April Showers 



One day when sawing off a rather large bough to clear 

 the legs of the bush I was struck by the resemblance of 

 the scent of the wood to that peppery fragrance peculiar 

 to wooden Japanese cabinets, and I can believe it possible 

 that Magnolia wood may be employed in their construction. 

 It usually happens that once or twice during its flower- 

 ing season the glorious white flowers are browned by 

 frost, but after a few days of mild weather and a good 

 shaking to knock off the browned petals, the show will be 

 almost as good as before the calamity. 



Last year I noticed a number of fruits forming, but 

 later on, when I looked hoping for seeds, they had dis- 

 appeared, and I have never seen this species bearing ripe 

 seed anywhere in England yet. Another bush we are 

 proud of and that is generally in flower in April is the 

 hardy Orange Aegle sepiaria, or Citrus trifoliata as we once 

 called it. When covered with its large, starry white 

 blossoms on the spiny, leafless, but bright green twigs, it 

 is a goodly sight. I grew mine from pips taken out of 

 an orange given me by Canon Ellacombe, that had ripened 

 in his garden, and two of the resultant youngsters planted 

 side by side in the rock garden have grown wonderfully 

 quickly. They are now 10 feet high and 9 feet through, 

 and I have to cut them in severely or they would be half 

 across the path, and scratch all who pass by. I am 

 gradually trimming away the lower boughs, and hope 

 some day to be able to walk under a crop of Orange 

 blossom and later in the season of oranges themselves. 

 The flowers are interesting because most of those that 

 open first bear stamens only. Later there will generally 

 be a few that are perfect hermaphrodite flowers, and the 

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