62 MY GROWING GARDEN 



travel west from Pekin a curious relation to 

 eastern North America. In sending Mr. Wilson 

 to the very borders of Thibet, Professor Sargent 

 was acting upon his own estimation of the un- 

 touched plant possibilities of that region. 



The result has more than justified the expec- 

 tations. Thousands of new but similar trees and 

 plants have been obtained, often at great risk, 

 and amid thrilling conditions. These plants are 

 growing at the Arboretum, and from them Mr. 

 Wilson has selected about a hundred for me to 

 try out here at Breeze Hill. It was on an April 

 day several years ago that I unpacked the box 

 of mysteries and planted the Arboretum shrub- 

 bed. To watch these plants start and grow, to 

 note their differences and their habits, is to me 

 of the greatest interest. Knowing nothing at aU 

 of their habits, I have had to plant at haphazard, 

 and that has added to the interest. Beside a 

 standard lonicera — ^a bush honeysuckle — ^was set 

 another lonicera. How did I know that the first 

 named was an "up-and-coming" sort that would 

 make a great mass in two growing seasons, while 

 its seeming brother of the same family was a 

 hug-the-ground trailer that was quickly covered 

 out of sight, because too near? Here was a syringa, 

 and that I knew to be of lilac relationship; but 



