“There are the old stand-bys which are good bloomers—­nasturtiums, zinnias, marigolds and petunias.  In the case of zinnia, it is better to buy these seeds by the ounce.  Children’s penny packages and the regular five-cent packages are filled usually with seeds which produce variously coloured blossoms.  One can plan for no good effects in this way.  If you get a seed catalogue, and look through the zinnia list, you can choose just what you like.

“Certain plants are spoken of as plants for bedding.  These plants are placed in a formal bed after the spring flowers have finished their blooming.  You sometimes see in the park fine beds of tulips and hyacinths early in the season.  After these have finished their blooming, plants which are all started are put in their bed.  If seeds were planted they would take so long to develop that the bed would look bad for a long time.  So bedding plants are put in.  Geraniums are the most popular of all.  Begonias, fuchsias, heliotrope and coleus are often used.  Geraniums will stand almost any kind of soil, and therefore have great advantages over most plants.  Begonias will flourish in the shade; while the strong point about coleus is that of beauty of foliage.

“To those of you who have started outdoor bulb beds, the bedding list will be of some service.  Marguerites look well in such a bed.  Often one sees a border of ageratum about such a one.  There is always a sort of stiff effect about such borders, however.  A canna bed is after the same order, yet is effective.  Salvia, or scarlet sage, looks well in wide borders, or near the underpinning of the house.  Both these may act as bedding plants.

“There are three other kinds of gardens I should like to bring to your minds—­the rock garden, the herb garden and the wild-flower garden.  This last we shall have to leave for another time, however.

“Whenever a rockery is mentioned to some people they shrug their shoulders, and murmur something about a mere heap of rocks.  Now, a rock garden may be very pretty, or very ugly.  Such a garden should never be stuck out in the front yard to hit one in the face.  But if you have a place in your yard, which is near the woods or in the vicinity of trees, or by a rocky ledge—­in short, if you have any place with a bit of wildness surrounding it, use this for a rockery.  If your yard is just a plain, tame, civilized yard, you’d better leave the rock garden out.  I know of a lady living in a city, whose backyard is a rocky ledge.  That ledge itself told her what her garden ought to be.  It just cried out to her, ‘Build a rock garden on me.’  And she did it.  Any other kind of a garden would have been out of place and taste there.  Wherever a rocky ledge is found, there is a possibility for a rock garden.