128 MY GARDEN 



and where it fringed the top of the low, retaining walls in 

 May, it now hangs in soft-coloured mats and festoons to 

 the bottom. How delightful has been this Nepeta all 

 through the season. Pale Daffodils and pink and 

 mauve Tulips pierced in succession its pleasant mat of 

 gray foliage; later China Roses and white Lilies were 

 charming with it, and now the long arms of purple 

 Asters are flung across it in assured harmony, and the 

 Showy Stonecrop, Sedum spectabile, finds a happy 

 setting for its strange pink blossoms. 



The hardy Aster or Michaelmas Daisy is, of course, 

 the important flower of the month, and lovely and in- 

 valuable it is, though I find it not in many a good gar- 

 den. Because it grows in cloudlike masses by the dusty 

 roadsides, mingling happily with the Golden Rod and 

 Ferns, many do not look upon it seriously as a garden 

 flower. And it is from these same wild forms that the 

 fine garden sorts now to be had have been developed. 

 No flower adds so much to the beauty and grace of the 

 autumn garden as this, and I should like to root out all 

 the Cannas and Salvias, so blatant in many a fine garden 

 at this season, and fill their places with a tide of tender 

 colour and graceful growth so generously furnished 

 by the Michaelmas Daisies. All shades of lavender, 

 mauve, and purple are to be had, besides pinkish tones, 

 blush and pure white, in plants which are from one foot 

 to six feet in height and which exhibit many delightful 

 variations in form and habit. The blooming of the 



