How I Built My Country Home 331 



have been cleared away the tah hly spikes emerge from the mass of dark- 

 green foHage, and, rising high above it, form their candelabra heads of coral- 

 tinted bells. There is economy in this method, as two crops of bloom, each 

 differing entirely from the other, are produced from one bed. An allied lily, 

 L. Canadense, found on the drier parts of the meadow, is another that takes 

 most kindly to garden life. I use it also as a second-crop flower, and to give 

 height and variety to the border. 



I grow the American cowsHp, or shooting star, which loses its foliage 

 soon after blooming in the spring. Alternating with the plants are Cam- 

 panula Carpatica, whose spreading foliage carpets the ground left bare by 

 the disappearing dodecatheons. Here and there in among both these plants 

 are placed the Canadian lilies, producing a pleasing combination. Both 

 of these lilies may be gathered from our prairies when in bloom, cutting 

 their stalks back to within a foot of the ground, and keeping the bulbs 

 damp while exposed, planting them where wanted at once or in temporary 

 quarters until the fall months. 



There are many beautiful flowering bulbs and plants that we should 

 all grow whose foliage ripens off and disappears soon after blooming. They 

 are generally of a character requiring planting in masses to be effective, and 

 are early to flower and vanish, leaving generous spaces of vacant ground 

 until the next spring, adorned only by a monument in the shape of the 

 identifying label. This label is essential in large plantings, for without it 

 the presence of dormant bulbs might be overlooked and damage done in 

 careless digging. How to cover these bare spaces is a matter of importance 

 to those who desire their borders to look neat and tidy. I plant snow- 

 drops, chionodoxas, scillas, crocus, grape hyacinths, and all of the spring- 

 blooming class, in masses under widespreading shrubs, so situated that the 

 sun will reach them during part of the day. 



My physician's prescription should be incorporated in the materia 

 medica of all nations. It was extremely pleasant to take, and not only 

 restored my shattered health, but was the means of awakening in me a 

 love for the greatest of all delights — one's own garden. 



