^ANY of tlie old varieties of flowers and most of the coarse 

 ugly ones I am glad to know are now only a dream. To- 



day we want, we insist upon, we must have the best, and 



we are learning to know and grow the best. The cluttered, hap- 

 hazard effects heretofore existing even in big and important gar- 

 dens .are gradually disappearing. One notable "haphazard gar- 

 den," where I spent a week-end, comes to my mind. My hostess 

 asked me to tell her honestly and frankly just what was lacking. 

 I asked her if she recognized "a lack." Replyiiig that she did, and 

 after pressing the question several times, I said that perhaps there 

 was a lack because of the absence of distinguished flowers, and 

 that there seemed to me to be too few flowers, that there were no 

 dainty borders, and very few tall varieties, and no moundy soft- 

 ening dwarf borders. And what I said was true, yet this garden 

 has been pictured again and again for its marvelously clipped and 

 fashioned box, unique and rare shrubs and trees, everything 

 utterly satisfying but the flowers ! And what there were of them 

 were too few and too commonplace, which was, I regret to say, 

 over-emphasized because of a most magnificent setting. When I 

 spoke of Eremuri, Asphodels, Campanula pyramidalis, certain 

 Acontitums, certain lilies, and other treasures, my friend did not 

 know of them, but slie will see them there this Summer, tall, 

 stately and distinguished flowers. 



How is it possible, you are wondering, that she did not know? 

 The answer is, everything was left to the head gardener, whose 

 entire interest was absorbed with the clipped and fashioned things 

 to the exclusion of the finer flowers, not a sprig of delicious helio- 

 trope, nor a handful of violas, nor a perfect pink, white, gold or 

 red rose. There were roses of a sort and flowers of a sort. I need 

 say no more, except they were a travesty on the modern race of 

 flowers. I was very glad at the opportunity a short time after- 

 wards of seeing a dear, lovable, perfect little garden that con- 

 tained everything worth while. The parterre rose beds were all 

 bordered with heliotrope of the dwarfiest and best varieties, I 

 saw standards of heliotrope and roses, and they were perfectly 

 grown, so perfectly grown and cared for that Ladv Alice Stanley, 



25 



