But as children vary in age and strength as well as in circumstances, they will not all be able to follow the whole of the advice here given. Cyril, for instance, could dig his own little plot of ground, but Betty could not for many a year to come; and though Cyril may not have the patience to sow his sweet peas in the best of all possible ways, Betty will read in this book how it should be done, and then get one of her father’s gardeners to do it for her. As for Barbara, she is a traveller, and can have no garden of her own; but she sets daffodils in her friends’ gardens, and is content to see them, with her inward eye, dancing in the breeze for their delight. So all children, according to their strength and means, may love a garden, whether it is contained in a few flower-pots on a city window-sill, or encouraged to expand and grow in the wide spaces of the country. Gardening, like other bents, will find a way; but it will run more smoothly if it has a little help at the beginning. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE SITUATION AND SOIL 1 II. ANNUALS 16 III. HARDY PERENNIALS 43 IV. BULBS, CORMS, AND TUBERS 70 V. BIENNIALS 91 VI. BEDDING PLANTS 107 VII. ROSES 116 VIII. CARNATIONS AND PINKS 131 IX. LILIES 142 X. ROCK AND WALL GARDENS 152 XI. DIFFICULT AND SHADY GARDENS 166 XII. SOME HARDY CLIMBERS 172 XIII. FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 181 XIV. WINDOW, ROOM, AND JAPANESE GARDENS 194 XV. A CALENDAR OF WORK 212 INDEX 233 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS BY MRS. CAYLEY-ROBINSON A HERBACEOUS BORDER _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE THE TIDY GARDENER 8 JANUARY 17 POPPIES 32 LARKSPURS AND PINKS 65 DAFFODILS 80 IRISES 97 A CORNISH COTTAGE 112 LILIES AND ROSES 145 ‘THE ROAD TO ROME’ 160 A WINDOW GARDEN 193 A ROOM GARDEN IN SPRING 208 THE CHILDREN’S BOOK OF GARDENING CHAPTER I THE SITUATION AND SOIL