^6 GARDENING BY MYSELF. 



much care to see it anywhere else ; but, if 

 not, you will find it a very Fairylandish 

 thing indeed. And it is perfectly hardy, 

 and does not need petting. 



Talking of what we may transplant, brings 

 us back, naturally enough, to what we may 

 not, — the wonderful things that grow in the 

 Fairyland of some other people. I have 

 spoken before of the good effect of a 

 bright-leaved coleus or achyranthus among 

 the flowering plants here and there. And 

 sometimes they may seem hard to get. I 

 know all about that. But sometimes, too, 

 a friend will furnish a cutting ; sometimes 

 you may find one, not exactly " rolling 

 up hill," as the children say, but still 

 in unexpected places. Not in anybody's 

 greenhouse, to begin with. There I would 

 not pick up so much as a leaf from 

 the floor. Professed gardeners are often 

 very chary of their plants, even when their 

 employers are not. Therefore take to your- 

 self the old Arabic proverb, and '' in a field 

 of melons don't pull up your shoe." Yet, in 



