266 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1869. 



and the'.'effect is very striking, especially when the 

 sun shines upon the banks. 



The Herb Robert may be introduced into a gar- 

 den with very pleasing effect. It will grow almost 

 anywhere, and is useful as a sort of groundwork, or 

 setting, for choicer plants. A white-flowered variety 

 is in cultivation, which is very pretty ; the foliage, 

 when relieved by the pure blossoms, appears darker 

 than usual, and the contrast is very good. 



The Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) is another 

 handsome plant, and many of the St. John's Worts 

 would repay the trouble of cultivation. For rock- 

 work, the " Creeping Jenny," as the London flower- 

 sellers call it {Lysimachia Nummularid) is not to be 

 despised ; and other British members of the genus 

 may be grown with good effect. 



The tall Yellow Loosestrife (L. vulgaris) is not 

 uncommon in London gardens, under the name of 

 "Orange Bovena," and the Yellow Pimpernel 

 (L. nemoram) flourishes well in a damp comer.* 

 But now I must pass on to the other way of 

 ' which I spoke in which wild flowers may be made 

 useful, and that without the trouble of cultivation. 

 I mean in the making of bouquets, or nosegays, to 

 use the pleasant old-fashioned word. In this par- 

 ticular they really have some advantage over culti- 

 vated flowers, as they are less stiff and massive, and 

 consequently fall into more graceful positions. They 

 vary, too, so beautifully and characteristically with 

 the seasons : in Spring, we have chiefly soft and 

 gentle hues, suitable, as it seems, to the gradual 

 waking up of Nature ; and then, for a nosegay, what 

 can be better than a thick ring of Primroses, from 

 which the leaves must on no account be omitted, 

 surrounding a bunch of graceful Windflowers, which 

 droop over them ? Then a little later we may have 

 Bluebells, Stitchworts, Cowslips, and Herb Robert, 

 with here and there the delicate green of a young 

 fern-leaf to harmonize them. Thus we pass on to 

 Summer, gathering many a bouquet by the way ; and 

 Summer introduces us to a richer and deeper 

 colouring, a more developed brilliancy. What 

 among garden flowers can exceed in splendour the 

 Scarlet Poppy ? and a lovely nosegay is obtained 

 when this is combined with the white of the Moon 

 Daisy, and the intense blue of the Corn-flower, the 

 whole intermingled with sweeping Brome-grass, and 

 feathery Bent-grass, and Hair-grass, with here and 

 there a spreading spike of English Oats, which for 

 ornamental purposes are far preferable to the Dutch 

 variety, with one-sided spikes. 



One of the reasons why wild flowers make more 

 elegant bouquets than cultivated ones is that the 

 blossoms are usually single, and grow loosely on 



* Why is not the White Bryony more frequently cultivated ? 

 I have only once or twice seen it in a garden ; but as a 

 climber it is, to my mind, equal to many a favourite, and 

 should certainly be tried. 



their stems, while many garden flowers grow either 

 in heads or are double. This may be seen at a glance 

 by any one who will note the plants most popular in 

 summer gardens, — Geraniums and Yerbenas in 

 almost endless variety, Calceolarias, Roses, Helio- 

 tropes, and other crowded-flowered species. In 

 making a wild-flower nosegay, too, one has always 

 the opportunity of gathering and adding as one 

 goes — here a spike of grass, there a green spray 

 or fern-frond ; while in gardens, the former at least 

 is usually wanting. 



Another pretty ornament may be formed by 

 filling a soup-plate or some similar vessel with Dog 

 Roses, cut moderately short, and selected so as to 

 embrace a good many buds, which will expand in the 

 course of a day or so. Later on, when the Moon 

 Daisies have disappeared, their kinsmen, the yellow 

 Oxeyes, can take their place in the bouquet above 

 described. And, as summer approaches its prime, 

 we may get Heaths and Harebells, with the Up- 

 right &t.Joh.n.'sWovt(Hi/pericumpulchrum) > — a lovely 

 mixture, only Heaths soon fade in water. Then, by 

 degrees, the flowers disappear, and their colour is 

 supplied by the mature glow of the Autumn leaves, 

 and the ripe glory of the hedge-fruits. Many a 

 bouquet can we select from them : here a yellow or 

 red bramble-leaf; there the dark metallic-looking 

 brown of the Black Bryony, with feathery Clematis, 

 and bright Rose-hips, and a few late flowers, Rag- 

 wort, and Harebells, and Scabious, placed with them. 

 But space forbids me to dwell upon all the com- 

 binations of colour which our wild flowers present. 

 Many, which are lovely when viewed en masse in 

 their native haunts, would fail to attract if brought 

 under cultivation. A field golden with Buttercups, 

 or a river bank glorious with Marsh Marigold 

 flowers, is a sight of no ordinary beauty, although 

 common enough ; and a meadow purple with 

 Eritillaries is far more beautiful than a clump of the 

 same flowers in a garden. Poppies among the corn 

 are not pleasing to the farmer ; but who, with an 

 eye for the beautiful, can help admiring them ? 

 Still, we should scarcely welcome them to our 

 borders. Desirable then, as it is, that we should 

 bring into cultivation many of our British plants, it 

 is yet more so that we should study them as well 

 in their wild and unchecked luxuriance, admiring 

 the ever-blooming, ever-changing garden which is 

 spread over the length and breadth of the land. 

 Royal Herbarium, Kew. James Britten. 



Before this number is in the hands of our readers, 

 the majority of them will have heard, or read, that 

 the Queen has been pleased to commandj that Dr. 

 J. D. Hooker be admitted a Companion of the most 

 noble Order of the Bath. May he live long to 

 honour the order to which he is admitted, as an 

 honour to himself ! 



