That said, we need to divide perennials. This has to be the most daunting of all gardening tasks. Why, you ask yourself, should I dig up a perfectly good looking veronica (delphinium, trollius, monarda, daylily, iris, the list goes on)? Because it could become better.

If a perennial is no longer as bloomy as it once was, or if it shows any sign of stress at all, dividing will be just the ticket.

Get your tools ready. This will include a tarp, a stout fork (like a shovel but with wide tines), a spade and, now this is the clincher, a hatchet. Doesn't that sound serious? A hatchet. I like the sound of that. And make sure the blade is sharp.

You are now faced with the huge clump of whatever it is that needs to be dug up. Remove the entire plant. Take a good look at it and decide just how many more clumps can be made from the original. My guess is three or four. If your spade is sharp, you can drive it into the clump to make the division. But sometimes, the spade will bounce right off the root mass. That's when you reach for the hatchet. Some plants, like the native iris setosa, can be teased apart into individual plants that will grow into a huge clump in just two or three years. This teasing will take patience, but as always, patience pays off.

Now, that wasn't all that bad, was it? Takes a bit of nerve, but you made it.

Place the divisions on the tarp. The tarp will contain all of the dirt that you are going to inevitably lose from the root ball. This way you will be able to dump it back into the bed instead of leaving it all over your grass (that you will be doing cartwheels on as soon as this is over).

Now you are going to replant these lovelies. You have already made up your mind just where that is going to be (I hope) or you intend on giving away some of the parts. Let's address the first possibility. Dig a tidy hole that the roots will fit into comfortably. Water in with a solution of fish emulsion (locally available). There is just nothing like fish emulsion to ward off transplant shock and, believe me, after the hatchet, your plant is in shock. Back fill with the original soil, or compost, and water in again. If the weather is really sunny keep the new plant well watered.

What about the plants that you want to give away? For instance, my son is moving in the gardening direction. I dug and divided a geranium recently and his eyes lit up. I need that, says he. Well fine, but his potential garden is still under snow in places and frozen solid in others. Now what? We stuffed it into a wooden planter and watered it. It just may have to live here for a couple of weeks before it can make the trip to the North Fork. But geraniums are hardy plants and I have no fear that it will survive this adventure just fine.

So, picking a very hardy plant to play a waiting game is a good idea. He also wants forget-me-nots fortunately, because I have wheelbarrows of those and nowhere to go with them.

This is good time of year to take into account any of those plants that have begun to multiply by running their roots all over your perennial bed. This is called traveling. Some of this is just fine, if you have a plant you really love and would like to see it absolutely everywhere in your garden. But for the most part, plants that travel need to be reeled in to prevent them from overtaking your life. Like clutter.

I have a gorgeous lysimachia purpurea. This has deep purple foliage with a lovely yellow flower. But it really wants to make its presence known throughout the garden kingdom. Each spring I just start pulling on its roots until I think it looks tidy. It is planted behind the alchemilla mollis (lady's mantle). They complement each other and I don't want to entirely remove the lysimachia. As the summer progresses, the plant will spread to the garden's benefit. It will be lovely. Just a little control on my part is all it needs.

Then there is the campanula (a huge family) commonly referred to as lady bells or chimney bells. This is a doozy. I have been trying to remove this plant for three summers. It is just fine if you have lots of room. The color is lovely. When it is mixed in with lots of other perennials it seems to blend but when the garden is small, like mine, it just looks weedy. I had made the decision, or so I thought, to remove it. It doesn't want to go. I will be digging this out of my beds for the rest of my life. It has a monster root system.

Now is a good time to get your perennials under control. Make room for new varieties or give yourself more of the same by division.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 26 years.