222 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



looked across that field this morning. Bart declared the 

 sight to be the first extra dividend upon our payment 

 to Amos Opie for leaving the grass uncut. 



I left the stalks of the lilies full three feet long and used 

 only their own foliage, together with some broad-leaved 

 grasses, to break the too abrupt edge of the glass. This 

 is a point that must be remembered in arranging flowers, 

 the keeping the relative height and habit of the plant in 

 the mind's eye. These lilies, gathered with short stems 

 and massed in a crowded bunch, at once lose their in- 

 dividuality and become mere little freckled yellow 

 gamins of the flower world. 



A rather slender jar or vase also gives an added sense 

 of height; long-stemmed flowers should never be put 

 in a flat receptacle, no matter how adroitly they may be 

 held in place. Only last month I was called upon to 

 admire a fine array of long- stemmed roses that were held 

 in a flat dish by being stuck in wet sand, and even though 

 this was covered by green moss, the whole thing had a 

 painfully artificial and embalmed look, impossible to 

 overcome. 



For the living room, which is in quiet green tones and 

 chintz-upholstered wicker furniture, I gathered Shirley 

 poppies. They are not as large and perfectly developed 

 as those I once saw in your garden from fall-sown seed, 



