VARIOUS GARDENS 



February, when the snowdrops appear, until De- 

 cember, when the snow covers the chrysanthe- 

 mums still gayly flowering. 



"Old-fashioned flowers have always had the 

 preference, though I have had to slip in the 

 lovely blue salvia, Japanese anemone, summer 

 hyacinths, and others which, alas, the first owner 

 of my bit of ground never knew. There must be 

 the historic 'fifty-seven varieties' in these borders, 

 which are my chief est joy. Next is the bed 

 around the sun-dial with its foundation of an old 

 millstone for this is a Gates Mills garden. Here 

 only things with spiky leaves are allowed to grow. 

 The crocus begins the season; daffodils, scillas, all 

 sorts of iris, yellow lilies, yuccas, gladioli, mont- 

 bretias follow in procession until summer hya- 

 cinths and red-hot poker end the summer in a 

 charming combination, and not one of them but 

 has the long, slender leaves. My latest joy is 

 my white border connecting two sets of beds where 

 many old and some new fashioned flowers are 

 massed according to a plan which does change 

 somewhat every year, as my visions of color com- 

 binations vary. What a lot of white flowers one 

 can find to crowd in front of the background of 

 tall white phlox! For close planting carries out 

 245 



