66 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 
larkspur is blue, white or red; whether sweet-william is rose 
pink or red, a morning-glory is white, pink or purple, or a 
Lychnis is a pink or red variety, and so on. 
It is interesting to note that seed leaves follow very simple 
typal forms as a rule, and only later in their life do plants de- 
velop their specialized character. Compound, pinnate, pal- 
mately cleft and deeply incised leaves often appear only as the 
third or fourth pair in a plant. On the other hand a plant 
that has been hybridized to take a more complex form often 
reverts, if neglected, to the simpler type of the original stock. 
This intimate knowledge of plant life is a source of the keenest 
pleasure as well as an admirable training in accuracy of ob- 
servation. We enjoy things in proportion to the exact and 
comprehensive way we see them, and in growing seeds we are 
trained in a nice discernment. This knowledge of leaf forms 
is also valuable when plants appear in the spring, and it is 
necessary to divide perennials for resetting. One does not 
know his garden until a leaf tells as much as a flower, or a stem 
supplies the missing link. A basket of perennials was sent me 
from Connecticut, which represented several things I did not 
have. A few were labeled, others I identified by family re- 
semblances. One plant puzzled me. Its leaf somewhat re- 
sembled Physostegia, but was broader and its manner of 
growth did not quite agree with either of my varieties; and 
when the buds formed, the compound panicles were four- 
grooved while mine were round tapering spikes. One day 
when it was three feet high I unconsciously touched the stem 
and it felt square, which I had not observed with my eyes, and 
my instinct said at once—it is Physostegia, which it proved to 
be when it flowered. The feel of plants is as varied as their 
leaf or blossom. Succulent leaves, like the Sedum spectabile, 
feel cold and clammy, several degrees lower in temperature 
than a hollyhock leaf. Some thin smooth leaves are full of 
