Garden Airs and Graces 



round head to show he is not crowded out. In all 

 my wealth of bloom, I grow only two varieties 

 which this connoisseur has in her garden. You 

 will not be surprised to learn that they are a 

 scarlet British Lion and an apoplectic Mil- 

 lionaire. 



Well, dahlias aren't my hobby. The thick 

 stuff of their petals is to me as inappropriate as 

 felt hats worn in summer, and I only like them 

 in the autumn months. But about the weakness 

 of my own clay soil, I am as sensitive as though 

 it were a personal defect. Like a cripple, I at- 

 tempt to hide it, displaying my full strength in 

 peonies, in phlox, in all rank growers, so that you 

 may not guess how much I miss of grace. At 

 once this friend of mine perceives that I go halt- 

 ing. Do I never use gypsophila to soften my 

 effects? She has found it useful in veiling a 

 crude color, like that of my salmon phlox, for 

 instance, that needs to be subdued. Or I might 

 try lavender. It gives such subtlety with its 

 fine mists. Unluckily mine has never reached 

 precipitation and I must Use globe-thistle, platy- 

 codons, and veronicas to give more solid shadow- 

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