THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
aside coarser plants that do not add to the refine- 
ment of your lawn. For this reason I discard bal- 
sams and zinnias, holding that the despised nose 
has special rights in a flower garden. But we shall 
do well to go farther, as most of the annuals take 
more time and room than they are worth. The 
culture of flowers ought always to go on with the 
culture of ourselves. When we discard second- 
rate things it shows that we are growing; the flower 
garden is enlightening us, and not merely pleasing 
us. 
Do not be too sure that single flowers are always 
the more beautiful. There is beauty in geometry 
and mathematics; so there is in the symmetrical ar- 
rangement of dahlia petals, and in the fine art of 
the General Jack rose. Some flowers are more 
beautiful in their single specimens, because only in 
these can the fine penciling of nature be displayed 
— as in the gladiolus and the salpiglossis. A dou- 
ble hollyhock may, however, be the climax of shad- 
ing and color, as well as of artistic arrangement. 
Of course every woman who makes a country 
home will have her favorite flowers, which she will 
desire to multiply; then in all neighborhoods there 
are flowers which have secured a special welcome, 
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