PICKING UP WRINKLES 



edge of the turf in front with pegged-down Teas / so that, 

 to the very top, it was one mass of varied bloom. We do 

 not see any reason why such an effect should not be 

 copied, even in a small garden. 



The standard Scarlet Geraniums we must admire from a 

 respectful distance. They are as much beyond our 

 humble resources as the standard Heliotrope we so much 

 admired a year ago in a millionaire's huge grounds not 

 very far from us. These last rose out of a bed of mauve 

 Violas. The ambitious soul of the mistress of the Villino 

 hungered to copy it / but she knew that hunger would 

 never be assuaged. 



We have had a frightful disappointment in the " Miss 

 Wilmott" Verbenas. For two summers it has been the 

 same story. Last year they came up "all colours/ 7 

 though purchased from a well-known firm ! This year, to 

 make quite sure, we ordered seedlings to be specially 

 grown for us from a local nursery. The wretch has sent 

 a collection of measly little starveling things which cannot 

 be expected to do anything for weeks and weeks. Of 

 course they should not have been accepted / but the deed 

 was done in our absence. We are much inclined to have 

 the beds cleared, and Heliotrope or rose-coloured Ivy-leaf 

 Geraniums put in instead. It is too late for anything else. 

 Gardeners are so tiresome ! They are as bad as cooks, 

 who will accept with perfect equanimity, fish ready to 

 illustrate the proverb and game prepared to walk to its 

 own funeral, and then say that " they thought it was ' a 

 bit high ' perhaps, but they weren't quite sure ! " 



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