238 MY GARDEN 



I remember once in my early gardening experience 

 being away for two months during the summer and 

 finding, upon my return, the garden positively gasping 

 for breath in the clutches of these unbidden guests. 

 The moment my back was turned they had risen up all 

 over the garden and climbed like acrobats up anything 

 so unfortunate as to possess an upright stalk. It was 

 crass outlawry, of course, and had to be ruthlessly dealt 

 with, but in my heart I felt that beneath their dainty 

 burden the smug Dahlias had acquired a grace quite 

 foreign to them, and that the poor half -strangled Holly- 

 hocks had never looked so lovely as when providing a 

 trellis for these wantons, with their "fairy loops and 

 rings." 



The Japanese have wrought magic upon the simple 

 Morning Glory, and have created a race called Japanese 

 Imperial, which will climb eight feet and hang out 

 marvellously ruffled, scalloped, and fringed blossoms, in 

 gorgeous shades and combinations, in great profusion. 

 Copper, azure, crimson, rose colour, all are possible, and 

 many boast a throat or markings of another tint. To 

 insure quick germination the seeds of this climber may 

 be notched, or soaked in warm water for a few hours be- 

 fore planting, and they may be started indoors in little 

 pots for early flowering. 



The ghostly Moon Vine, Ipomoea grandiflora, belongs 

 to the same family as the foregoing. It makes a tre- 

 mendous growth in a season, and this fact, with its 



