The Road to Dumbiedykes 



by new growth. Wild crabs have we 

 also in one corner; and their early 

 blossoms bear me back to woodland 

 thickets of a long ago. The rose un- 

 fortunately does not well in this par- 

 ticular soil and environment, but we 

 have a small success with baby ram- 

 blers and sweet, tall Dorothy Perkins. 

 We of course depend upon the 

 annuals mainly for the cut flowers, 

 which Billy loves to see in every nook 

 and corner of the cottage throughout 

 the summer. Formerly I used to spade 

 the beds and sow the seeds in the open 

 about the 25th of April, and some 

 famous displays of phlox, petunias, 

 zinnias, marigolds and snapdragons 

 we have had, but never again! The 

 weeding is as back-breaking a job as 

 extracting dandelions from the lawn, 

 and the waiting for the flowers seems 

 a waste of time. I patronize the man 

 with a greenhouse now, and at some 

 added cost have earlier blooms and 

 fewer aches. 



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