Daffodils 



true N. dubius, kindly sent me from its wild home by M. 

 Denis of Iris fame. It is very small, but such a perfectly 

 formed little flower, and so white that one longs to give a 

 doll's dinner-party to decorate the table with it. It loves heat 

 and drought, so I am hoping it will thrive here, and some 

 bulbs I keep in the Crocus frame have been lifted and re- 

 planted, and I found they had increased in size. I like any 

 wild Narcissus in the rock garden, and some of the distinct 

 hybrids, such as Dawn, Moonbeam, and other triandrus 

 crosses, but the beds and shrubberies are the homes for 

 most Daffodils. I have tried to group some of the cool- 

 coloured ones in the centre of the piece of ground I have 

 alluded to as my sole bit of colour scheming. This grouping 

 contains Poets such as Rhymester, Almira, Cassandra and 

 Lovelace, a few Leedsii varieties, White Lady and Ariadne 

 among them, and nothing more yellow than Argent, Alba- 

 tross, and Seagull, and coming between a mass of grey-leaved 

 things and golden-leaved forms, with silver variegations 

 among the daffodils, and the whole backed by purple foliage, 

 the early Spring effect is delightfully clear and cool. White 

 Lady is fine for this use, being far enough in the middle of 

 the bed for the cup to pass unnoticed. I quarrel with her 

 name on account of that cup, for no lady would go out with 

 so clean and fresh a white skirt over such a bedraggled 

 petticoat worse than bedraggled, it is a lace-edged one, but 

 with the lace frayed and torn and wanting mending. The 

 distant effect may be a white lady, but close at hand the 

 rags spell white slut. Argent I could never over-praise 

 either for the border or as a cut flower, whatever rich and 

 rare adjectives I might bestow upon it : the mingling of its 

 silver and gold is charming. I have thoroughly enjoyed 

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