LITTLE GARDENS 



drooping tassels of crimson and its cloth-like 

 leaves. One fills odd corners with this plant to 

 advantage, as its line of grace relieves the angu- 

 lar setting of a fence junction and the uprights 

 of a house or arbor. There are good words to 

 say for Canterbury bells, foxglove, blazing-star, 

 clarkia, columbine, and especially for the cosmos, 

 with its fern-like foliage and its daisy-like flowers 

 of red and pink and white. The cosmos stands 

 six feet high, and ought to stand against a wall 

 or fence, for it roots so lightly that it may be 

 tipped over by a stiff wind. Its flower is delicate 

 and refined and looks well in clusters for vases 

 on the table. 



Then, there are the plants with ornate leaves, 

 the well-known coleus, the dusty-miller, the 

 striped grass, the poinsettia, with its flaming 

 bracts, the odd little houseleek and especially 

 the alternanthera, a close-growing, small-leaved 

 plant, that takes on glossy green or the autumnal 

 red of oak-leaves. The alternanthera is almost 

 the equal of box for borders and figures in the 

 elaborate designs used in carpet bedding. I have 

 not included any mention of this latter thus far, 

 because, while it is more suitable for a small gar- 

 200 



