The hardy perennials we are going to describe will flourish in any English garden that has good, well-dressed soil, and is open to the sun part of the day. In choosing which you will grow you must consider their colours, their height, their flowering season, and the rate at which they increase. You should not give a delicate-looking plant like a Columbine a coarse spreading neighbour that will choke it. Nearly all herbaceous plants are greedy feeders, and require a deep, well-dug soil. If you cannot have manure worked in, perhaps you can buy a little bone-meal and soot. In any case, you should dig the ground well over before planting, break up hard lumps, and remove large stones. HARDY PERENNIALS. 1. Polyanthus and Coloured Primrose. 2. Delphinium, or Larkspur. 3. Oriental Poppy. 4. Iris Germanica. 5. Perennial Lupin. 6. Japanese Anemone. 7. Aquilegia, or Columbine. 8. Peony. 9. Œnothera Fruticosa, or Evening Primrose. 10. Gypsophila Paniculata. 11. Sweet Lavender. 12. Early-flowering Chrysanthemums. 13. Violet. 14. Michaelmas Daisy. PRIMROSE AND POLYANTHUS. There are more than a hundred kinds of Primrose, or Primula; nearly all are hardy, and many grow in clusters on a single stalk. We are only going to tell you about the common Polyanthus, which grows in big clusters, and about the coloured garden Primrose, which is mostly found with single flowers, like the yellow Primrose of our fields and hedges. Perhaps you have heard of Peter Bell, and how ‘A Primrose by the river’s brim A yellow Primrose was to him, And it was nothing more.’ We have met many a Peter Bell, who stared at us in amazement when he saw us planting corners in a wild garden with what he considered hedgerow weeds.