COLOUR IN MY GARDEN 



colour; all the Astilbes and herbaceous Spiraeas thrive 

 whole heartedly, as do the beautiful native Physostegias — 

 mauve-pink or white. And Mallows, Funkias, many kinds 

 of Iris including the slim Siberians, the yellow-leaved 

 Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus variegatus), Boconia cordata — 

 if the pool is large — and the Virginian Cowslip (Mertensia 

 virginica) will be found appropriate and well suited. In 

 between the larger subjects may be tucked all kinds of 

 Forget-me-nots, many different sorts of Primula, Horned 

 Violets, and the dainty Anemone rivularis. 



The soft magentas and mauve-pinks worn by so many of 

 the Spiraeas and Astilbes are particularly felicitous used 

 by the waterside, the passive tones seeming to merge im- 

 perceptibly into the almost colourless tints of the water. 



There should always be a seat near by the pool in the 

 garden that we may linger a while to enjoy the beauty of 

 the mirrored flowers. Thoreau says we see reflections only 

 when in an abstract mood. In our rambling trips about the 

 garden the mind is distracted by a thousand sights and 

 sounds, but where there is a seat we are apt to linger, and 

 when we linger in the garden the abstract mood is sure to 

 fall upon us like a magic cloak, endowing us with the power 

 to see much that is hidden from us at busier times — the 

 beauty of wind-stirred reflections, the subtle part played 

 by shadow in the garden's ornamentation, the ways of bees 

 and birds and butterflies, the evening light upon the Cherry- 

 trees. He loses much who has no aptitude for idleness. 



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