MARCH 259 



growing bushes ; for it is so true that, as she says, 

 when planted on a pergola all their beauty is only for 

 the bird as it flies. In the lanes, too, I saw some of the 

 wild Arum leaves, and got out of the carriage to get 

 some. Having no garden -gloves or knife with me, I 

 ran my finger down into the soft, leafy mould to gather 

 them with the white stalk underground. I trust these 

 will rejoice an invalid friend in London to-morrow. 

 One gets almost tired of the mass of flowers in London 

 now, and things that smell of ditches and hedgerows are 

 what one values most. 



March 9th. Odontoglossum Bossii major is a charm- 

 ing little Orchid to hang up in a shallow pan in a 

 greenhouse when in flower. I am getting to like Orchids 

 more and more now that, instead of thinking of them in 

 their hot glass palaces, the easy -growing ones are 

 treated here like other greenhouse plants. They give 

 me great pleasure ; the flowers are beautiful and 

 interesting to look into and examine. I must learn 

 more about them. In all things concerning nature, it is 

 only ignorance that makes us take likes and dislikes. 



This is the first spring morning. How one appre- 

 ciates the slightest rise in the temperature ! I quite 

 pity those who have rushed south, and who cannot 

 watch the slow development of our English spring, with 

 all its many disappointments. 



The bright yellow flowers of the improved Tussilago 

 Coltsfoot, sold by Cannel, are now just coming out, and 

 the gravelly corner where they grow is a bright mass of 

 buds. These flowers that come before their leaves, like 

 the autumn crocus, are attractive, though the size of 

 their leaves, when they do come, puts one sometimes out 

 of conceit with them, especially if crowded for room ; 

 though it is astonishing how corners can be found in 

 even small gardens for all sorts of things, if one gives 



