My Garden in Spring 



as ancyrensis, Korolkowii, or aureus, but the variegated lines 

 are our objects of veneration, where white, cream, sulphur- 

 yellow, and lilac look as if all the seeds of the season had 

 been mixed. The label on one such will perhaps say 

 chrysanthus good white, another c. pal/idus, or even striped 

 seedling, but except those labelled c. superbus there is no uni- 

 formity, thank Heaven. You must not mind if I suddenly 

 yell with joy, for perhaps yesterday was an R.H.S. day, and 

 I was in Vincent Square from early till late, and Monday 

 was wet and no Crocuses open, and Sunday had so many 

 services and Sunday-school classes, I have not seen my 

 seedlings since Saturday. So, if there is an extra fine 

 white flower with orange throat, a deeper blue self than 

 ever before, or some specially peacocky chameleon with an 

 inventive genius for external markings, I shall shout and 

 flop on my knees regardless of mud and my best knickers 

 donned for the visitors, and the cook's fork will tenderly 

 extract the prize, and you can admire it without going on 

 the knee, while I am writing a label for it, and before it 

 goes into a place of honour in the frame. It is not every 

 day, though, that my variety-spotting eye lights thus 

 easily on a tip-topper, and even now we must look care- 

 fully along the flowering rows for promising breaks, 

 bending some flowers to one side if fully open to see 

 what external markings they carry. Some will be replicas 

 of good forms selected in former years, but very seldom 

 sufficiently exact a copy to be mixed with that stock, so 

 they, and some that are obviously from the same studio 

 but by a prentice hand, can be cook's-forked out for you 

 to carry away if you are bitten with Crocomania. Now 

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