THE DELIGHTS OF THE GARDEN 



43 



close friend ; the home-saved seed ; the 

 old Clove Pink, rescued from oblivion 

 by timely thought ; a Fern from cool, 

 sequestered lane that lingers in some un- 

 troubled corner of the mind, to which, 

 sometimes, one turns, and not in vain, 

 for soothing memories — all these and 

 many more should be found in the garden 

 that one loves. 



How difficult it is to make a garden 

 that shall be more than a mere collection 

 of plants — a garden haunted by the 

 spirit of other days, peopled by ghosts of 

 welcome memory, lit by stray shafts of 

 mellowed light from gladsome times by- 

 gone ; a garden that shall have soul 

 as well as body ! In what melodious 

 words does the Poet Lavireate, in " The 

 Garden that I Love," picture the choice 

 of gardens, gardens for young, gardens 

 for old. I quote only the first four 

 lines of each stanza : 



Had I a garden, it should lie 



All smiling to the sun, 

 And after bird and butterfly 



Children should romp and run. 



'Had I a garden, alleys green 



Should lead where none would guess, 

 Save lovers, to exchange, unseen, 

 Shy whisper and caress. 



"Had I a garden, claustial yews 

 Should shut out railing wind, 

 That poets might on sadness muse 

 W ith a majestic mind. 



" Had I a garden, it should grow 

 Shelter where feeble feet 

 Might loiter long or wander slow 

 And deem decadence sweet." 



To make a garden that shall closely 

 approach one's ideal it is best to let the 

 flowers grow much as they list, to let 

 wild Nature have her way, even on well- 

 tilled ground. A little of rose-gardens, 

 of wild gardens and water gardens, of 

 rock gardens a little, and a little of flower 

 gardens, if carefully blended, would blos- 

 som into a pleasaunce full of charm if the 

 tending were with care and not precision, 

 with love yet not with affectation, with 

 pride yet not with proudness, with tender- 

 ness not lacking in firmness. Before 

 attempting to blend the one with the 

 other, it is well to know something of 

 the ways of plants, their likes and dislikes, 

 their good points and bad, so that one's 

 knowledge of the individual flowers may 

 stand the final and supreme test of their 

 association in a garden where the plants 

 shall not only grow but live, and in living 

 give of the pure joy that is within them. 

 H. H. Thomas. 



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