32 GARDENING WITH BRAINS '^ 



but it will stand more neglect than any other 

 annual. Regardless of weeds and drought and 

 impoverished soil, it continues to bloom till frost; 

 and the blossoms do not have to be picked, like 

 those of other flowering plants. There is a 

 belief that the poorer the soil the larger the 

 number of flowers in proportion to the leaves; 

 but do not allow this doctrine to beguile you 

 into starving your nasturtium plants. Give 

 them a rich soil to grow in, for if you don't the 

 flowers will not have those long stems which 

 women who arrange bouquets consider so neces- 

 sary. I raise only the climbing nasturtiums and 

 give them all the elbow room they want. Usu- 

 ally I plant mine along one side of the poppy 

 bed, which they overrun in riotous profusion 

 after the poppies are gone. 



In up-to-date nasturtiums the circular, pel- 

 tate leaves — each looking **like a shield on the 

 arm of a soldier," or like lotos leaves, some of 

 them oddly bleached, blotched, and striped — 

 have a charm of their own which quite justifies 

 their luxuriance. Whether in rows or clumps 

 near the house, or hanging down from a wall or 

 a tub, or climbing a fence or a rock, the nas- 

 turtium is always decorative. Its fragrance is 

 not surpassed for delicacy and originality or 

 individuality, or whatever you choose to call it, 

 by any other flower. If the poets have not 

 raved about it as they have about the rose and 

 the violet, it is doubtless because neither its 



