THE GARDEN AT HOME 



Lobelia. A planting of Arabis and Aubrietia and alpine 

 Pink and Saxifrage should grace the margin of the 

 rougher steps, and if there are chinks between the stones 

 what better to fill them with than the little Violet Cress, 

 that blossoms a few weeks after seed is sown, or Lemon 

 Thyme, that scents the air when trodden ? 



Do we realise sufficiently the charm and picturesque- 

 ness of common forest trees, of which many gardens 

 possess at least one or two ? A rustic garden-seat, so 

 fashioned as to encircle the trunk, forms an ideal resting- 

 place in welcome shade ; how tempting to linger there 

 for a few moments, even in earliest spring, if the grass 

 is strewn with the golden, green-frilled flowers of the 

 Winter Aconite or the incomparable Snowdrop, and 

 later with Crocuses in yellow, white, and blue ! How 

 delightful so to plan that the rose borders or flower 

 borders or herb garden lead to the forest tree, that in high 

 summer the sequestered seat may lure us to rest awhile, 

 soothed by the seductive sweets of the scented flowers ! 



A thickly planted shrubbery, a close mass of leafy 

 stems (how common, alas ! it is in the home garden !) 

 has neither grace nor interest, yet clear a way for 

 the passage of a winding walk, and how inimitable 

 and illimitable are the opportunities disclosed to the 

 seeing gardener ! The simple clearing of the walk itself 

 will extend the gardener's knowledge of the plants he 

 possesses, since it will permit him to make friends with 

 those that previously were only acquaintances. How 



48 



