The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25

gardening, one would scarcely expect to fall forthwith into sentimentality. Yet such is very likely to be ones fate, for every person who ever planted, even so much as a row of marigods is at hear poet. Depend upon 1t, after a glimpse of the multl-colored and fragrant flowers of the beautiful springtime, one will turn to WordsWorth's 'Daffodils," as an indul- gence to the imagination and conjure once more that charming picture of the yellow hosts
 Continuous as the stars that shine
 And twinkle in the milky way
 They stretched in never-ending line
 Along the margin of bay
 Ten thousand saw at a glance
 Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
 An afternoon spent with Mrs. Harding among her beautiful flowers is an en- chanting picture.
 Here is a cosmos as delicately lovely as the beautiful hostess herself, in the daint- lest of diaphanous white frocks. The per ennial borders of large dropping poppies, and queen hollyhocks, with butterflies for crowns; tree peonies, and pinks and goldi- locks; the eschseholtzia as lovely as the embroidery from a Chinese mandarin's coat, the basam and the honeysuclxle, fragrant with rare perfume. No ball gown with deftest handwork wrought to compare with the foxglove hung with it's many bells, and vista of iris and phlox, of candytuft, primula and gypsophlla- one's imagination runs riot, and the beau tiful environment might be the undoing of many a strong resolution. Few flowers but lend themselves to this enticement, and as there are few failures within the borders of the imagination, one can sit and dream among such surroundings and plan their own flower gardnes inspired by Mrs. Harding S success and enthusiasm.
 311f a al VO11 haf fq everybody who can do the things with flowers that you have accomplished?" I asked Mrs. Harding as we sat in the beautiful garden under the great towering trees of her Glen Iris home.
 'The love of flowers and of all things growing" said Mrs. Harding, lis a primal instinct, come down to us through gen eration after generation and inherited from our first father, Adam. When God made Adam and Eve He put them in a beautiful garden, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. consider that the love of flowers and for gardening is inherited by nearly every one but of course it is stronger in | some than in others" And that abnormal love of flowers indi- | cates success with them," I said. Some people can plant stick and it will arise | like Aladdins lamp from the ground a beautiful flower"
 Yes responded Mrs. Harding "In | passing through the crowded tenement l districts of the large cities, where grim | poverty stalks, you will often see high | up in some narrow window ledge a few tin | cans filled with gay geraniums or pe- | tunias, which some poor, tired woman, who loves flowers. has planted Not will 1 ing that they should be taken out of her | life entirely. My, what grouch that | woman must have against Mother Eve for eating that apple"
 | Gardening is really the ideal occupa- l tion for one-dont you thing so?" I | queried.
 | "Yes, I really do," answered Mrs. Hard
 ing. Both for men and women. It sat | isfes their mutual love for the beauti- | ful.'
 And as a practical panacea for all
 ills imagine it has no equal" I observed.
 'ro my mind I consider gardening l cure for nearly all the troubles of the 1 heart, soul and body. Perhaps some | morning the cook hasn't come and you | have to get up and cook breakfast. or | maybe you had expected to attend Mrs i So-and-So's party tonight and the horse
 has stepped an nail, and has to go to | the hospital for week, or the perfectly 1 good, new automobile is out of order | and you have Invited some friends to go
 for an outing; and things are just all
 wrong anyway. There is just you chance. 1 Jpust tie on your sunbonnet and go out | into the garden, where you cannot hear | the telephone ring Cor pretend you can'D, l and begin to tie up some vines or weed | out a flower bed, and may be you think
 that the day Is dark and dreary' But 1 very soon you will notice that the birds
 are singing their merry roundelays; the