164 



HOME ASD FLOWEBS 



will stumble upon a garden where some of 

 these old-fashioned flowers still thrive in 

 their giory' — saved me from a general col- 

 lapse in flowers. In visiting friends and 

 relatives in cities and seeing the beanti- 

 fttlly carved flower beds, I gTew tired of 

 my natural beds, and begged my husband 

 to move to some cit\*. He said, *lVe have 

 the neatest place in the neighborhood.' 

 This did not satisfy me, but in reading the 

 above this rainy afternoon. I feel like 

 taking fresh courage and introducing all 

 the readers of this priceless magazine to 

 my 'old-fashioned flowers." I have a very 

 large yard, fronts and slopes south. As I 

 leave my room door at the right-hand 

 is a yellow Eambler clinging between two 

 windows, and on either side of ^ ' ^ feet 

 each way is a bed of mixed -i.u. ' on. 

 This bed is against the house, then a side 

 walk leading into the front walk. Across 

 the walk is a fine althea, single pink, and 

 beneath it a pansv bed. and next a purple 

 lily. An opal lilv bed and a gTeat quan- 

 tity of all colored portulaca, and a frame 

 with passion-flower vine, a platycodon and 

 red-hot poker plant fill in one-fotirth of 

 the right side of the front walk. Then an 

 old cedar takes the space : after it is a 

 rockery, covered with three kinds of Wan- 

 dering Jew : then a crocus bed (now full 

 of mignonette) : next a hyacinth bed (now 

 with poppies) ; then a bed in red fiax. 



s^"0^^~i" dogwood 



(Photc by C. Bowler. Giaords. N". Y.) 



A CALIFORNIA ROSE 



Then a walk coming from a side porch 

 circles here to join the front walk: after 

 crossing this walk there is a plot sixty feet 

 east and west by forty north and south, 

 rirst is a row of staked all-color double 

 dahlias, fine: then at their feet a row of 

 phlox Drunnnondi. A neat walk just 

 sotith of these last named that extends on 

 into the walk between two long rows of 

 grapes, and the grapes conceal the garden 

 from the lawn, as the garden is north of 

 the grapes. South of this walk is the 

 prettiest bed of mixed verbenas I ever 

 saw: then a row of sweet peas. My hus- 

 band planted black locust posts five feet 

 apart three y^ar- ago. so I would not be 

 wearied sticking them each year. At their 

 feet each year I plant touch-nie-nots to 

 shade their roots and prolong bloom. They 

 are ftill now. South of this is a large bed 

 of mixed single ^Detunias. then the beauti- 

 ful wire fence covered with hyacinth 

 beans.'"' 



* * * 



An amateur. Walter S. Weller (Chi- 

 cago ) , writes this pleasant letter to tell us 

 abotn some of his successes and failures 

 in the garden: 



GAEDEX EXPERIENCES. 



•^This past summer I raised a number 

 of vines — double and single morning- 

 glory, Japanese dolichos, and a small va- 



