Seeds 65 



die down in summer. The fourth spring they were again re- 

 duced in number to seven then dwindled to four; and now 

 after five years of prayerful watching I am still on the waiting 

 list, for it will take at least four years more for them to mature 

 to a blooming size: nine years of faithful love for an uncer- 

 tainty is a sore test for a gardener. Considering that, when 

 full-grown, the large, fleshy roots are very brittle and perish- 

 able, and must be packed with the utmost care to transport, 

 it is evident that a mature Eremurus at three dollars is a bar- 

 gain. The same thing is true in regard to roses, bulbs, or 

 shrubs that seem costly; you are paying merely for carefully 

 selected varieties plus the years of care you are saved in 

 bringing stock to perfection; and the price is not exorbitant. 

 In some ways there is great advantage in raising one's own 

 plants; they are perfectly acclimated; they can be transplanted 

 under the most favorable conditions, at your own conven- 

 ience, and plants are saved the long exposure of their roots 

 to the air during transportation. Aside from these condi- 

 tions, it is really necessary for one who grows many plants 

 to know the seed leaves, in order to distinguish flowers from 

 weeds. There are few things exactly alike in this world, but 

 it takes an experienced eye to know Hesperis matronalis from 

 the common wild primrose at an early age, or Lychnis roseum 

 superbum from sorrel, Gaura Lindheimeri from smartweed, 

 Nicotiana affinis from mullein, many of the tiny bulb seed- 

 lings such as Hyacinthus candicans, Eremurus, Dianthus 

 cruentus and iris from common grass, as well as to identify 

 at once the little growths that spring up in the walks and 

 over the garden. I not only know at a glance any bit of 

 green an inch high of the many varieties I have raised from 

 seed, but I can very shortly plant it in its proper color bed 

 with definite certainty merely from the looks of the stem, leaf 

 or manner of growth. I can tell at the third leaf whether a 



