APRIL LEAVES 93 



CHAPTER IX 



APRIL LEAVES— FROM MY GARDEN BOOK 



EVERY man or woman who makes a garden should keep a 

 garden calendar or book. Mine is a small blankbook about 

 seven by five inches — small enough to slip easily into my hand- 

 bag, and thus enable me to make my entries either at home or 

 abroad. The records are written across each double page, which 

 represents the record of a week in garden operations. It is really 

 a logbook of my journey on the road to garden success, and, 

 because the journeying was so rough at first, and mistakes were 

 so frequent, the first entry on each page is one of encouragement 

 — that of the blossoms, then the buds, the planting operations, 

 and, lastly, notes or remarks. 



When entries of planting are made, whether of seeds, or peren- 

 nials, or shrubs, the situation is also noted, and, as all the original 

 entries are written with ink, a later entry in pencil is made if it 

 is necessary to note that the work is a failure. At first there 

 were many "n. g.'s." 



The book is a complete record of what is planted, when it is 

 done, where it is placed, how it grows, and what the ultimate 

 result is. Experiments are noted with especial care. Perhaps 

 it would seem an arduous task; but, systematized in this way, 

 it really has taken only a few minutes each week, and has been 

 worth much to me. I copy the April leaves of last year that the 

 reader may see how simple and yet how valuable a record it is. 

 The pencil notations are put in parentheses: 



April 1 to 8 



Blooming. Tulips, very fine; Hyacinths; Crocuses; Daffodils; 

 Violets; Pansies, very few; Devoniensis Rose; Banksia Roses, east 

 border (shade). 



