CHAPTER XIX 

 FLOWERS FOR SHADED GARDENS 



EVER since gardens began the value of shade 

 as a means of refreshment to man has been recog- 

 nized, all manner of devices, from the natural to 

 the sheer artificial, being employed to create it. 

 Only in the failure to make the most of existing 

 shade has there been a lamentable lack of recog- 

 nition. 



There is a feeling that flowers and shade will 

 not go hand in hand. The feeling is so strong that 

 when flowers are found growing in garden 

 shade it is usually through neglect rather than intel- 

 ligent intent. 



Full sunshine and the open sky are essential to 

 gardens only in a general way. Nature shows 

 that. Many of her most beautiful gardens are par- 

 tially shaded; not a few have a leafy screen be- 

 tween them and the sun the livelong day. 



Shade, in some measure, is as grateful to numer- 

 ous cultivated flowers as it is to man. Having had 

 it naturally, they crave it in the garden even 

 though they are frequently good natured enough to 

 live happily without it. 



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