34 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 
I shall not attempt an enumeration of the things I tried that 
second summer, for the general results of my eight years’ ex- 
perience are given in the Appendix; and it is a matter of no 
consequence what I began with, or when I attacked the deli- 
cate question of bulbs and lilies, when I planted shrubs, when 
I was fired with a desire for roses. Sufficient to say that each 
year I have followed some central thought; and if one has a 
catholic taste, it is inevitable that he will thirst for new posses- 
sions each year: but, do not add more than can be cared for 
properly; for even a plant should have the right of Christian 
burial. 
With this addition sprang up the idea of maintaining pure 
color in my garden; so one bed was devoted to blue and white 
flowers, another to pink, another to pure red and another to 
yellow. Several were uncertain and mixed in color, experi- 
ment stations as it were, and one I called my Isolation Hos- 
pital, where unknown things were set out until their speech 
should bewray them. 
The results of that second summer were so-so. Some 
things were glorious in their bloom; among them were the 
hollyhock, Lilium auratum, yellow day lily, Agrostemma cel 
rosa, garden heliotrope (Valeriana officinalis) rose colored 
sweet-william, cornflower, Cosmos, the ever-faithful nastur- 
tiums, marigolds and calendula. I found it very difficult to 
maintain my color scheme. Chance seeds of another color 
would get in and flourish so vigorously that I had not the 
heart to weed them out. The greatest struggle was and has 
been to get a succession of bloom in the blue beds. I know the 
height, the time of blooming, the manners and customs of in- 
numerable blue flowers; I tear to pieces and reorganize year 
after year those blue beds, making combinations that I be- 
lieve will surely be successful; and they would be, except for 
the fact that plants newly set sometimes sulk and will not 
