A GARDEN NOTE-BOOK 



As for the viburnums, they are here in numbers, 

 and who that has seen and caught the fragrance of 

 V. Carlesii can ever forget this rare white-flow- 

 ered shrub from Korea? The diligent gardener, 

 the amateur who not only works in but longs to 

 improve his garden by notable additions thereto, 

 will understand me when I say that I cannot go 

 to the arboretum without coveting — yes, actually 

 coveting — most of the fine things there to be seen. 

 And this is a legitimate coveting. Arboreta and 

 botanical gardens are intended to stimulate a 

 wholesome desire not only for knowledge but for 

 acquisition for experiment on one's own part. 

 As though it were yesterday, I remember my first 

 visit to Kew Gardens, London. It was on a Sun- 

 day and a child was with me. In the distance 

 suddenly a cloud of lavender bloom some three 

 feet tall took my eye; on reaching it, I saw it to be 

 Phlox deciissata, Eugene Danzanvilliers, now read- 

 ily obtainable here, then unknown in American 

 nurseries. So lovely was it, so eager was I to 

 make note of its name, that having no paper, 

 caught thus in the barrenness of a London Sunday, 

 I persuaded the child to allow me to use its little 

 back as a writing-table and made note of the name 

 upon a handkerchief. But I contend that curi- 



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