BEAUTIFUL GARDENS IN AMERICA 
In seeking the simpler life which many are now craving, 
if luxuries are blessings that we could do without, must we 
count the flower garden a luxury? Not while its beauty 
is a joy in which others may share, nor when it helps to 
keep at home our interests which make the real home. 
There is a luxury that often induces the roaming spirit, 
and doubtless were there fewer motors there would be 
still more gardens and incidentally more home life. Yet 
notwithstanding this temptation to roam, gardens are 
now on the increase in almost every section of the United 
States. We have made a brave beginning of which to 
be justly proud. 
If only we could live in the world more as we live in 
the garden, what joy and contentment would be brought 
into the daily life ! In the garden hurry and noise are 
needless, for perfect system can prevail where each plant, 
each labor has its own especial time, and where haste is 
a stranger, quiet reigns. It is in the stillness of the green 
world that we hear the sounds that make for peace and 
growth. In the garden, too, we labor faithfully, as best 
we know how, in following rules that promise good results. 
Then at a certain time we must stand aside, consciously 
trusting to the source of life to do the rest. With hopeful 
eyes we watch and wait, while the mysterious unseen spirit 
brings life into plant and tree. When something goes 
wrong, how sublime is our cheerful garden philosophy, as 
smiling we say: “Just wait until we try next year!” And 
patiently we try again, and ever patiently, sometimes again 
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