October 



LX 



PERHAPS it is ' when daffodils begin to peer ' that flowers 

 are most prized, harbingers of the wealth of Autumnal 

 summer; yet the autumnal border may be so Flowerbeds 

 furnished as to display a quiet glory not to be attained in 

 spring. This cannot be secured without wise forethought, 

 for it must be confessed that in these days, when every- 

 body has a herbaceous border, the tendency to sameness 

 is somewhat harassing, and the practice of cultivating 

 coarse-growing perennials causes too many gardens to 

 look weedy and overgrown in September. Neatness and 

 order are indispensable to pleasing effect, yet repetition is 

 a snare to be avoided. When many different species of 

 flowers are grown together, as is usual in the herbaceous 

 border, they should be carefully grouped so as to give an 

 impression of spontaneity. For example, there is no more 

 conspicuous flower at this season than the torch lily or 

 red-hot poker, as it is unpoetically called none more 

 effective in lighting up the back row of a border. There 

 are many species of different hues ; one can scarcely go 

 wrong with any of them. No more splendid effect can be 

 wrought with flowers than that which is before my eyes 

 as I write. A large clump of torch lilies, occupying a 

 circular bed on a slope of well-kept lawn, has thrown up 

 more than a hundred spikes of vivid scarlet and yellow. 



