MASSACHUSETTS 
Probably no other section of the Union contains as 
many gardens, old and new, as does this fertile State, 
combining the advantages natural to the altitude of the 
beautiful Berkshires with the favorable climate of the 
coast. People representing nearly every State help to 
form the summer colonies of New England, more espe- 
cially in Massachusetts. Everywhere the luxuriance of 
bloom is very marked and most noticeable on the coast, 
where all plants, especially certain less long-lived annuals 
like Poppies, Salpiglossis, and Mallows, reach their limit 
of perfection and continue at their best for an unusual pe- 
riod. In the latitude of Boston the season starts two weeks 
later than near New York City, and the gardens, begin- 
ning in the German Iris period, open about the fifth of 
June. The Sweet William and its contemporaries follow 
by late June; the Delphinium period is early July; Holly- 
hocks come about July 20. Tender annuals can be safely 
planted out soon after June 1. 
The garden season in the hill country opens a few 
days later than at Boston, and in the Berkshires the 
frost is apt to destroy the garden before September 20. 
Where the thermometer may drop occasionally to twenty 
degrees below zero, ample winter covering is necessary, 
and snow adds its still better protection to the plants 
during most of the winter months. The average summer 
heat is not excessive and, although droughts must some- 
37 
