IN THE MAKING 11 



squeezed into the narrow space of a chapter, and besides, 

 each one of us must desire and choose his own flowers or 

 he loses the very pith of the pleasure. But a few gen- 

 eralities are permissible. Gardens of the most lasting 

 satisfaction and beauty are those in which hardy her- 

 baceous perennials are the foundation. By these, I 

 mean those plants whose leaves and stems die down in 

 winter but whose roots endure; among those we include, 

 rightly I think, the hardy spring bulbs and Lilies. 

 Shrubs also are permanent residents in the garden and 

 play an important part, but annuals, tender bedders, 

 and such bulbs and roots as Gladioli and Dahlias, are in- 

 cidental, mere decorations, subject to our caprice, while 

 the herbaceous folk and shrubs come into the garden as 

 long-tenure residents, and upon them the stability and 

 strength of the garden depends. 



I take it that with most of us the goal aimed at in our 

 gardening is not simply to form a large collection of 

 plants as specimens, but to so choose and arrange our 

 material as to create as fine and full an effect as possible 

 over a period of five or six months. This does not pre- 

 clude thinking of and treating our plants as individuals; 

 quite the contrary, for to meet with any success in the 

 management of our garden world, we must know very 

 well the needs and habits and possibilities of each of its 

 tenants. In pursuance of this end, it is wise to care- 

 fully consider one's garden conditions in relation to the 

 plants it is desired to install, and not try to force upon 



