(Amelanchier) . If we follow the brook we find the Marsh 
Marigold, first its very green and sturdy leaves, and then one 
sunny April day, covered with its brilliant yellow flowers. 
Among the rocks the first thing that really blossoms is the 
Hepatica, and on the banks, the Bloodroot and the Dutchman's 
Breeches. A few days later the Wood and Rue Anemones, and 
the dainty Saxifrage turn white in many crevices. In late April 
the garden is white with the lace-like bloom of the Shad-blow, 
and gold with Spice-bush. The interesting tassels of the Sassa- 
fras are plenty now and the high bush Blueberry is beginning 
to show its greenish white bells. 
In May everything responds to magic, the rocks, the steps, the 
paths are full of beauty. The handsome fronds of the Osmunclas 
are well expanded now, the Eoyal Fern along the brook and 
around the pool, the Cinnamon Fern so handsome as it unfolds 
its graceful fronds, and the Interrupted Fern. I have not said 
that the Evergreen "Wood Fern and the Christmas Fern have 
been lovely all winter and are now just fading and bringing out 
new leaves for a whole year's season. The Columbines, originally 
planted among the rocks beside the steps and bordering the paths, 
are so happy and at home that they go where they will and are 
never disturbed. Violets of many varieties live where they are 
allowed to, and in the damp places two kinds of white Violets run 
riot. The pink Azalea (Nudiflora) is always in its prime about the 
fifteenth of May together with the Dogwood (Florida) and then 
we think the garden is beyond any thing it can ever be again! 
We have four other Dogwoods most of which blossom in May 
and June, but all, after the queen of the family. May also 
brings great masses of Viburnum, Prunifolium, Lantana and 
Dentatum. Along the brook the Forget-me-not is blue, and on 
the pond the Lilies are beginning to bloom, while about the 
edges the Iris is in full bloom. The Sweet-Brier and Wild-rose are 
part of June's glory, and now the Maiden-hair Fern and the 
Polyp odys and the Spleenworts are fresh and lovely as well as 
many other native Ferns now at their best. The high and low 
Bush Blueberries which are so pretty in May, are covered with 
lusty little green berries and promise well for future fruit, but 
we never get the berries for the birds are there before us, and 
they do not care if they are a little sour. The first week in 
June we expect the Laurel, and for at least ten days the exquisite 
pink buds have been growing and promising every day to- burst. 
The garden is well filled with Laurel, very large old bushes and 
masses of smaller ones, and along the terrace which divides the 
formal garden from the wild garden in the poorest kind of soil 
and the boiling sun it flourishes as nowhere else and can hardly 
support the weight of bloom. Under the Willows and the tall 
trees that mark the outskirts of the planting, the Laurel is green 
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