P^^^^VERY letter, "Amateur Gardeners," will be answered — 

 K^^^^ every garden need, every garden problem that con- 

 H "^C^ a fronts you, puzzles you or worries you, write about it 

 ft^^^^jj^ and if I cannot help you solve it, I will see to it that 

 those who specialize in that particular problem, need 

 or worry of yours will do so. — ^ 



Q. My garden was a tragedy last Summer and Mrs. Harde you 

 will understand why, when I tell you that my rose beds were bor- 

 dered with dwarf Zinnias of the most awful colors. My garden 

 seemed to be all Zinnias. It seems I could not get away from them. 

 With all the fine and soft toned border plants we have to choose 

 from, to think the very first garden of my own I should have had 

 such stiff and inappropriate flowers as a border to my well chosen 

 roses in a really charmingly planned rose garden. I won't enter 

 into detail of the other numerous horrors of my garden. I only 

 ask you to please have a list of permanent, hardy border plants 

 sent me for my rose garden. I have two beds of yellow roses, one 

 of pink roses, two of white roses and a long, very long bed of the 

 red roses, the list of which you sent me last April. 



A. Indeed gardens have their tragedies, and they are not al- 

 ways the death of a well loved tree or of a precious rose, etc. 

 That riot of color we hear and read so much about is not infre- 

 quently responsible fo the color tragedy. Zinnias of certain 

 shades have a place, but the place is not with roses fyour poor un- 

 happy roses^ or in my opinion anywhere except in the vegetable 

 garden bordering the Cosmos and the tall and dwarf scarlet Sal- 



71 



