THE GARDEN IN TOWN 



pattida, Dalmatica, pumila, the English and Spanish and Flor- 

 entines; lily-of-the-valley wherever there is a shady corner. 

 Jonquils, daffodils, and poets' narcissus are followed by May- 

 flowering and Darwin tulips, to which the snowball on the 

 walls acts as an accompaniment. 



If the gardener meditates a summer in town, then he plans 

 for summer comfort. If he has an arbor at the 'foot of his 

 yard, then he adds an awning which cuts off the view of the 

 neighboring houses and gives him only the little garden for his 

 eyes to rest upon, or he screens it and makes of the place an out- 

 door living-room; while for the planting, when the crocuses 

 are abloom, he sows Shirley poppies and corn-flowers wherever 

 there is space, and sometimes where there is not. It is easier 

 to pull out superfluous plants than to transplant infant pop- 

 pies. When the poppies are past, he pulls them up and tucks 

 in dahlias or gladiolus bulbs. He has mignonettes for fra- 

 grance, and lemon verbena, and arranges for posies all summer 

 long. But if the gardener's dwelling in town be only a matter 

 of from September to June, then his planting is different. He 

 sets out chrysanthemums and Japanese anemones in the spring, 

 which in the autumn will give color in plenty. He tucks in 

 dahlia bulbs and sows marigold and cosmos and corn-flowers 

 for autumn blooming. When the garden is "reefed" for the 

 winter, these are cut down, annuals are pulled up, and hardy 

 evergreens in tubs or pots Retinospora if one can afford it, or 

 common junipers if one cannot take the place of the bay-tree 

 or Hydrangea hortensis. With ivy or Euonymus the walls are 

 as green as in summer. Andromedas are serenely indifferent to 

 the thermometer; here and there a brightly colored Japanese 

 evergreen gives a touch of gayety, and the little garden has not 

 only a comfortable but a really cheerful aspect, ready to wel- 

 come the first-comer in spring and make it feel at home. 



43 



