PLANTING OUT PERENNIALS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 329, 14 April 1928, Page 26

PLANTING OUT PERENNIALS

The time has now arrived when the moving of biennial and perennial seedlings cannot be longer delayed, unless it is to be put off until the spring—which often means that the plants will suffer badly and probably fail to bloom freely that year. Wallflowers, Canterbury Bells, Sweet Williams, Coreopsis grandiflora, Indian Pinks and Foxgloves should, wherever possible, be at once put into the beds where they will flower, suflicient space being given them for their perfect development. All the things mentioned provide a wealth of cut flowers; consequently it is a good thing to get a number of them out in rows on the cut-flower border, the Canterbury Bells then being put 15 inches apart, the Foxgloves 18 inches and the others 12 inches apart. Those plants needed for the herbaceous border, to save it from dullness in the early days of summer, should be put in in groups of half a dozen or more, each group consisting of one colour. The same distances apart should be observed in this case as when the plants are grown in rows. If the borders are not ready for them now, having first to be renovated or dug over, then it will be necessary to make sure that the reserved plants have suffici ent room to carry them through the winter. If they look crowded in their present quarters, they should be transplanted to six or eight inches apart. Of the perennials, while some will probably be fit for planting out —and these will produce good flowers the following year—others will be so small as still to need a place in a nursery bed. If they look as if it w r ill be necessary for them to remain in the nursery bed until another autumn, a liberal amount of space must be given them; but if they are likely to have made sufficient progress to be moved into permanent quarters during the autumn or spring, they can be planted somewhat closer together. However, it is always good policy to leave one foot of space between the rows, for then the hoe can be used frequently, which will speed up the growth of the plants.