80 A GARDEN OF PLEASURE 



in the very perfection of blithe good 

 humour, though not one single ray of sun- 

 shine has ever touched its silver. A rather 

 coarse Polipody fern in part supports the 

 daisy's roots, and one or two more tender 

 ferns droop gently near it. The group is 

 fringed below with a lilac patch of chance- 

 sown aubrietia. Perhaps a scarlet wood 

 strawberry will ripen late on the tufted 

 pink runners that are always climbing 

 higher up the buttress; and I shall soon 

 look for the pretty Draba verna, which 

 with one or two sister weeds all micro- 

 scopically small will in their courses 

 bloom and fade here through the summer; 

 that is, if they are not overtaken by the 

 drought already threatening. 



Along the upper ledges young leaves of 

 Cymbalaria are coming thick and fast. 

 This lovely well-known little antirrhinum 

 is more or less common all over Europe, 

 I believe, however named whether 

 Mother of Thousands, as in the old stone 

 fences of Somersetshire, or in Scotland 

 Wandering Sailor, or the Fronde della 

 Madonna of the rocks and carved pedi- 



