THE CROCUS 



^ I A HE yearly return of the first Crocus, and of all early spring The 



flowers, varies very much with the season ; in a mild winter Planting 

 they may be seen in February, yet the sketch which Q r r> ocus 

 illustrates a really picturesque way of planting them, was painted TD iu 

 between showers of snow in a biting March wind ; this year, 

 on the other hand, the flowers have suffered from too much sun, 

 and one has had to pay for the rush of bloom and the few days 

 of exquisite beauty by their quick exhaustion. The flowers are 

 so fragile that it is always as well to plant them where they 

 will get shade part of the day, this making an extra reason for 

 using the bare places under trees, and the many waste spots in a 

 garden, and so transforming them for at least one month in the 

 year; they are amenable enough to grow under Beech trees, 

 where even grass refuses to thrive. If planted at the edge of a 

 shrubbery, the formal line can be broken by running them on to 

 the grass, so that as pretty a natural effect is gained as if they had 

 sown themselves. In a wood, patches of mauve and purple 

 Crocus may rise charmingly above the bed of warm brown 

 leaves, or there may be groups of white and yellow ones, though 

 greener surroundings suit these better. 



Several of the early blossoming trees are out at the same 

 time, and the effect of an Almond on the lawn will be much 

 enhanced by carpeting the ground below with mauve and purple 

 or pure white crocus. The boughs of Prunus cerasifera will be 

 loaded too with white stars, and could be given a carpet of either 

 yellow or violet. In rough grass the white, or the dark purple, look 



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