JULY. 159 



regular slope as much as possible, and well garnished with old roots, 

 pieces of rough sandstone, and stems of trees, which furnish excel- 

 lent situations for very many plants. On and about them in the bank 

 are patches of Saxifraga oppositifolia, Glechoma hederacea, the com- 

 mon Primrose (Primula vulgaris), the Blue-bell, Agraphis nutans, 

 both blue and white varieties, and the Grape Hyacinth (Muscari 

 racemosum). There is also Anemone nemorosa, so common in our 

 woods, with its beautiful white flowers. A. apennina, and the still 

 scarcer A. ranunculoides, which we will claim as a native, whether it 

 be so or not. Then there is the herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum) 

 and G. molle, besides bunches of Violets, the poets' Narcissus, and 

 very many others, which those who are acquainted with British plants 

 can easily supply. And early in the year the Snowdrop thickly studs 

 the place. The garden itself is composed of small regular-shaped 

 beds of various sizes, in which some of those named, besides many 

 others, are in masses. Here is Stellaria holostea, a sheet of the 

 purest white, the Pasque Flower (Anemone nemorosa), spreading its 

 rich violet- purple petals to the sun, the Colt's-foot, yellow, the Poten- 

 tilla fragariastrum, white, and Shakspeare's Daffodil, 



" that comes before the swallow dare, 

 And takes the winds of March with beauty." 



Amongst others there is the Aconite (Eranthis hiemalis), the Green 

 Hellebore, and Ranunculus ficaria, with Wall-flowers' Spring Vetch, 

 and Pulmonaria angustifolia. Besides these beds there are patches of 

 green turf devoted to various species of Orchis, and other plants that 

 delight in green pastures. I had almost forgotten a beautiful mass 

 of Fritillaria Meleagris, and another of Ornithogalum umbellatum, 

 the Star of Bethlehem. 



Now of the water. Its channel is broken by a succession of flats 

 and recesses in its banks which are very low, where many plants that 

 delight in such situations are luxuriating. There, conspicuous above 

 all, is the Marsh Marygold (Caltha palustris), with Cardamine pratense, 

 Ajuga reptans, and Menyanthes trifoliata. 



Besides these beds, which I should say are upon gravel, there are 

 dispersed about several picturesque old stumps of trees, in the nooks 

 and crannies of which very many plants are growing. On the shadv 

 side of one is a patch of Oxalis acetosella. Close by it on one of the 

 patches of green turf, the three varieties of Polygala vulgaris are in 

 full bloom — pink, blue, and white. Amongst the shrubs on the 

 bank there is the Black-thorn, the White-thorn, the Crab, the Gorse, 

 and the Broom, with the Box, the Juniper, and the Yew, for ever- 

 greens. 



I dare not reveal the sequestered nook in which my friend is thus 

 embowered ; but should any garden-loving reader of the Florist by 

 chance wander there, I can promise him a cordial reception, with a 

 cigar and a bottle of wine to boot. 



Cray ox. 



