INTRODUCTION 



THE field of garden literature surely has not 

 suffered in recent years from any lack of new 

 books. Volumes in plenty have made their 

 appearance, laying bare the secrets of the bulb gar- 

 den, the hardy border, the successful management of 

 hotbeds — and few of them have fallen short of a very 

 acceptable standard. Indeed, the time seems fast 

 drawing near when we in this country shall overtake 

 our astute English cousins in the degree of specializa- 

 tion their gardening writings have attained. Some- 

 times I feel that we are going too fast, that we are 

 passing fourth readers around a class that would 

 prefer a primer, for, after all, there are uncounted 

 thousands among us who have yet to taste the real 

 joys of gardening. 



Quite recently a friend asked whether I would 

 help him with his choice of annual flowering plants 

 for his proposed garden. He had before him a sheaf 

 of the seedsmen's catalogues, from the bewildering 

 pages of which he was attempting to make a list of 

 seeds that he might order. The names, I found, 

 meant little to him beyond the mere sounds. "Love- 

 in-a-mist" had a definite appeal, but whether it was 

 one of the old standbys or'one of the difficult plants 

 that the experienced gardeners have given up trying 



