72 MAY 



whether the conditions they meet with under cul- 

 ture, the richness of the ground they inhabit, and 

 the general care they receive, lead to the too pro- 

 fuse bearing of blossom and of seed pod, which 

 seems to weaken and in time to destroy them. It 

 is certainly not a hard winter which kills them, for 

 they may survive three or four such winters to 

 waste away in a mild one. But however disappoint- 

 ing they may be in this respect they are of the 

 things which no keen gardener can dispense with, 

 and as they are fairly easy raised from seed, and as 

 a plant in its second year may range in height from 

 two to four or even more feet, and be covered with 

 masses of its glorious bean-scented flowers, there is 

 no difficulty in keeping up the supply by means of an 

 annual sowing. They like a light soil and a sunny 

 position and a stake to keep them steady when 

 rough winds blow. 



Some of the plants which look most promising in 

 the wild garden are the scarlet avens, or geum, 

 the Nankeen poppy, the common yellow potentilla, 

 and the old-fashioned columbine. Various dian- 

 thuses, such as that called deltoides, and the 

 pheasant-eye pink are doing admirably and have 

 much promise of blossom. Irises raised from seed 

 are coming up well, but they do not thrive in the 

 grass as I should like to see them, judging by their 

 sparse bloom. The oriental poppies are showing 

 great swelling buds. It strikes me ever anew that 

 the ideal gardening is wild gardening, when it can 

 be managed after Nature's patterns, and the little 

 bit of it that I can delight in is a happier thing 

 than any patches of florists' flowers that make 



