Garden Airs and Graces 



gypsy to a ballet dancer, overskirted, crinolined, 

 befrilled. Nothing will she have as God designed 

 it, in simplicity. It must be improved into a sea- 

 son's novelty by hand of man. 



You may imagine then that her own taste in 

 beauty is one based on size. No doubt wisely, it 

 had not occurred to me to put a yard stick to my 

 zinnias. It was enough for me that they had 

 bloomed in other colors than magenta, and I had 

 felt relief when each tight bud disclosed itself as 

 ivory, a rich canary yellow, salmon, or dull pink. 

 But she has measured hers, and though I may not 

 believe it — ^they are each a good six inches ; Mam- 

 moths, ciu'led and crested are the variety she gets. 

 She does not need to inform me what she thinks 

 of my sweet-peas. I, too, long ago succumbed to 

 Giant Spencers, and there they are, great butter- 

 flies atilt upon the vines. Still close by I grow 

 the old varieties that yield so much more perfume 

 from their smaller hooded bloom. The Lady 

 Grizel Hamilton with fragrance in her very 

 name! I cannot save her from a snub. I wish, 

 moreover, if it is their season, that I might keep 

 my new gladioli close-hidden. I like them not 

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