THE COUNTRY HOME [chaptek 



of space, and for that reason can be planted in beds 

 largely occupied by other plants. My choice for 

 a gladiolus bed would be borders, about three feet 

 wide, with evergreen backing — beds in which we 

 may grow our hyacinths in early spring, and some 

 of the choicest early tulips. Here the stalks can 

 be tied to wires or to stakes. The array of new 

 sorts is more gorgeous and bewildering every year. 

 There is nothing more startling, to a person who 

 has grown gladioli since the first improvements 

 about 1850, than the evolution that has gone on. 

 I am growing some superb strains that sweep 

 through nearly the whole gamut of colors, includ- 

 ing blue. You can buy the bulbs by the hundred 

 from our large growers, at a very low rate, so that 

 the gladiolus constitutes a particularly valuable 

 flower for one who is just beginning country life. 



For autumn flowering I have great satisfaction 

 in growing pansies from seed sown in boxes in 

 April and transplanted to borders not too sunny. 

 While the earlier pansies are liable to exhaust them- 

 selves during the summer, these later productions 

 give their glory in September and October. An- 

 other autumn flowering plant that should be in- 

 cluded in a small collection is the scarlet sage or 



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