BEES COURT THE CLOVER 107 



disadvantages nothing need be said, as they are easily 

 kept free of pests and their merits gain a firm hold on 

 the heart. Having the virtues of use and beauty, they 

 are regarded highly. 



While one beehive made a picture with the group of 

 pink hollyhocks, another was hidden in a clump of rich 

 yellow that towered above the French marigolds, coreop- 

 sis, and calendulas, all yellows. It was a quaint arrange- 

 ment, and artistic enough to call a painter with his 

 three-legged stool and easel to sketch the tangle. The 

 dairymaid character is not altogether a misplaced idea 

 with sunflowers or hollyhocks, for a brief glance will 

 show how difficult it is to be content with a refined flower 

 of gentle lineage at their feet, while, when alone, the 

 robust quality of stem and foliage contribute to a barbaric 

 sort of beauty. 



Have you ever planned a fete rich in tricks and sur- 

 prises, and then awakened on the day with a beating heart 

 lest the spectacle you had pictured had been shifted by a 

 hand of destiny touching the kaleidoscope, and something 

 else meet your view? 



This should be the feeling of one who has given the 

 affection to a garden of annuals and looks forward to 

 early July, for July is the test of planting for color and 

 midsummer beauty. Just now we lucky ones are glad if 

 the hollyhocks of pink and healthy color are making 

 bright their clumps, if the sapphire-blue larkspurs are 



