CHAPTER IX 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT STANDARDS 



IT is in the formal garden that the standard has 

 its true place, and the purpose to give accentua- 

 tion to carefully devised outlines. Pride, more- 

 over, has entered into the cultivation of standards. 

 To be able to have them live and bloom about the home 

 is the chief desire of many flower lovers. This fact 

 denotes appreciation of skill in the treatment of plants 

 and illustrates the pleasure that things a little out of 

 the ordinary are apt to give. 



The bleak seaside garden is not always a sym- 

 pathetic home for standards, as the moods of the 

 sea are not tempered to suit plants diverted from 

 their natural ways of growth. At the same time, 

 many beautiful standards are to be seen in gardens 

 approaching the sea. But before standards are 

 accepted for such gardens, the surrounding conditions 

 should be weighed and some thought given to the 

 care and labor involved in growing them success- 

 fully. 



The rose is the most wished for of all plants as 

 a standard, and particularly so in gardens devoted 

 exclusively to these flowers. To walk through a 

 rosarium and to be able to stoop slightly and to bury 

 one's nose in a huge bouquet of fragrant roses is a 



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