242 THE GARDEN OF A 



This morning we planted the seven raying beds 

 around the sundial. Evan conceived the idea of 

 matching them as nearly as possible with the colours 

 of the solar spectrum. These are red, yellow, green, 

 blue, and purple, with the intermediate shades. The 

 difficulty is to get the various colours in flowers of 

 even growth. We found all of the shades but blue 

 among the double zinnias, a family of sturdy growth 

 and willing bloom, crimson, scarlet, yellow, orange, 

 lilac, and purple. For the blue we chose the rich 

 metallic cornflower (or centaurea), Emperor William, 

 the grass between the rays giving abundance of green. 

 Of course this combination is a lottery. The wheel 

 may be either gorgeous or hideous, for there is but a 

 step between. It is such experiments as this, how- 

 ever, that keep the gardener alert. Yet there are 

 people who are surprised if one is not bored by 

 living in the country! 



May 31. The first garden tragedy. Alas, that 

 Evan should be the victim ! This morning when 

 he was picking a few last sprays of lily-of-the-valley, 

 his commutation ticket slid from his vest pocket 

 unobserved and lodged among the leaves, where it 

 hid until I discovered it in the afternoon. Not only 

 did he have to pay his fare to town and back again 

 at night, but he had no ticket to exchange for the 



