APRIL 67 



their first young growth. I do not re- 

 member them before the rain ; now the 

 strong healthy stalks pushing up above the 

 ground are a full crimson red. The colour 

 is so vivid, it almost has the effect of some 

 strange flowers, seen from a little distance. 

 At the opposite end of the walk the onion 

 flavour of the Crown Imperials is not so 

 unpleasantly perceptible as it sometimes 

 has been. I remember it was long before 

 we discovered the source of the strong 

 odour pervading that part of the garden. 

 Not an onion anywhere near ; there seemed 

 nothing to account for it. Gerard says, 

 ' the whole plant do savour or smell very 

 like a fox.' I think we may well forgive 

 our crown imperials their smell, however, 

 for the stately show they make ; and if 

 taste and fashion did not change with 

 flowers as with other things, they might 

 still be among the choice favourites of 

 spring. Ours ought to be somewhat taller, 

 a fine Crown Imperial should rise so high 

 that a little child might stand under the 

 yellow bells and look up into the moon- 

 stone circlet within ; for * in the bottom of 



