FIRST WEEK IN MAY 



the trees. Many beautiful flowers may be added to the wild 

 denizens of such a place ; yet taste and discrimination will 

 be necessary in doing this, for it is easy to spoil the beauty 

 of a wild spot by formality, and semi-tropical plants are 

 quite unsuitable for such a place. 



Daffodils, scillas, and snowdrops, for instance, may be 

 scattered far and wide, and will be most beautiful here in 

 spring ; yet any attempt to plant them in lines or at set 

 distances will be fatal to the right effect, for Nature never 

 works in this way, and we must keep our own stiff ideas out 

 of this corner of the garden. Wild roses and sweetbriars 

 (such as Lady Penzance, Lucy Bertram, and others of the 

 hybrids introduced by Lord Penzance) are quite at home 

 here, however, for they object to the knife of the pruner, 

 and never look more lovely than when allowed to throw long 

 sprays of blossom where they will. Honeysuckles, too, will 

 add their rich fragrance, and both may be induced to form a 

 shady bower with very little training. 



A very handsome plant for a position where colour is 

 wanting is the Crown Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis), a 

 member of the lily family, which is quite vigorous enough 

 to take care of itself, and will flourish best when left alone, 

 if planted in autumn with deep digging and good loam. The 

 flowers are either golden yellow (aurea) or red (rubra) and 

 there are double and single varieties of each. F. i. rubra 

 maxima is perhaps the finest form, with large red flowers. 



Japanese anemones (Anemone japonica) in white and 

 pink, grouped with large British ferns, are quite at home in 

 a half-wild corner, for they dislike any disturbance of their 

 roots ; lilies-of-the-valley, too, will flourish in the shade. 



This is an excellent time in which to put in cuttings, 

 especially of such shrubs and climbers as produce new wood 

 early. These half-hardened shoots, about 3 inches long, 

 strike easily in pots of sandy soil, which should not be too 

 large, a 4-inch pot taking as many slips, each with a slight 

 heel of the older wood. The leaves should be cut off (a pair 

 of small, sharp scissors being the best implement for this 

 work) about half the length of the shoot, and this should be 



161 



