170 WILD FLOWEKS 



" lover's walk" of Yew, Hazel, or Honeysuckle, may 

 be found equally convenient for meditation. Here, 

 looking out from our pleasing position, what inspiring 

 objects meet the view. The Lilac (Syringa persica), 

 and its varieties of paler purple and white, brilliantly 

 mantle the shrubbery with colorific hues ; the Labur- 

 num (Cytisus laburnuni), " in streaming gold" breaks 

 upon the charmed eye, and hangs its golden chains 

 with profuse luxuriance. This, indeed, is the time to 

 enjoy the garden, while its transitory beauties last. 

 Among these, the Summer-Snow-flake (Leucojum cesti- 

 vum), and the deep purple Iris (/. germanica), appear. 

 Narcissus poeticus is still in full beauty, and the fol- 

 lowing flowers, among a host of others, may be noticed 

 as of frequent occurrence in gardens : Azalea pontica, 

 purple Rhododendron (R.ponticum), Virginian Spider- 

 wort (Tradescentia Virginica), sweet-scented Daphne 

 (D. cneonwi). White Broom (Spartium multiflomvm) , 

 the specious Peony (Peonia corallina), the various 

 kinds of Stocks, and Oriental Poppies. 



Chief among the ornaments of the shrubbery, the 

 flowering thyrsi of the Lilac present an unrivalled 

 spectacle, while their fragrance is one of the most 

 exciting things that inspire the senses in the per- 

 fumed garden, after the slumbers of the night in the 

 vitiated air of the chamber. PHILLIPS, in his " Sylva 

 Florifera" thus rapturously mentions the Lilac in 

 language almost embued with the sweets of the flower 

 itself. " The delightful sensation which the lovely 

 tints of this elegant flower and its fragrance produces 

 on us in the month of May, has been compared to the 

 first emotions of love, for nature seems to have or- 

 dained that mortals should not be permitted to see 



