236 FROM A MIDDLESEX GARDEN 



the still warm air, as the odour of the newly-fallen 

 leaves is blown in at the window. To-morrow, maybe, the 

 sun will be shining in its old warm brilliancy from a bright 

 blue sky, unstained by cloud, and the harvesters will be busy 

 gathering in the golden grain, and the orchards be resounding 

 with merry voices as they gather the luscious fruit ; but to- 

 day both occupations have to be deferred. The granary at 

 the old farm is emptied of its last year's harvest store, and 

 within it the children are playing at hide-and-seek, their merry 

 laughter and shout waking the old owl from its slumber amid 

 the rafters. The farmhouse garden at this season is still 

 beautiful with the last flowers of the year ; a clump or so of 

 Japanese anemones lend it quite a summer appearance, and 

 here the dahlias, single and double, are very fine both in 

 colour and size ; the beautiful D. Mercki, D. Coccinea, and 

 the dear old-world D. Variabilis numbering among them. 

 High above all the flowers of this September garden tower the 

 " broad sunflowers." The commonest of the sunflowers is, of 

 course, Helianthus annuus, and it is interesting to note that 

 this species was first introduced into this country from the 

 Western United States in 1596. The other varieties of sun- 

 flower common to our gardens are H. d. multiflorus and 

 H. rigidus. Now blooms to perfection the Michaelmas daisy. 

 Zinnias and petunias enliven the beds, and even roses, in no 

 haste to sever their acquaintance from us, are still in bloom, 

 shedding a lustre around, their lingering beauty reflecting the 

 summer-time. 



At the end of September the air begins to blow keenly 

 across the golden woodlands. What a lovely stretch of 

 colour lies before us. The green ivy shows a bright 

 contrast, where it sends up its cable-like stem to the very 



