GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



Portulacca, gay and cheery among the low-growing 

 annuals, should not be sown until near the first of 

 June, as a good deal of heat is needed to germinate its 

 tiny, silverlike seeds. They do not need to be covered 

 with soil, but merely to be pressed into the earth 

 with a flat board or the palm of the hand to prevent 

 their becoming dry before their roots take hold of the 

 soil. Hardly another garden annual shows such fear- 

 lessness of the sea as the bright-flowered, indomitable 

 portulacca. The sandier and sunnier a spot the more 

 abundantly it throws out its blossoms, laughing in 

 the face of droughts, caring not for the closeness of 

 the sea. A sandy beach is a fit home for portulacca 

 so long as it is out of reach of the tide. To garden 

 builders by the sea it is of great value, since it will 

 flourish in places where no other plant will grow. 



As a low edging plant about beds and borders it 

 has a distinct use, ranking almost with a perennial 

 from its habit of resowing itself generously. Not- 

 withstanding all its good qualities, it must be treated 

 with discretion, since, like its plebeian relative, pusley, 

 it will not take the hint to leave a place when its 

 presence is no longer wanted. At a place on Long 

 Island where portulacca was generously sown in the 

 days when the garden was young, it grew and bloomed, 

 it seemed to me, as nowhere else under the sun. Then 

 came a reversal of feeling. The mistress of the garden 

 wished to root it up and establish in its place a high- 

 class edging plant, Alyssum saxatile, or gold dust, a 

 perennial bearing myriads of bright yellow flowers. 

 She wished for the early bloom and grayish green 



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