age," and he patted
his chest.

"Their leaves seem much too juicy to be evergreen, but the hepatica does
stay green all winter."

[Illustration: Wild Ginger]

"The ginger would make the better edging," Helen decided, "because the
leaves lie closer to the ground."

"What are the blossoms?"

"The ginger has such a wee flower hiding under the leaves that it
doesn't count, but the hepatica has a beautiful little blue or purple
flower at the top of a hairy scape."

"A hairy what?" laughed Roger.

"A scape is a stem that grows up right from the or root-stock and
carries only a flower--not any leaves," defined Helen.

"That's a new one on me. I always thought a stem was a stem, whatever it
carried," said Roger.

[Illustration: Hepatica]

"And a scape was a 'grace' or a 'goat' according to its activities,"
concluded Tom.

"The hepatica would make a border that you wouldn't have to renew all
the time," contributed Dorothy, who had been thinking so deeply that she
had not heard a word of this interchange, and looked up, wondering why
every one was laughing.

"Dorothy keeps her eye on the ball," complimented James. "Have we
decided on the background flowers for the wild bed?"

"Joe-Pye-Weed is tall enough," offered James. "It's way up over my
head."

"It wouldn't cover the fence much; the blossom is handsome but the
foliage is scanty."

"There's a feathery meadow-rue that is tall. The leaves are delicate."

"I know it; it has a fine white blossom and it grows in damp places.
That will be just right. Aren't you going to have trouble with these
wild plants that like different kinds of ground?"

"Perhaps we are," Helen admitted. "Our garden is 'middling' dry, but we
can keep the wet lovers moist by watering them more generously than the
rest."

"How about the watering systems of all these gardens, anyway? You have
town water here and at Dorothy's, but how about the new place?"

"The town water runs out as far as Mr. Emerson's, luckily for us, and
Mother says she'll have the connection made as soon as the frost is out
of the ground so the builders may have all they want for their work and
I can have all I need for the garden there."

"If you get that next field with the brook and you want to plant
anything there you'll have to dig some ditches for drainage."

"I think I'll keep up on the ridge that's drained by nature."

"That's settled, then. We can't do much planning about the new garden
until we go ou