ft.	A spreading plant.
GOLDENTUFT	yellow	May	11/2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart.
GRASS PINK	rose	June	8 in.	Plant 9 in. apart.
IBERIAN GERANIUM	blue, white	June	1 ft.	Plant 9 in. apart.
Name	Color	Season	Height	Planting Remarks
ICELAND POPPY	yellow, orange	June-Oct.	lft.	Short-lived. Excel­lent for cuttings.
JAPANESE PRIMROSE	white to crimson	June	2 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Moist soil, cool spots best.
JOE-PYE WEED	purple	August	6 ft.	Plant 2 ft. apart in wet places.
LARKSPUR	light blue	June-Sept.	2 ft.	Plant 10 in. apart. Rather delicate.
LEBANON STONE CRESS	pink	April	9 in.	Plant 6 in. apart. Grows in shady spots.
LILAC GERANIUM	violet	June	lft.	Plant 9 in. apart.
CATMINT MUSSIN	lavender-blue	May-Sept.	lft.	A spreading plant. Fine edging.
OLYMPIC POPPY	orange	June-Oct.	2 ft.	A spreading plant.
ORIENTAL POPPY	various	June	3 ft.	Showy flowers.
PEONY	white, pink, red	May-June	1 1/2-4 ft-	A hardy, bushy plant.
PINK BEAUTY	scarlet	June-July	3 ft.	Plant 1 ft. apart. Long, tubular flowers.
ROSE MALLOW	pink, red, white	Aug.-Sept.	4-5 ft.	Plant 3 ft. apart in either wet or nor­mal soil.
SHASTA DAISY	white	June-Sept.	2 ft.	Good for cutting.
YUNNAR MEADOW VINE	lilac	Aug.-Sept.	4 ft.	Plant 11/2 ft. apart. Good porch plant.

Each spring, flowering bulbs should be well-fertilized. (Use ma­nure and chemical fertilizer.) Care must be taken to keep fresh manure away from the roots or the bulb or tuber itself. The fertilizer should be worked well into the soil. The soil itself should be cultivated to a depth of 3 to 4 inches each week. During the blooming season, it is a good idea to cut off most of the buds to get bigger and showier flowers. Watering regularly is es­sential, and when the soil gets too dry, punching a few holes in it around the plant will help get the much-needed moisture down near the roots.

Spring-flowering Bulbs

Among the important spring-flowering bulbs are a number of the tulip types, some blossoming as early as April. These early tulips include albion, coleur cardinal and pink beauty. Other spring-flower­ing bulbs include varieties of nar­cissus, grape hyacinth, snowdrop, crocus, winter aconite and iris.

Summer-flowering Bulbs

Summer - flowering bulbs re­quire the same planting procedure as the earlier varieties. Some typi­cal summer-flowering species in­clude:
Autumn crocus Gladiolus
Cluster amaryllis Lilies
Bearded iris  Dahlia
Peonies        Summer hyacinth
Calla lily       Mariposa

Propagation of plants

Certain varieties of perennials can be used to create new plants.
This is accomplished by the use of various propagation methods. The general methods used include cut­tings, division of old clumps, prop­agation from leaves, and budding. Some varieties can be propagated by a number of methods; for others, only one way works.

Cuttings

Cutting is the process of remov­ing a small portion of a growing plant and treating it so that roots are developed. The cutting can then be transplanted and will, in time, produce its own blooms. Cuttings are usually made from a portion of the stem, from leaves, from tub­ers or from roots. Cuttings are usu­ally rooted in a mixture of sand and peat moss. Some varieties can be induced to root in water, in sphagnum moss, or in light, sandy soil. For softwood cuttings, made from the wood stem of soft-stemmed plants, insert small pieces of stem about 2 or 3 inches long in 4-inch-deep (or deeper) flowerpots, with about one-half their length ex­posed. Some provision should be made for shading. The flowerpot should be inserted in another pot filled with water, so that there is a steady seepage through the por­ous clay. The hole at the bottom of the pot should be tightly plugged with a cork.

Practically all perennials can be propagated by cuttings. The clipping itself should be made at a sharp short diagonal, just below a node or joint. The cutting should be wrapped in damp newspaper and exposed to the air for a half-hour or more. This does not apply to plants which exude a milky juice. Such cuttings should be sprinkled with water and exposed to the air for two hours.

Leaf propagation

Many perennials can be propa­gated by causing a leaf to root. Plants with thick fleshy leaves, like begonias and gloxinia, are particu­larly suited to this method of in­creasing their number. The leaf stem is inserted in the rooting me­dium and cared for as in the case of cuttings. Some plants can be propagated by placing the leaf flat on the rooting medium and weight­ing it down with pebbles. A slight cut is made through the main vein of the leaf.

The use of plant hormone will materially improve the chances of propagating successfully from leaves, even in the case of plants generally considered difficult to propagate by this method. Hor­mones are particularly successful with holly, magnolia, rhododen­dron, azalea, taxus and many others.

Propagation by division

Dividing clumps is one of the simplest methods of propagation. It is, in addition, good for the old divided plants. Many perennials deteriorate if left in clumps for too long a period. Dividing them in­sures continuous health and growth. The plants are carefully removed from the soil, in clumps, and di­vided simply by pulling them apart. Care should be taken to in­jure the roots as little as possible. Divided plants are potted, or if the division is done early in spring, as with the hardier perennials, the new clump is planted in another section of the garden. The new planting should be well fertilized and watered.

Layering

Layering is another simple method of propagation. It is adapt­able only to those plants which root easily when their stems are in contact with the ground. Broad-leaved evergreens in particular (i.e., rhododendron) lend them­selves well to this method.

Simple layering involves an­choring the supple stems of plants into the adjacent soil by bending them over and burying them. Black raspberries, for example, are easily propagated in this way. For plants with less supple stems, a notch is cut about 18 inches from the tip of the stem and propped open with a twig or sliver of wood. The branch is then bent to the ground, and the notched portion covered with soil. This type of lay­ering is best done in spring or sum­mer. Leaves should be removed from the stem which is being used for propagating.

Serpentine layering is used for plants with long supple stems (vines, for instance) which travel close to the ground. A number of plants may be obtained from one stem by covering it with earth at different points; the tip should al­ways be left exposed, however.

Air layering is a very modern and popular method, adaptable to trees and woody plants. A portion of a straight branch or stem is cleared of bark down to the wood, and surrounded with moist sphag­num moss. The moss should be kept damp. Some manufacturers pro­vide plant food and hormone which can be rubbed into the cut, and a plastic wrap for the moss which is also impregnated with plant food. After the notch or stripped area has rooted well, the branch is cut off and replanted.

Seed Propagation

Annuals can be grown readily from seed in most cases. The meth­od of growing depends upon the delicacy or hardiness of the seed, and may require planting in frames or pots initially, transferring to the bed only when the weather is suf­ficiently mild and the plants well grown. Many perennials and biennials may also be propagated from seed. This method, however, is not suited to all perennials, and some of the methods already discussed will yield more fruitful results. Typical perennials which can be propa­gated from seed are: Hollyhock Christmas rose Columbine
 Bleeding heart Baby's breath
 Foxglove Butterfly weed Primrose Larkspur 

Outdoor seed sowing

Depending on the variety of seed, most annuals and perennials which can be grown by this method can be planted in seedbeds out-doors. The time for planting var­ies. A few can be sown in autumn, but most, however, should be sown in spring, and, to be safe, not before the last frost has passed. The big disadvantage of outdoor sowing is that one sacrifices control over the circumstances under which the seeds will germinate. In an indoor hotbed, or coldframe, conditions of moisture, heat, etc., can be regu­lated. Not so in the outdoors, where dryness or changing weather can destroy the weaker seeds quickly. If an outdoor seedbed is planned, choose a spot with good soil. Then work in a portion of your compost pile, pulverizing the soil to the depth of 3 inches. Add­ing some sand and peat moss in­creases the effectiveness of the bed. Most seed may be planted on the surface, and the deepest one should plant is 1/2inch. The bed should be well-watered after the seed has been broadcast over the entire area. The bed can then be lightly tamped.

Sowing seeds indoors

The two most important factors in outdoor sowing are soil texture and drainage. Texture is of greater importance in germinating seeds than soil fertility. A mixture of equal parts of good soil, coarse sand and peat moss makes a fine bed. The bottom of the seed pan should be filled with gravel or shards of old flowerpots. The seed should be sown as evenly as pos­sible. As soon as the sowing has been completed, and the soil lightly tamped down, the pan or flat should be immersed in water until the sur­face shows dark and moist. Excess moisture is then permitted to drain off. This is far superior to over­head watering. The box should not be allowed to dry out until after the seeds have germinated. Germi­nation will be hastened if the pan is placed in a warm, dark place. As soon as germination takes place, the seedlings should be placed in full light. Shredded sphagnum moss is the best medium for seed germination. Use of it prevents any possibility of "damping-off," which is a grave threat to all seeds.

Budding

Budding is a method of graft­ing, best accomplished in August or the early part of September. A T-shape cut is made in the bark of the host plant. The bud is selected from the last growth of the current year, and is cut, along with the nearest leaf and part of the bark and wood, from the plant chosen. Loosen the corners of the T and slip the bud under. Use rubber bands, raffia or waxed string to wind both above and below the graft. In about two weeks, the bud should be joined to the host. The cutting is then cut back, and the bud develops as part of the host. The limb on which the graft is made should be cut back to just above the grafting point.

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