“I planted the young sweet williams and the chicken feet, and the pinks, all along that border, you see,” said Norma.
“Very good, but you did not entrench any manure in the soil, did you?”
“No, because I thought we would buy some bone dust as Mrs. Tompkins said, and spread it over the top after the flowers are in the ground.”
Mrs. James advised and suggested, as Norma dug and planted industriously, until she had all of the slips and plants that were given her the evening before, in the ground. Then the two walked along the grass-overgrown road that ran down to the stream. The old rail fence on one side, that separated the house grounds from the pasture lot, was not a beautiful thing to look at. And the strip of weed-grown wild-grass that stretched between the fence and the badly kept road made the spot still more uninteresting.
“Norma, since the first day I moved to the place, I’ve been eager to reclaim this awful strip of land, so I asked Natalie to plant a few rows of corn, or beans, or even potatoes all along here. But she wouldn’t waste time over it, she said. Now let’s you and I beautify it.”
“Nothing I’d like better, Jimmy. What would you suggest?”
“What would you suggest!” countered Mrs. James.
“We could simply overwhelm that old rail fence with creepers. Convolvulas, moon-flowers, clematis, and Virginia creepers, to say nothing of trumpet vines, will glorify the old grey rails. What do you think?”
“Splendid! And they all will grow even though it is July; the trumpet vine and Virginia creeper may object but the others will make a good showing in a few weeks, and before August we will have the old fence hidden under a mass of foliage and flowers.”
“Their roots are not large, either, and they will not absorb the nourishment from the soil which will be needed by the other plants we will plant along there,” added Norma.