Along the path set with stepping stones is the real perennial border, widened year by year till now it is seven feet wide and is rich with a succession of bloom throughout the season 
The Evolution of My Garden mrs. greenleaf clarke 
HOW THE GARDEN OF DELIGHT GREW FROM THE PRACTICAL VEGETABLE PATCH GIVING FLOWERS THROUGH- 
OUT THE SEASON— THE WAY FOR THE BEGINNER 
F ROM personal experience I can tell those 
who look with longing eyes on a neigh- 
bor’s lovely garden with its dainty and 
welcome blossoms heralding the advent 
of spring and on through to the rich and gorge- 
ous blossoms of May, June, and July, into the 
gay annuals of August and September until the 
Japanese Anemones and Chrysanthemums bid 
us farewell in October and November, that this 
is all possible for you without the aid of a gar- 
dener and even with no experience, provided 
you are willing to become acquanited with the 
plants through personal contact, the glory of 
success, the sorrow of failure, a little patience 
and some work. 
The garden of which I tell is located on an 
ordinary city lot, 60 x 120, which also includes 
the house. It started with a row of Sweet 
Peas, the trench being made with a trowel, 
little or nothing known about flowers, until 
as year by year has passed (seven in all), the 
lure of the garden has become more and more 
alluring, and I now am deep in the throes 
of “gardenitis.” 
The sixty-foot border of Sweet Peas, which 
was first made to separate the mam lawn 
from a very good sized vegetable garden, 
has gradually widened, first taking one row 
of beans, then another, then robbing the 
cucumber patch! — Who does not know the 
symptoms '—until finally this year the vege- 
tables had to go and a Rose and Chrysanthe- 
mum garden takes its place. We no longer 
eat! 
The house, with the lawn surrounding it, 
occupies about one half the lot; the garden 
has the rest. Across the back of the lawn 
runs a border 60 feet long, with a 4-foot path 
taken out, not in the middle, but divided 
according to the ratio of 2 and 1 . 1 he 4-foot 
path runs directly to the back of the lot 
across which is planted an Ibota Privet hedge 
6 feet high. I his hedge encloses the back 
and sides of the garden. I he border 20 feet 
and 35 feet long is 2 feet wide. It is bordered 
on the garden side with Box edging, and in it 
are planted Darwin Tulips. I hose wonder- 
ful Tulips with their pastel colorings, accented 
here and there with a rich, dark neighbor, 
during their season are the queens of the 
garden. After they have gone, I plant in 
between them (for I have left the bulbs in 
the ground with good success) pale pink and 
white Petunias, and mixed Drummond’s 
Phlox, with a border of white Verbenas next 
the Box edging, and the other side a border of 
blue Ageratum with white Sweet Alyssum. 
This sounds like a woeful mixture and would 
never appeal to one of asthetic taste! But act- 
ually it is charming, and I came upon it quite 
-235 
by accident. Previous years a hedge of mixed 
Zinnias had been planted there, which were 
most satisfactory, but having had the Zinnias 
for some years and desiring a change I thought 
I would try the Phlox. An ounce of seed 
planted in a cold frame was a failure. Ob- 
taining a few plants only from the seed 
planted, I bought from the florist four dozen 
Petunias, two dozen white and two dozen 
Rosy Morn. These (true to color of course) 
were planted in between Phlox already raised 
with some old seed sprinkled in. The border 
of white Verbenas had been planned, having 
seen it at the S. A. F. Convention Gardens in 
Boston a few years ago. Two packets of 
seeds furnished me enough plants. The 
Ageratum and the Sweet Alyssum sowed it- 
self. I expected a conglomeration of dis- 
appointment, and I was disappointed — but 
happily so. Such a dainty, cool, lacy, delicate 
border! 
Next this narrow border outlining the lawn, 
running parallel with it, is a 60 foot path, 4 
feet wide, set with stepping stones and grassed. 
These stones I set myself. A great feat done 
one March when the spring breezes were 
spring breezes and the lure of the garden 
called to me. Along this path is my real 
perennial border; the original one beginning 
with four feet, and widened every year until 
