Ferns of to from the start. Give it but a sufficiency of its beloved 

 the Burren condiment, and it asks no more. Stint it, however, in that 

 respect, and, though you supplied it with every other delicacy 

 to be found in a nurseryman's catalogue, it will sulk, droop, and 

 die on your hands. A still rarer plant, Helianthemum Vineale, I 

 have known to be transplanted successfully by at least one 

 enthusiast, who is also a good botanist, but have never 

 myself attempted it. Eptpactis atro-rubens is an even higher 

 horticultural pinnacle, only to be assailed successfully by the 

 bona-fide expert. Spiraea Filipendula^ well known in gardens, 

 but truly wild here, is, on the other hand, rather too easy to 

 establish. The same may be said of Poterlum Sanguisorba, 

 it being apt to become so rampant as in the end to need 

 getting rid of. More attractive than either of these is the 

 small-flowered wild Burnet Rose (Rosa spinosissima). Although 

 no great rarity, there is a special charm about it which is 

 indescribable. To stand in June upon the rocks of the Burren 

 in North Clare, and to see it festooning their nakedness 

 in all directions, mixed with the white Dry as octopetala, just 

 spoken of, and the red Geranium Sangulneum, is to sigh to 

 produce the like effect elsewhere. And this word Burren 

 brings me back to our Ferns, of which the great pride 

 and possession of the storm-beaten west is of course the true 

 Maiden-hair (Adiantum Capillus-Veneris}. To peep into one 

 of those desolate-looking Burren clefts, and to see it flourish- 

 ing almost within reach of the Atlantic spray, is to con- 

 vince yourself absolutely of its hardiness. Try, however, 

 to induce it to live elsewhere, even under precisely similar 

 conditions, and you will very soon have to admit that the 

 gardener who has ever induced it to survive for even a single 



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