A narrow effective planting at the base of a wall 
The Flower-Garden 
ROM earliest times the flower-garden has been an 
important part of the home, and should have as 
much care in planting as has any part of the house. 
For it is in this place that one seeks rest and quiet 
and courage, after the cares and worries of the 
business or the social world. It is for this reason 
that the flower-garden is secluded, — a place set 
apart, into which one may carry his thoughts or 
troubles for sympathy or for comfort. How many 
business men, who come from the cares and worries 
of a strenuous day, feel their weariness drop from 
them in the quiet and seclusiveness of their own 
garden where there is something to suit every mood, — in the dignified, 
stately hollyhocks, perhaps; in the graceful and soothing purity of the 
peonies; the bright and gay poppies; dainty little rock-lovers ; larkspurs, 
whose clear, sky-blue or deep ultra-marine inspire depth and faith. No 
matter how small must be the garden, it is one's own; and its very sim- 
plicity — for the garden should be simple — gives the change from other 
phases of life. Even when built on a larger scale, the note of simplicity 
should still be kept in mind. 
There are several different forms of gardens, — the usual one, repre- 
sented by the simple flower-garden or the informal border, in which one 
puts his favorite perennials. Many of these are the same that we recog- 
nize in old-fashioned gardens, though, of course, modern science has 
improved these old-time flowers. There are the foxgloves, tall and 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS 3 
