The Garden Grows 23 



"You don't want these weeds in your garden; why here's 

 another they are all over the place." 



"Yes," said I proudly, "those are my nicotianas; they are 

 doing well, but for some reason they won't bloom." 



The Botany girl laughed. " Nicotiana! mullein! and you 

 have been tenderly growing mulleins all summer?" and she 

 tore out another handful with deadly precision. 



I respected her knowledge, for she had just received her 

 degree, yet I was distressed and unconvinced. "Are you 

 sure? do you know nicotiana?" I questioned, pointing to the 

 label clearly bearing the name of the row. 



" You had better ask if you know mullein," and she laughed 

 again, and tweaked out the last vestige of my woolly plants. 



She was right, and to this day, not quite certain of the differ- 

 ence, I grow a certain number of mulleins in the fond belief 

 that they are nicotiana, in spite of the fact that the first mul- 

 lein leaves, before the tiny inner ones begin to show, are 

 slightly crenate or scalloped at the edges, while nicotiana has 

 an entire edge and much smoother leaf; otherwise I still hold 

 they resemble each other quite needlessly. The delightful 

 fragrance of the latter and its beautiful flowers are somewhat 

 offset by their being closed through the day, except in very 

 dull weather, and the plant is infested by the potato-bug. I 

 had an abundance of delicious wall flower, ten weeks stock and 

 pansies. Everything flourished plants, cutworms, grubs, 

 moles, but of these I sing later. The hollyhock seeds planted 

 along one side by the rustic fence made a famous growth. 

 They sent down deep roots among the rocks below and 

 bloomed vigorously the second year. 



Each year yields a moment of pure joy. The first occurred 

 when a friend stepped down into my small domain to view 

 things. He sniffed delightedly. 



"What is it that smells so good? It is delicious," and he 



