GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



Rock gardens and those of naturalistic tendencies are 

 more pleasing in such places than formal mounds of 

 cannas of the highest class. 



The seeds of hollyhocks should be sown in the 

 seed bed every year in April or May, that the plants 

 may be ready to transplant and blossom the following 

 season. They are undeniably hardy, lasting many 

 years in a garden. But the flowers of young plants 

 are so much larger and more beautiful than those 

 of the older ones that it well repays the interest of the 

 garden to keep up its stock and sow them each spring. 

 Hollyhocks a year old are usually bought to plant 

 in new gardens, in order that their bloom may be 

 seen the first season instead of being deferred until 

 the second year. 



One of the finest of these plants that I have ever 

 seen, standing erect and tall as a chieftain, was in a 

 garden of Shelter Island and was self-sown. It had 

 chosen to grow at one of the most conspicuous points 

 of the garden, from where it appeared to have command 

 over the smaller plants. These great plants would 

 be sadly missed from seaside gardens, for they are 

 strong in personality and lend an air of stalwartness 

 to their surroundings. 



Lavender is on the list for spring planting. It is 

 seen in few gardens of this country, very rarely in those 

 that stretch far northward, where it often winter- 

 kills. In many of the coast towns, however, moderately 

 temperate in climate, I have known it to grow vigor- 

 ously. It is not a showy plant, but the fragrance of 

 its leaves and flowers, and the delicate steel-gray color 



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