158 THE FLORIST. 



The 180 rows at the Royal Nursery must be set down as " well 

 done i" perhaps the greatest gem was Magnificent (Hayward's), a 

 specimen meriting all the attention bestowed on it at Nottingham, 

 — pure, well formed, and beautifully marked ; such a bloom must 

 enhance the popularity of a flower about which there has previously 

 been some stir. Strong's King had even surpassed its usual excel- 

 lence; Heroines, Princess Royals, Pilots, Bion, Arlette, Nora Creina, 

 Polyphemus, Ulysses, Ibraham Pasha, and Lord Strathmore, were 

 all of the finest strains. 



[To be continued.] 



A GARDEN OF WILD FLOWERS. 



There are two distinct classes among those who profess a love for 

 flowers : those who admire nothing that is not new or rare, and those, 

 on the other hand, who can appreciate plants simply for their own 

 intrinsic beauty, or for some association that time or circumstance has 

 woven around them. To the latter class belongs my friend Brown. 

 He is a great lover of flowers and of his garden, in which he performs 

 prodigies with the spade and the pruning-knife. Besides this, he is 

 a constant reader of the Florist, a circumstance that will doubtless 

 raise him in your estimation, Mr. Editor. 



I have frequent opportunities of enjoying a stroll in his garden, 

 which, as a whole, is a model of its class. But there is one particular 

 part of it which I especially admire, and which, as a novelty in garden- 

 ing, I think worthy of a passing notice in your pages. 



This novelty is a garden of wild flowers, collected from their 

 different localities, and accommodated, as far as possible, with the cir- 

 cumstances surrounding them in their natural habitats. 



I should, however observe that the greater part of them are such 

 as blow in spring ; for, as their proprietor very justly observes, it is 

 then that the greatest want of flowers is felt by those who have no 

 greenhouse or conservatory to resort to. The weather is often such 

 as to invite a garden ramble, and the ordinary denizens are scarcely in 

 their best attire. 



The spot devoted to these plants is a nook well open to the south, 

 and backed to the north and east by a high bank and trees. It is in 

 a manner shut away from the general grounds, but not isolated ; while 

 it forms a part of the whole, it does not intrude into view. A little 

 stream, having its origin in a neighbouring spring, has been taken 

 advantage of, and now runs through it, for what purpose we shall 

 presently see. 



The bank above alluded to has been artificially extended, and 

 thus the garden appears in a hollow, with one side open. There is 

 the entrance, which is under an iron arch covered with Pyrus japonica. 



Now for the interior arrangements. The bank is broken from a 



