FLOWER-BEDS: THEIR 



always study effects and plan changes by which 

 improvements can be made, and year by year 

 the home-grounds will take on additional 

 beauty. The making of a fine garden is, like 

 the construction of a lawn, an evolutionary 

 process, and the work required by it cannot, in 

 the very nature of things, be done in one year 

 or in two. This is one of the charms of gar- 

 dening. What we do this season suggests 

 something new for next season. There is 

 always novelty and variety about it. 



I have named but few kinds among the long 

 list of annuals, perennials, and shrubs. I have 

 confined mention to those which I know from 

 personal experience to be most satisfactory in 

 the hands of the amateur gardener. I would 

 not advise going outside this list until experi- 

 ence justifies its extension. When one has 

 grown hardy plants successfully and not till 

 then he may safely undertake the cultivation 

 of kinds which are more exacting in their re- 

 quirements. The amateur who confines him- 

 self or herself to a small list of strong and 

 robust plants at the beginning, gives evidence 

 of possessing a wisdom which will lead to better 

 things by and by. 



To grow either annuals or hardy perennials 



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