A MARCH STUDY 3 



comes to it again and again as one does to any picture 

 that is good to live with. 



To devise these living pictures from_siniple well- 

 known flow ers s eems to me the best thing t o do in 

 garde ning. Whether it is the putting together of two 

 or three kinds of plants, or even of one kind only in 

 some happy setting, or whether it is the ordering of a 

 much larger number of plants, as in a flower-border of 

 middle and late summer, the intention is always the 

 same. Whether the arrangement is simple and modest, 

 whether it is bold and gorgeous, whether it is obvious 

 or whether it is subtle, the aim is always to use the 

 plants to the best of one's means and intelligence so 

 as to form pictures of living beauty. 



It is a thing that I see so rarely attempted, and that 

 seems to me so important, that the wish to suggest it 

 to others, and to give an idea of examples that I have 

 worked out, in however modest a way, is the purpose 

 of this book. 



These early examples within the days of March are 

 of special interest because as yet flowers are but few ; 

 the mind is less distracted by much variety than later 

 in the year, and is more readily concentrated on the 

 few things that may be done and observed ; so that 

 the necessary restriction is a good preparation, by 

 easy steps, for the wider field of observation that is 

 presented later. 



Now we pass on through the dark masses of Rhodo- 

 dendron and the Birches that shoot up among them. 

 How the silver stems, blotched and banded with varied 

 browns and greys so deep in tone that they show Uke a 



