THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
319 
THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE 
"IF people could realize and enjoy the beauty around 
them, they would be happier and better, and the 
earth would gradually improve in appearance. They would 
see with pleasure the brightening tints of the willows and 
dogwoods that come with the first warm day of March, 
the tinge of brown caused by thousands of blossoms 
which a little later show in the distance. The graceful 
shape of the elm, then the reds and yellow that marks the 
place of the maples, and the varying shades of green as 
every gain of warmth and sunlight pushes out "the young 
leaves from the swelling buds. They would note that the 
colors of spring are almost as varying as those of autumn. 
The little velvety leaves of the white oak are worth going 
miles to see, when in May they hang like half-open um- 
brellas from the end of the branches, and range in color 
from yellowish-white through pink to the deepest purple. 
At the same time, the large, yellow buds of the shagbark 
hickory, with their red bracts, are as showy as most 
flowers. There is also a wonderful wealth of beauty in 
our native thorn and crabapple trees, with their spread- 
ing branches, their varying shades of foliage, and their 
profusion of blossoms. Later still other members of the 
rose family, the spiraeas, raspberries and the wild roses 
themselves supply bloom and color. 
"Although during the latter part of summer and 
through the autumn months, our trees and shrubs do not 
produce flowers in abundance, there is nearly always 
some to be found, until those of the witch hazel, remaining 
a yellow mist, after the golden leaves have fallen, fill the 
November air with perfume. Before the blossoms of 
May are gone, the seeds of the elm and soft maple are 
already ripening, and from that time on the fruits of trees 
and shrubs add to the interest generally felt in the sum- 
mer and autumn foliage. 
"Not only do the flowers, leaves and fruits please us 
with their thousand shapes and colors, their surfaces 
sometimes smooth and glossy, sometimes dull and soft, 
but the trees and shrubs themselves, by the manner in 
which their foliage is massed, by their effect when seen 
close at hand, or in the distance, when seen in sunshine 
or mist, in a still atmosphere or in a breeze, by daylight 
which brings out every detail, or silhouetted against the 
night sky, help to make up that wonderful variety and 
beauty which must surely be appreciated by all who ex- 
pect to feel at home in the next world. There is time 
merely to allude to the humbler forms of vegetation, the 
grasses and herbaceous plants that cover the earth so 
attractively, to the clouds that should be admired by each 
of us as much as they were by the poet Shelley, and which 
should be given a place in every design, to the varying 
shapes of ground surface, to the far-reaching seas, and 
to the running brooks and placid lakes with their rocky 
or leafy margins." ( ). C. Simonds. 
t ourtesy of The Garden — English. 
The Flowers in the Accompanying Illustration Are Not Uncommon— the Blue of the Aubriclia, the Yellow of the Alyssum. and 
the Pure White of the Arabis. a Trio of Lovely Flowers That Curtain the Surface of the Wall with a Profusion of 
Strong and Refined Colors. Wall Gardening Is Easily Accomplished, and the Illustration Is Convincing Proof 
of Its Beauty. Apart from the Commoner Blowers, There Is No Reason Why a Wall Garden Should Not 
Give as Much Pleasure, and Impart as Great a Knowledge of Alpine Plants, as Most Rock Gardens. 
