2 FLOWER GARDENING 



or a showy adjunct thereto; or again that it is a 

 colorful possession the joy of which would be ma- 

 terially lessened were the effect not boldly planned 

 for the eyes of the passerby, or a mere place for 

 the growing of the flowers that one must have. 



Now the true garden of flowers is a great deal 

 more. It may be sometimes it must needs be 

 merely a clump of lilies by the doorstep, a rose on 

 ithe porch or a row of chrysanthemums hugging 

 the house. If this means the establishment of a 

 real relationship between the inside of the portal 

 and the outside, there is a garden, and one worthy 

 to be numbered among "the Purest of Humane 

 pleasures." Size matters not, nor design, nor the 

 abundance of flowers. 



So began the earliest American flower gardens 

 gardens that the Colonists made for themselves 

 r in New England, in New York and in Virginia. 

 From the home outward they began, at first not 

 straying from the walls of the house. Gradually, 

 as forest and redskin receded, flowers ventured 

 forth into the created yard but never so far that 

 the garden seemed other than the integral part 

 of the home that it should be. 



The old Colonial rule call it instinct if you 

 will is the only one worth while. And so sim- 

 ple it is that even a child may read it as he runs. 

 Let the flower garden expand from the heart of 

 the home outward; then you may be sure that 

 you have made a right start. 



