90 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
THE FIVE P’S: PANSIES, PETUNIAS, PHLOX, PINKS 
AND POPPIES. 
MRS. O. C. GREGG, LYND. 
“The melancholy days have come, the saddest of the year, 
Of wailing winds and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.’ 
And now that the flowers have gone for the winter, and we have 
none to enjoy except the few that we have gathered to our firesides, 
and nothing to inspire us but the brilliant coloring of the florists’ 
catalogues, it seems a sorry time to write up our own favorites—but 
we are called to give the good qualities of only five, so we cheer- 
fully set ourselves to the task. 
Pansies, petunias, phlox, pinks and poppies,—rich, profuse, varied, 
sweet and showy. How glad we have been to call them our friends 
and how many of our homes have been brightened by them, how 
many occasions enhanced by their decorative possibilities! 
Could anything be more rich than the pansy, more profuse than 
the petunia, more varied than the phlox, more sweet than the pink 
or more showy than the poppy? They should never be omitted by 
the farmer’s wife in making up the list of seeds to be sown for the 
summer’s bloom. They will brighten her garden from early sum- 
mer till frost, so that she will not regret for a moment her seed sow- 
ing, but be glad that a little time was snatched from her busy hours 
to put them in place where they will cheer and divert her. Pansies 
on account of their richness will make her think of the wealth of 
Ophir and the royal glories of kings palaces; they might also 
suggest at times faces of friends or acquaintances, for each plant 
has a distinct individuality suggestive of personal characteristics 
in the people about us. Petunias will delight her on account of the 
variety of their colors and the profusion of blooms they will 
yield—all faithfully and lavishly given from day to day, reminding 
her of common, every day, reliable people, who are never too busy 
to be kind. Phlox will give endless variety in color and shadings 
and make some spot gay with their brightness. Pinks,a large and 
interesting family, dainty, rich, sweet and bright, will prepare them- 
selves to decorate the cosy nooks of her home and give an added 
grace to her festive board; while poppies will glorify with their 
brilliancy an otherwise dark or forbidding corner in her garden. 
I have often wondered why so many farmers’ homes are without 
flowers—sometimes even without trees. May it not come from im- 
agining that the beautiful must be sacrificed for the useful? Yet 
should it be so? Beauty has its mission. It comes with power to 
cheer, refine and elevate. Perfection of any kind is inspiring, and in 
no way can we gather about us beauty and perfection in so great a 
degree as in making a place for flowers. Make way for them then 
in every nook and corner! Let them climb upon your porches, run 
up your windows and brighten your lawns! And, my word for it, 
you will live a brighter, purer, higher life in consequence of their 
benign influence. 
One might at least grow our five p’s, for the seeds are cheap, and 
the plants are easily cultivated. 
