epatica, be sure to take with the roots some of
the plant's own soil, which must be packed about it when replanted.

"The bed into which these plants are to go should be prepared carefully
before this trip of yours. Surely you do not wish to bring those plants
back to wait over a day or night before planting. They should go into
new quarters at once. The bed needs soil from the woods, deep and rich
and full of leaf mold. The under drainage system should be excellent.
Then plants are not to go into water-logged ground. Some people think
that all wood plants should have a soil saturated with water. But the
woods themselves are not water-logged. It may be that you will need to
dig your garden up very deeply and put some stone in the bottom. Over
this the top soil should go. And on top, where the top soil once was,
put a new layer of the rich soil you brought from the woods.

"Before planting water the soil well. Then as you make places for the
plants put into each hole some of the soil which belongs to the plant
which is to be put there.

"I think it would be a rather nice plan to have a wild-flower garden
giving a succession of bloom from early spring to late fall; so let us
start off with March, the hepatica, spring beauty and saxifrage. Then
comes April bearing in its arms the beautiful columbine, the tiny bluets
and wild geranium. For May there are the dog-tooth violet and the wood
anemone, false Solomon's seal, Jack-in-the-pulpit, wake robin, bloodroot
and violets. June will give the bellflower, mullein, bee balm and
foxglove. I would choose the gay butterfly weed for July. Let turtle
head, aster, Joe Pye weed, and Queen Anne's lace make the rest of the
season brilliant until frost.

"Let us have a bit about the likes and dislikes of these plants. After
you are once started you'll keep on adding to this wild-flower list.

"There is no one who doesn't love the hepatica. Before the spring has
really decided to come, this little flower pokes its head up and puts
all else to shame. Tucked under a covering of dry leaves the blossoms
wait for a ray of warm sunshine to bring them out. The last year's
leaves stay on through the winter brooding over the little fresh
sprouts. These embryo flowers are further protected by a fuzzy covering.
This reminds one of a similar protective covering which new fern leaves
have. In the spring a hepatica plant wastes no time on getting a new
suit of leaves. It makes its old ones do until