SOBER SUMMER 



139 



Hill, it made a riot of bright hues along both 

 sides of a flagstone center walk. Indeed, it rioted 

 too much, actually covering the stone footway 

 so that one had to step on its flowers or go ofiE 

 the walk. I had to cut it back vigorously, which 

 seemed cruel while I was doing it. 



Most garden-makers know the old-fashioned 

 zinnia, common-named "youth and old age" 

 for some abstruse reason, but few know the newer 

 giant form, and the old and overlooked Haageana 

 varieties. The flower is really a giant among 

 zinnias, and what is more, its size has not brought 

 coarseness, but rather the contrary. After one 

 trial, I sowed only the scarlet and the yellow 

 giants, from which there was plenty of color varia- 

 tion, with a slight predominance of a strong yellow 

 and a gloriously bright scarlet, both with flowers 

 emulating the dahlia in form, and maintained on 

 long and stiff stems well above the abundant foli- 

 age. For cutting and for bold garden effects, this 

 zinnia is a fine thing, I find, and the flowers last 

 very long in perfection. Contrary to a tradition 

 handed down to me, it not only endures but revels 

 in good ground and plenty of manure, and it can 

 also use plenty of water. 



The other zinnia, Haageana by definite name, 

 has quite small flowers, from the size of a quarter- 



