S12 EARLY AUGUST DAYS 
what Is to be done here later. Mr. Percy, llke^ 
wise, is thinking about what we should do this 
autumn to make our garden beautiful next year. 
For myself, I like simply to enjoy August without 
thinking of work for either this autumn or next 
spring. 
At the moist point of our triangle, the cardinal- 
flowers are now well in bloom, and this Is enough 
beauty for one day. Yesterday a turned-out phoebe- 
blrd sat on the stalk of a flaming red flower, slight- 
ly tipped over by the bird’s small weight. I think 
the fledgling had been making an unsuccessful at- 
tempt to catch Insects in the air, as the mother was 
near-by, talking to it In a way that sounded like 
scolding. 
In this part of the garden some glorious rose- 
mallows are now blooming. They remind me 
more of hollyhocks than they do of roses. Mr. 
Percy gave us their roots and planted them for us 
himself, some time after he and Joseph had set out 
the ferns. For a while, we almost forgot them, 
although I saw that they were growing to be un- 
usually large plants, with leaves of an attractive 
green. But neither Joseph nor I had any idea of 
the gorgeous flowers that would burst out in August 
from their large buds. Some of these flowers are 
white with a crimson ring at their base, which has 
given them the name of ‘‘crimson-eye.” The 
others are a pure, brilliant pink. Mr. Percy had 
been watching for the day when they would open, 
