The beauty of the flower border in Idle afternoon 



INTRODUCTION 



^OWADAYS, when catalogs are appearing so thick and fast that amateurs are 

 bewildered by their number and variety, one is almost constrained to apologize for 

 indicting another on the long-suffering gardening public, unless it has some specially 

 ! attempted distinctiveness or value. There is no doubt but that catalogs have been 

 |. wonderfully improved of late. Yet, only a few years ago, when I was an amateur 

 myself, I was often enough irritated at illustrations that did not illustrate, descrip- 

 : tions that did not describe, and a general air of slipshod perfunctoriness in the way 

 all the information was presented. So now that I am about to issue a catalog of 

 my own, the remembrance of my troubles as an amateur has been an additional incentive in my 

 attempt to produce something a little nearer the ideal; something that would be not only a price- 

 list, but, to a small extent at least, a dependable guide and help for beginners in (lower-gardening; 

 something treating not only of the characteristics of the various flowers, but also of tbeir adapta- 

 bilities along the lines of modern decorative and artistic gardening. To put all this in a form that 

 is interesting and readable, and yet free from sentimental exaggeration is, I know, no easy under- 

 taking, and I shall consider myself fortunate indeed if my readers think I have steered a fairly safe 

 course between the usual cut-and-dried catalog patter and what Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright has so 

 aptly termed "garden goozlc." 



My list of hardy plants is a comparatively small one, which I expect to increase year by year. 

 As it stands, however, I can vouch for the genuine worth of every plant contained in it, and it is 

 my purpose never to include a perennial that is for some reason undesirable or even mediocre, and, 

 in particular, to avoid listing a great number of very similar varieties of one plant. 



All the stock offered in this catalog has been grown by me personally, and whenever possible 1 

 will send out strong, field-grown plants, as I have found that these give far more satisfactory results 

 than pot-grown stock, if planted when dormant in early fall or spring. 



1 believe that America is on the verge of a great general awakening in matters pertaining 

 to flowers and (Tower-gardening, and if 1 can share in this movement to some small extent, if 1 can 

 inspire some few persons with an interest and enthusiasm for the most fascinating of pastimes and 

 one of the noblest of arts, then 1 shall feel that this book has more than accomplished its mission. 



TWIN-LARCHES NURSERY FRANK M. THOMAS 



March, 1916 



West Chester, Pa. 



Copyright, 1016, by Twin-Larches Nursery 



