leaves on too thickly and smothers the delicate plants under- 
neath. She blows the leaves off entirely and freezes those that 
need protection. She sends floods in the Spring and drowns 
those that cannot live under water and those that survive the 
drowning are burned up in the drought later. It is indeed the 
survival of the luckiest. Fortunately, however, wild flowers 
have almost no enemies in the way of scale or avis, although 
moles, rabbits and chipmunks often dig them up and sometimes 
eat the tops. 
A "Wild Garden is most fascinating and absorbing to live 
with, but harder to share with ones friends than a cultivated 
one. All wild flowers wilt quickly when picked. Picking the 
blossoms also will kill or retard the growth of many of the 
roots. Solomon's Seal, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Trillium are in 
this class. Very few blossoms of the wild flowers last long 
even when left on the plant. Many times last spring I 
wakened in the morning to find the woods charming with some 
one variety of blossom, but before I could give a Garden Club 
party, they were gone. So many wild flowers disappear entire- 
ly, leaving the ground perfectly bare, that it is a good plan 
to make a carpet of those that at least stay green and put the 
disappearing variety in between. Wild Ginger, Meadow-rue, 
Hepaticas, some varities of Ferns, Sedums and Myrtle, make 
a good ground covering. There is nothing more satisfactory 
than Hepaticas. I have about 250 varieties of wild flowers in 
my woods and I love these the best of all. They will stand any 
amount of abuse, their blossoms are exquisite, the foliage makes 
pretty borders for the paths, and is also attractive in clumps. 
A good combination is Virginia Cowslip with white Trillium, as 
they blossom at the same time, but Meadow-rue or some other 
carpet flower must be planted with them, or the ground will be 
bare from May on for the rest of the summer. 
Mr. Eobinson in his book on English wild gardens, says, 
that the secret of successful wild gardening is the soil. I think 
many other things count as well. In transplanting from their 
natural habitat, the plants must have as nearly the same 
conditions as possible, as well as the same soil. I have trans- 
planted wild flowers in every month of the year except 
January, but I have the best luck in the spring when they are 
in blossom. They do not seem to feel the shock so much as in 
the fall when the buds for the following year are forming. It 
is better to transplant Alder, flowering Maple, flowering 
Raspberry and Wild Roses in the early spring, or late fall, but 
it can be done in the middle of summer after a rain when the 
roots are full of moisture. Do not cut them back at all, but 
strip off the leaves and keep the stems wet until the new leaves 
start. Always plant wild flowers in very wet earth. I fill the 
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