I 



'^ CHOICE GARDEN FLOWERS 35 



than they are worth." He devotes a long 

 chapter of his The Country Home to telUng 

 what flowering plants of all kinds he thinks 

 ought to be generally favored. His advice is 

 sound. 



If you wish to consult your own taste or use 

 your own judgment rather than his — or mine — 

 get a copy of Harriet L. Keeler's Our Garden 

 Flowers (Scribners), a delightful book to lovers 

 of flowers, giving not only botanical descriptions, 

 with 276 illustrations, but telling whence they 

 came, and relating their life histories and grad- 

 ual improvement. The author modestly claims 

 for her volume that it is only '*f airly complete" 

 — ^yet she had at her disposal 550 pages! Do 

 not, therefore, scold me if in this chapter I call 

 attention to only a few of the very finest and 

 most highly educated plants which ought to 

 be grown in all gardens the makers of which 

 have brains, industry, patience, time, a good 

 soil, and plenty of water. 



The amount of time you can spare is the first 

 thing to be considered. If you have plenty, it 

 would be inexcusable not to grow pansies, 

 poppies, and sweet peas. These I consider the 

 most enjoyable, on the whole, of all garden 

 flowers, and I have therefore given a whole 

 chapter to each of them. There are perhaps a 

 dozen flowers equally beautiful or fragrant, 

 but some of them bloom only a few weeks, 

 whereas the three favorites I have named can 



