The Iris Walk in May 



but they have long since disappeared, and only the purple 

 type with its conspicuous white-spotted falls now appears 

 in the frame. I have had it sent to me from Spain, Malta, 

 and Afghanistan, but can see no difference among them. 

 Iris mellita flowered well this year in the rock garden in 

 early May. It is very dwarf, with large, well-formed flowers 

 of a dull rosy plum colour, but very distinct and pleasing, 

 quite welcome to its sunny ledge, and too small in stature 

 to be trusted even in the very front of the Iris beds. 



I hope in another volume to lead you along these beds 

 on a June day among the pallidas and other summer 

 glories, but now we will pass by them, and try not to 

 tread on the Fantail pigeons that will walk under our feet, 

 leave the Lunatic Asylum on our left, gaze for a minute 

 or two at the fine bole of the isolated Yew, the last of the 

 row in this direction, a pillar of clustered columns that I 

 am never tired of admiring, and so past the first of the 

 leaden ostriches that guard the bridge over the river, and 

 then looking through the ivy-clad arch into the kitchen 

 garden I hope the stretch of May-flowering Tulips under 

 the wall will hold your attention long enough to let me 

 turn over a page and begin a new chapter. 



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