COLOUR IN MY GARDEN 



No modest gardener can hope to keep abreast with the 

 triumphal procession of the Iris to-day; few gardens are 

 large enough to hold a tithe of the radiant throng, and many 

 of the newest varieties are held at prices whose equivalent is 

 not to be drawn from the toe of a modest stocking. It is, 

 however, one of the many compensations that attends the 

 path of the gardener that though he possess but a patch of 

 the common Purple Flag or a stalk or two of the gray- 

 cowled Florentine he has for his portion perfect beauty, 

 dignity, and sweetness. 



My own garden boasts few of the fine new varieties, but 

 we are very gay indeed this bright June day and full of 

 diversity. Here against a full-flowered Scarlet Thorn 

 (Paul's) is a great splash of the pure lavender colour of the 

 great Dalmatian Iris. The Thorn is not scarlet, but a full 

 crimson pink that accords perfectly with the colour of this 

 finest of German Irises. Again the tall lavender Iris Celeste 

 consorts charmingly with a troupe of pink Canterbury Bells. 

 Surely no Irises are finer than these of the pallida group, 

 whether of lavender or of the enchanting pink shades; 

 Albert Victor is superb among the older sorts, nearly 

 resembling the Dalmatian variety, and Celeste, Australis, 

 La Tendresse, and Khedive are equally lovely and as 

 modestly priced as one could wish. Yet there seems no end 

 to desire; one has no rest for thinking of that fair Isoline, 

 whose price the tiny root is a dollar and a quarter; of Shelf ord 

 Chieftain and that fine group of lavender-blue Irises brought 

 to life by Mr. Farr — Chester J. Hunt, Massasoit, Mary Gray, 

 Glory of Reading, Juniata, and many others. Mr. Farr's pink 

 seedlings also fill the soul with beatitude. How truly 



no 



