Ig WHO PAINTS THE LILY 167 



such a riotous mass of fairy flowers that they 

 look as if enveloped in a cloud of lavender 

 foam." 



Here we have an instance showing how the 

 gardening mania is transforming and beauti- 

 fying this world and making life more worth 

 living. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and 

 all the other fruits that we enjoy were originally 

 weeds — sour, astringent, small, almost or quite 

 inedible, or even poisonous; the college educa- 

 tion the gardeners gave them made them what 

 they are now, and the same is true of flowers. 

 The little lilac asters which Mrs. Thomas gave 

 a chance to show what they could do are pretty 

 enough as they stand in the farmers' pastures, 

 but she undertook to paint the lily and gild 

 refined gold, and succeeded, Shakespeare to the 

 contrary notwithstanding. 



This painting of lilies has indeed become the 

 fashion among gardeners, and a fascinating 

 fashion it is; a fashion which has transformed 

 their occupation into a fine art ranking with 

 music and painting, architecture, sculpture, 

 and poetry, because not only is its material 

 of the very essence of beauty, but it gives 

 endless opportunities for the exercise of creative 

 imagination. 



THE SHASTA DAISY WAS A WEED 



Luther Burbank's success is very largely due 

 to the fact that he is an artist, a floral epicure 



