Of Course Not 
— How Absurd 
... merely the final finishing touches ... the paint, varnish, and 
wallpaper ... merely the minor decorations. 
T HERE must be walls on which to apply these decorations—but even before that 
there must be timbers to give the house size, shape, general style and character, and 
determine how the house shall be divided into rooms. Neither timbers, boards, nor 
paint make a house—but all three together, each used in its proper place. 
So, in gardening, there must be Major Structural Plantings to determine the length, 
breadth, and height of the Home Landscape; to delineate its style and character and to 
mark the bounds and divisions of spaces. Then there must be the Minor Structural Plant¬ 
ings—the fillers which connect the Major units together and tie the otherwise disjointed 
Majors into a complete, harmonious whole. And last the Decoratives—those extra dabs 
of color which heighten and adorn the whole. 
These three steps are just as vital in developing the Home Landscape as they are in 
building the house itself. 
Yet there has been an all-too-noticeable tendency to plant the Decoratives only— 
metaphorically to try to apply the paint and varnish before the walls are built, to say 
nothing of there being no frame in place. 
This consists of selecting plants as plants—obtaining any plants that may catch the 
momentary fancy and then in great bewilderment planting them hither and yon regardless. 
But, fortunately, for the good of our Home Landscapes and Gardens, this “tail wagging 
the dog” is being recognized and more and more the trend is turning toward the logical, 
tasteful development of the home-grounds. 
The buying of plants as plants rather than as materials for accomplishing a purpose, the 
buying of specific highly advertised plants, the picking up of certain plants because they 
are represented as “bargains” (whether one can properly use them or not) is sharply on the 
wane. Home gardeners are analyzing the needs as applied to their own Home Landscape 
development and selecting such plants as will fulfil their definite wants. To further aid this 
trend, to enable home gardeners to accomplish their objectives, we have arranged this 
Catalog in a very simple manner. 
1 
