The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1913-05-09
FINDING REAL JOY
IN YOUR GARDEN

ulC mlSSpell WOrdi Ii you study it
tonight, you will get it correctly to-
morrow. The reason i plant young
primroses in row and cover them
with leaves, and why | spend all nv
pocket money for daffodils in the fall,
is because | want flowers as soon as
the snow melts in the new year All
winter long, whenever | look out of
this window on the brown earth, |
think of the flowers sleeping under
it,
The Hollyhock Woman pulled off
her gardening gloves as she finished
talking and nodded brightly to the
scowling boy ON the fence post He
had jeered at her for working in the
earth when the dull November days
had come. Now he watched her go
into the house and come out with a
plate Of cookies That in itself was
bait to draw good humor to the
face of any boy.
Sure, I'll rake the grass for you.
I'll haul a lot O. dried leaves from
the woods to scatter over everything
I'll get some brush to prop over the
rose bushes and the hardy hydrangea.
My, but that's a pretty bush with the
dry flowers still hanging on"
The Hollyhock Woman agreed that
his intentions were good
Let me tell you a secret, Tommy.
The folks around here do not get half
the delights out of their gardens that
they ought to. Just think of it-you
are helping creation along. Nobody
can make a flower, but we can help
one grow; we can lend hand to it.
You talk about flowers as if they
were real persons" commented Tom
my as he began to help by sorting
the bulbs she took from a basket full
on the porch. Now, when / begin
to look at them l say to myself.
Hello, Mr. Tulip, you're waiting for
a chance to put your red head out
These are the red Darwins that look
like soldiers in row, amt they? l
remember them. They come later
than the others. Hello, Lady Mar
cissus, you want to nod to the rob-
ms Yes, l read Narcissus was a
boy, but the Narcissus in the grass
always make me think of girls. BE
patient, Snowdrop; your turn is COM
ing in April Don't you wonder where
the hyacinths keep their sweet
smells?"
The Hollyhock Woman smiled, for
she knew she had won a faithful
helper.
Tommy and the Hollyhock Woman
talked in whispers at the gate just as
the sun was setting. Tommy agreed
to be the conspirators aid. There
was but one way to bring Indifferent
villagers to their senses, and that
was by surprising them.
"You can do it when l cannot,
Tommy, but you must keep the Sc
cret," she said. Here is basket of
odd bulbs, the Glory of the Snow,
bright yellow jonquils, scillas, snow
drops and stars of Bethlehem. Plant
them in the flower beds where the
folks are sure to see them from the
path or the window. You can stick
in crocuses almost anywhere. Take
first those houses we picked out as
places where the folks did not care
very much about gardens. This ought
to convert them"
Il should think So" said Tommy,
out loud.
Think WHAT" asked a familiar
voice as the Primrose Man doomed up
in the dusk
Zone thing | think is that her
cookies are good" said this aiding
conspiratOr.
Tommy" he said, 81 have no Sc
crets from this lady, though she may
have secrets from me. She bakes the
best cookies man or boy ever ate,
and she is so industrious in her gar
den that she leaves me nothing to do
but to give her a primrose plant now
and then, which / can do, since l am
the only one around here who makes
an art of cultivating primroses. If
we were in England. Tommy, we
could pick primroses along the road
| side in spring, but Americans have
not discovered that they can have"
"a primrose by the rivers brim, J"
quoted Tommy.
"Yes. and in the gardens and on
| the roadside, and cowslips with them,
/ too
Don't forget the secret you were
! to tell" Tommy reminded him, still
| holding behind his back the basket
! the Hollyhock Woman had given him.
1T is this: Here are a dozen of
wild grape vines with good roots,
| in this bundle This is list Of
| places where | think they will do
well and become ornamental along
| the street fences This first gentle
man on the list will be pleased when
he sees wild grape vines running
along his fence, so plant his with
care, but do not let him see you do IT.
Then you will be real Travellers
Joy and missionary of flowers"
The Hollyhock Woman pretended
that it was by accident that the Prim-
rose Man had stopped to talk to Tom
my at her gate, and SO she turned and
went up the steps toward the house
door. Doing good deeds by way OF
planting flowers was fancy of her
own. and she did not care to discuss
it with anyone.
Are you going to leave me out in
the dark and the cold? A November
evening, if clear, Is still frosty" said
he, shivering as he spoke. Il must
talk over our window gardens with
you, and have two or three fine cata-
logues here"
Fear the. Greeks bearing gifts"
she sa;d. How would meat pie and