224 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



cornflowers, encircled by the leaves of "dusty miller," 

 and placed it on the desk. 



The dining-room walls are of deep dark red that must 

 be kept cool in summer. At all seasons I try to have the 

 table decorations low enough not to oblige us to peer at 

 one another through a green mist, and to-day I made a 

 wreath of hay-scented ferns and ruby-spotted Japan 

 lilies (Speciosum rubrum, the tag says they were sent 

 as extras with my seeds), by combining two half- moon 

 dishes, and in the middle set a slender, finely cut, flar- 

 ing vase holding two perfect stems, each bearing half 

 a dozen lily buds and blossoms. These random bulbs 

 are the first lilies of my own planting. There are a few 

 stalks of the white Madonna lilies in the grass of the 

 old garden and a colony of tiger lilies and an upright 

 red lily with different sort of leaves, all clustered at the 

 root, following the tumble -down wall, the rockery 

 to be. I am fascinated by these Japanese lilies and 

 desire more, each stalk is so sturdy, each flower so 

 beautifully finished and set with jewels and then 

 powdered with gold, as it were. Pray tell me some- 

 thing about the rest of the family! Do they come 

 within my range and pocket, think you? The first 

 cost of a fair-sized bed would be considerable, but if 

 they are things that by care will endure, it is some- 



