The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Landscape Gardening

Hardy Perennials

Now that the treasures of the far East are lavished upon us we have hardy plants suitable for practically every purpose the must exacting gardener can conceive. And whenever we have any special object to accomplish we ought to try nine times to find a hardy plant that will do the work before falling back on a tender one. And this for two reasons: First, hardy plants harmonize better with our climate and environment than tropical plants. Second, as a rule, they are cheaper to maintain. And in the long run, those effects which grow naturally out of the soil and out of true economy will be recognized as the most artistic. Wilhelm Miller.
The hardy herbaceous perennials, as a class, are the easiest to manage, the cheapest and the most naturalistic in the effect they give, of all the plants that grow. When once planted they need very little further care. Many of them need none at all, and will thrive and multiply for years in the grass or among the shrubs without the slightest attention. Growing thus at full freedom they give a wild, woodsy air to a place which nothing else can furnish quite so well. Their ability to hike care of themselves year after year makes them very cheap. There has been a very healthy and gratifying tendency in recent years toward the more general use of such material, but there is no liklihood that it will soon be overdone.

Hardy perennials may be used in almost any situation where plants are wanted at all. They may grow under the trees, among the shrubs, in rockeries, along the borders of ponds and rivulets, on sloping banks, in borders by themselves, in shade or sun; in fact, it is very hard to go amiss with them unless, indeed, they are put into flower beds. It is a very convenient way to outline a border with herbaceous perennials, among which and in front of which the annuals are planted from year to year. One of the best ways is to mix annuals and perennials together, the annuals each year "taking up the slack" in the border, filling in those areas not yet fully appropriated by the perennials.

Many kinds, especially the best ones, those which thrive, need to be lifted and divided every two or three years. Otherwise they crowd and choke one another. It is also a very good plan to grow some fresh stock from seeds or cuttings or divisions from year to year, thus having new varieties to add to the garden, or at least having fresh young plants in place of old, exhausted ones.