208 THE JOY OF GARDENS 



This is the punishment of the planter of short-lived 

 annuals. He is the man who has made friends for an 

 hour's entertainment, not for a lifetime; for, strange to 

 say, and it always comes to us as a surprise when we dis- 

 cover nature inconsistent, flowers in a garden resemble 

 the people in a village. 



If we have chosen from the gentle and the gay, the 

 sturdy and the arrogant, the company will be a varied 

 one; the weak will brace themselves against the strong, 

 the graces of one will temper the boldness of the other, 

 and, after storms have passed, some will have weathered 

 them and remain. The year will never be barren of 

 beauty, as the hearth will never be vacant of friends, if 

 they have been selected with wisdom. 



Turn from dreams to reality. What has been your 

 forethought of the morrow and the spring? Has life 

 flitted away while you were looking down the long road 

 to fairy gold at the foot of the rainbow or have you alter- 

 nated work and play*? 



In the past of planting time a wisdom, looking ahead 

 to faith and hope, thought of November while it was 

 May. Then were set the shrubs of character which 

 promised cheer for the seasons as they passed unfolding 

 of leaf in spring, blossoms in June, and joy of exuberant 

 growing in midsummer. Now the snowberries are hang- 

 ing like pearls against the bronzed leaves, the fringes of 

 barberries trim the thorny branches with coral, the orange 



