Perennial plants, such as our flowering shrubs, are grown from cuttings of the ripe wood after the leaves have fallen in autumn. From North Carolina southward these cuttings should be set in rows in the fall. Cuttings ten inches long are set so that the tops are just even with the ground. A light cover of pine leaves will prevent damage from frost. Farther north the cuttings should be tied in bundles and well buried in the ground with earth heaped over them. In the spring set them in rows for rooting. In the South all the hardy hybrid perpetual roses can be grown in this way, and in any section the cuttings of most of the spring-flowering shrubs will grow in the same manner. The Japanese quince, which makes such a show of its scarlet flowers in early spring, can be best grown from three-inch cuttings made of the roots and planted in rows in the fall.
[Illustration: FIG. 106. FOUR-O'CLOCKS SET IN A GOOD PLACE]
Many of our ornamental evergreen trees, such as the arbor vitæ, can be grown in the spring from seeds sowed in a frame. Cotton cloth should be stretched over the trees while they are young, to prevent the sun from scorching them. When a year old they may be set in nursery rows to develop until they are large enough to plant. Arbor vitæ may also be grown from cuttings made by setting young tips in boxes of sand in the fall and keeping them warm and moist through the winter. Most of them will be rooted by spring.
The kinds of flowers that you can grow are almost countless. You can hardly make a mistake in selecting, as all are interesting. Start this year with a few and gradually increase the number under your care year by year, and aim always to make your plants the choicest of their kind.
Of annuals there are over four hundred kinds cultivated. You may select from the following list: phlox, petunias, China asters, California poppies, sweet peas, pinks, double and single sunflowers, hibiscus, candytuft, balsams, morning-glories, stocks, nasturtiums, verbenas, mignonette.
Of perennials select bleeding-hearts, pinks, bluebells, hollyhocks, perennial phlox, perennial hibiscus, wild asters, and goldenrods. From bulbs choose crocus, tulip, daffodil, narcissus, lily of the valley, and lily.