APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 1 



THIS year we have had some of the wild capri- 

 cious glories of a mountain spring; no weeks 

 of dull east wind to keep the colour out of the sky 

 and the early flowers; but first of all continuous sun- 

 shine all day with hoar frosts at night, and then tor- 

 rents of rain, and one night a fierce snowstorm fol- 

 lowed by a day of showers and warm sunlight. That 

 was a day, indeed, that reminded one of a Swiss April, 

 and one almost expected to see the gentians shining 

 blue through the melting snow on the hillsides. Snow 

 showers of this kind do little harm if unaccompanied 

 by frost, and if no spell of east wind follows them. 

 More harm was done by the earlier alternations of 

 bright sunlight and frost; but even these came too 

 early to be really disastrous. They caused the blue 

 flowers of spring, the Chionodoxas and the first Squills, 

 to fade quickly, and they injured the flowers of the 

 early Daffodils and Irises. They also stunted the stalks 



1 The reader should remember that for gardens in the latitude of Boston, 

 at least one month's difference must be allowed for blooming-period of 

 most of the subjects named in this chapter. Tulip Kaufmanniana for in- 

 stance, in the more northern parts of the United States seldom appears 

 before early April; and the "early April tulips " (presumably the single and 

 double florists' varieties) need not be looked for here until late April or 

 early May. This chapter therefore is somewhat inapplicable to the Amer- 

 ican climate. For its general interest and beauty it could not, however, 

 be left out. L. Y. K. 



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