THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



275 



ample bed and board, and, therefore, dis- 

 crimination is necessary that we do not 

 sacrifice the beauty of a scene to any 

 hobby, or push to foolish extremes a prin- 

 ciple wliich in itself is good. 



But there are many British plants tliat 

 deserve a place in the garden, and v\emay 

 cultivate "nationality"' without sacrificing 

 any rule of taste, for there is a special 

 charm in the contemplation of wild flowers 

 which is much enhanced by tlie cultiva- 

 tion of them. During a ramble last spring 

 in the iieighbourhood of Guildford and 

 Godalraing — a rare place for botanizing — 

 I collected several pretty things to add to 

 my general collection, and, though I need 

 not specify what they were, because scarce 

 a week passes that I do not meet with 

 something that I prize, I will just mention 

 that amongst them were two of the com- 

 monest plants ever seen in a day's march. 

 Well, these two were planted for botani- 

 cal — not ornamental — purposes, and a 

 mound partly covered with ivy was the 

 site chosen for them, and the mound was 

 chosen because it happened to lay a little 

 out of the way and served as a nidus for 

 man.y other such things. When summer 

 came, and the mound was planted with 

 its usual complement of gay plants, these 

 two towered up on the summit, and made 

 quite a figure in the scene, and, to my 

 ow"n surprise, they added so much to its 

 general beauty and completeness that I 

 really think it never looked so well before, 

 and I ca-i plant a knoll pretty well, I as- 

 sure you. Those two plants afforded me 

 a good dea of fun, ti.'O, for they took 

 everybody's attention, and the question 

 •was frequently put, "What are the noble 

 things towering up there above the 

 flowers ?" To the first questioners I gave 

 an answer in plain English, but I saw 

 that would not do, because, as soon as 

 they knew they were from the hedges, 

 they wondered I should give room to such 

 common tilings. So I altered my tactics, 

 and to all subsequent inquiries I said, 

 " That bold spiky plant, on the stem of 



plain English, they were the teasel and 

 the hoary mullein, two of the coarsest 

 plants of the hedges, and common every- 

 where. 



Now, if a couple of such things could 

 be made to " tell," simply by being ap- 

 propriately placed, how much more may 

 be done with a selection of tiie neater 

 kinds of wild flowers. Among the dwarf- 

 growing kinds there is the lovely oxalis, 

 with its emerald foliage, resembling a 

 beautiful trefoil, and its clusters of deli- 

 cate white and green veined flowers — a 

 gem worthy of the teuderest care, and es- 

 pecially valuable on a moist bank or in a 

 Wardian case. 



Any one accustomed to rambling in 

 the country, and with their eyes open to 

 botanical beauty, must see many such 

 things. The common ragged robin is a 

 very pretty thing for the sides of a rock- 

 ery, where it sprawls about in graceful 

 attitudes and produces multitudes of its 

 bright pink flowers. It is also a good 

 thing to plant in a rustic basket, to dan- 

 gle over the edge and mix its stems with 

 white verbenas or li-ailing Oenotheras. A 

 companion to it is the pretty Silene pen- 

 dula or catchfly, which makes an excellent 

 edging to a bed of heliotropes, but re- 

 quires a little management to keep it from 

 running to seed. The best way is to trans- 

 plant it several times before putting it to 

 blooming quarters, and then to cut down 

 every alternate plant as fast as the blooms 

 get thin ; and then, when those cut over 

 bloom agnin, to cut down those between 

 them, and so on to the end of the season. 

 The speedwell, Veronica chamcBdrj/s, is a 

 very charndng thing, the worth of which 

 as a bedder is known to many a sagacious 

 gardener, who does not sufler his hands 

 to be tied by rules of fashion. So is the 

 yellow bird's-foot trefoil, which you will 

 see in moist hedges all the summer long, 

 producing a profusion of vivid gold-coloured 

 blossoms, the unopened buds being tinted 

 with orange-red— a very gay and neat 

 plant that is anything but "a weed" when 



which the bases of the embracing leaves ! put to a good use. The double-flowering 

 form so many cups that are always full of i variety of this plant is an established gar- 

 water, is the celebrated Dip.iaci's sylves- i den favourite. Among other things of 

 iris; and the large-leaved plant beset with [ similar excellence we may note the sca- 

 Boft down, and that to the fingers feels bious, which is a pretty thing ni autumn; 

 like lamb's-wool, and with a tall spike of the foxglove, already well known as a gar- 

 yellow blossoms, is Verhascv.m iliapsus; — | den flov\er, but, because "common," sel- 



they are plants of much interest to the 

 botanist." Oh ! the grandeur and impos- 

 ing elfect of a few hurd words. Those 

 plants were looked upon with awe, and 

 geraniums that cost thii'ty shiUings a- 

 piece were thought notliing to them. In 



oni cultivated with such care us it de- 

 serves, in fact we rarely see a plant in a 

 garden equal to those that live a wild life 

 in the hedges, where it is one of the noblest 

 of plants in the British Flora. 



Of spring flowers — so valued by all 



