68 A Little Maryland Garden 
but one really great success. J can recom- 
mend Strahlein Krone as one of the most 
perfect of all flowers for grace and beauty 
of colouring, size, and length of bloom. 
The flowers are of the true cactus type, loose 
and graceful. They bloomed from early July 
till cut down by frost, and this not inter- 
mittently but constantly, so that every 
few days I could pick a good vaseful of them. 
They are of the most delightful deep red, 
with a bloom like that of a plum. 
Mrs. Peart deceived me. Instead of ful- 
filling her obligations, she presented me with 
small, absurdly quilled, white satin blooms. 
But I forgave her for the quantity of flowers 
she gave me, that in their saucy stiffness 
set off the dark reds and soft grace of her 
neighbour. 
Nymphea, from whom I expected great 
things, had a sad fate. She was set out with 
the others on the 15th of April, but refused to 
show signs of life. After waiting till the 
others were well above ground, I resorted to 
childhood’s means of discovering the reason 
