IN CALIFORNIA 257 



they are set and even look into second-story win- 

 dows ; poinsettias, in vivid scarlet, glow under south 

 eaves; and roses of every hue brighten hedge-rows 

 and fences and even nod jauntily down from tree 

 tops. Naturally, then, when you are at last settled 

 in California your thoughts turn much to gardens. 



For the making of a garden the Californian has 

 practically the whole world to draw upon. Indeed, 

 so inclusive is the hospitality of the State 's climate, 

 that the supreme temptation is to plant something 

 of everything on earth and to turn one's place into 

 a botanic museum. This may be poor landscape 

 gardening, but to the new-comer it means a lot of 

 enjoyment and some education; and there is a con- 

 siderable preponderance of such medleyed horticul- 

 ture up and down the State, prosecuted without plan 

 and as personal fancy and the generosity of flower- 

 loving neighbors with cuttings to give away have 

 dictated. This is, I think, a weak spot in California 

 gardening, and the artist of our family touched upon 

 it to the Professor one day : 



' ' Oh, I think the flowers here are perfectly beauti- 

 ful, marvelous in growth and variety; but do you 

 think the people always understand the harmony of 

 arrangement so as to bring out the beauty as it de- 

 serves? The purple bougainvillea is simply a regal 

 bloomer, but you find it everywhere flowering furi- 



