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Plants may be dug up and separated by hand or thinned out in thebeds by cutting with a clean, sharp spade or trowel and removing theexcess plants. Replanting should be done in fresh soil if possible, orsome new soil and bone meal would better be worked in. Care shouldbe taken in the replanting that the crown of the plant is not smothered.It is equally fatal to the plant to be set too low or too high. Divideand replant in the spring those fall-blooming sorts which continue infull bloom until late in the season, such as chrysanthemums and ane-mones, and all fleshy-rooted plants except the peony. (For the peonyand the ins in particular, and for planting perennials in general seePages 39 and 47.) The best time of the year for lifting and separatingperennials in general is probably the fall. The early-flowering peren-nials like some of the irises and the leopard's bane should give the bestresult by dividing and transplanting shortly after they have completedtheir flowering period. One objection to fall planting, however, isthat the smaller plants heave out if planted too late or are apt toget lost during mulching or in the "cleaning up" work of the spring.Plants with heavy tops or fleshy roots in general, except the iris and thepeony, are more liable to rot if planted in the fall. If the planting of |
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