INTRODUCTION xxxvii 



take some time to get rid of it even if every one tried. 

 The Larkspur is a plant of so stately a habit that it 

 would not be easy to make its flowers too large so 

 long as they keep their purity of form. They have 

 already been greatly enlarged, but the largest are 

 often half double and parti-coloured, so that their 

 size is only a thing to wonder at, not to admire. 



The Larkspur is the worst case that could be found 

 of colour perversion in plants. Most other cases are 

 more disputable. But many people who love strong 

 wholesome colours cannot but think that our Roses 

 are suffering in their colour from the popularity of 

 Tea Roses and hybrid Teas. The colours of most 

 Tea Roses are rather faint and exotic. Their delicacy 

 is pleasing to a timid eye, and there is so much bad 

 colour in our art now that most people's eyes have 

 grown timid. But there is no need to have a timid 

 eye for flowers. They are not dyed with cheap dyes, 

 or woven of dull shoddy stuff. The brighter they are 

 the better, particularly when they have the texture 

 of Roses. We need more pure pink and deep crimson 

 in our Roses, and not those pinks washed with yellow 

 or those yellows dulled with brown that are so com- 

 mon among the Teas. 



Roses are not plants of which the ordinary amateur 

 can usually raise new varieties for himself. But there 

 are some plants easily raised from seed and very va- 

 riable, such as Larkspurs and Columbines and Ori- 

 ental Poppies, upon which any amateur with room 

 enough in his garden might try his hand. He can 



