CHAPTER IV 



FLOWERS OF AUTUMN 



The general idea of autumn is that it is the 

 season of decay, and the passing away of the 

 beauty of the garden. I do not think so ; I 

 prefer to look on autumn as the season of full 

 maturity, the time of year when the life of the 

 plant reaches its full perfection. To the real 

 student of plant life the sleep of winter, the 

 resurrection of spring, the full-blown flowers of 

 summer are only so many steps towards the final 

 stage of the ripened fruit, which is the great point 

 at which all plants gradually arrive, and which is 

 really the true object of their existence ; and it is 

 not till the final point has been reached and 

 passed that real decay sets in. Looking at our 

 garden with this mind the autumn is not a time 

 of sadness ; it may even be a time of rejoicing at 

 the fulness of life which autumn shows, and more 

 than that, a rejoicing in a fulness of beaut)'. ^ 



For a fine autumn is a time of great beauty, 

 and it is certainly not a time when our gardens 

 are bare ; there are still a vast number of beautiful 

 flowers to be seen which will bear comparison 



' Pidchrorum Autitmims Puhharinus. — Bacon, Of Beauty. 

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