LITTLE GARDENS 



that comes to It later in the season, when the 

 dahha blooms; but this is not a hardy plant. Its 

 tubers are to be taken up and dried, after the top 

 has withered, the new growths divided from the 

 old, and all kept in the cellar till It is time for 

 planting in early spring — a treatment that may 

 be given to the canna and gladiolus, also. You 

 could fill your yard with dahlias yet have hardly 

 any two plants alike, for there are something 

 like four hundred varieties, widely diverse in 

 height, form and color. They range through a 

 gamut of red and yellow, with strains and 

 touches of intermediate orange, and they appear, 

 likewise, in pearly white, which affects both of 

 the basal tints, so that we have refined pink, 

 ethereal yellow, and blossoms dappled and 

 streaked in wilful fashion. The dahlia comes at 

 a time when flowers are welcome, when chill 

 weather Is impending, and when most of the 

 tender things have ended their year's delight. 

 Its fresh, strong-looking foliage is no less charm- 

 ing, as the tree leaves begin to fall, than are its 

 flowers. Its bloom varies considerably in size, 

 from hard little nubbins, which seem to have 

 tightened their petals to keep out the cold, to 

 i68 



