124 MY GROWING GARDEN 



general cooler, until in summer we have the deep 

 green of mature leaves, the deep blue of the white- 

 dotted sky, and the blues and whites of the garden. 

 When cooler nights begin to come, the summer 

 foliage is likely to assume hints of brown, the corn 

 takes on the colors of maturity, and we have the 

 decidedly warm-hued chrysanthemums, purple 

 asters and the like to compensate. The sharp 

 weather of winter demands all possible heat from 

 nature's color scheme, and we have it in the 

 browned leaf following the brilliant hues of 

 autumn, in the corn shock and the bare tree 

 stem, and even in the shadows on the snow. 



Such is the theory, and it seems logical to me, 

 though I have heard it derided, not at all to my 

 discomfort — unless in August, the month when 

 sense as well as theory demands coolness in lan- 

 guage, in the breakfast melon, and anywhere else 

 we can get it. 



This theory takes no account of abnormal 

 colors in foliage. That imwholesome-looking shrub, 

 the golden-leaved elder, and the other jaundice- 

 foliaged abnormalities, are not included, because 

 they are not natural. To me these yellow-leaved 

 affairs are repellant, because they look as if the 

 plant lacked blood, and was unable to get enough 

 chlorophyl pumped up from its roots to make a 



