"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.
"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."