My Garden in Spring 



and trying to make up my mind which are flower-buds 

 and which new branches, for years of experience have not 

 yet taught me any means of distinguishing them at this 

 initial stage. Then there is Senecio tropaeolioides to look at : 

 so far, after clearing off its dead leaves, the tuberous root 

 has contained some sound portions, and these have soon 

 responded to warm moisture and sent up their glaucous 

 leaves, as peltate as those of any Tom Thumb Nasturtium, 

 and quite remarkable even in such a family of mimics as 

 the Groundsel tribe. 



A gentle tug at the centres of various Bromeliads, 

 Rhodostachys species mostly, with a Dyckia or two, and 

 most marvellous of all Bilbergia nutans, which is usually 

 seen in a greenhouse, will show whether they still adhere 

 to the roots or have rotted off at the collar. Mesembry- 

 anthemum linguaeforme and M. uncinatum generally show that 

 they have got to work and begun Spring growth before the 

 glass lid came off; Agave Parryi and A.utahensis I have never 

 yet found affected by a winter. A few of our Cape plants 

 share this protected corner ; a fine old Gerberajamesonii dies 

 down but regularly reappears soon after the rain reaches 

 it, and Hypoxis Rooperi and Haplocarpa scaposa, two free- 

 blooming, yellow-flowered plants that are seldom seen 

 thriving in the open, behave in a similar way. We try to 

 remove these overhead lights on the ist of April each year, 

 to let the rain moisten and wake the plants of course, and 

 not at all because it is All Fools' Day as you might think, 

 dear reader. Perhaps some summer day you will see 

 these Prickly Pears and vegetable sea-urchins with their 

 great yellow, salmon, or white blossoms wide open in the 

 sun, and will be allowed to touch the anthers of the 

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