BRAMBLES AND THISTLES 245 



garden is not easily lost. Its great beauty is in its 

 second year, when it bears a large head of flowers 

 which I can compare to nothing but a grand frosted- 

 silver candelabrum. I know of no plant that is so 

 attractive to strangers who see it for the first time, 

 and it is a most attractive plant also to bees, both 

 honey and humble bees. 1 



Having mentioned the edible uses of brambles, I 

 may say that thistles also have their uses. The arti- 

 choke is a thistle, and I suppose was more esteemed by 

 our forefathers than it is by us, for Evelyn says that 

 shortly before his time they were * so rare in England 

 that they were sold for crowns apiece ' ; and as an 

 ornamental plant it is a grand object planted singly on 

 a lawn. Even the common thistles in Evelyn's day 

 were in good repute, being 'about May sold in our 

 herb markets, and is a very wholesome sallet eaten 

 with oyl, salt, and pepper.' 



Brambles and thistles do not sound likely subjects 

 for a well-tilled garden, but I have specially chosen 

 them as my subject because I believe there is no living 

 organism that has not in it both beauty and interest, 

 and among the vegetable organisms I believe there is 

 none that may not with judgment be made to serve 

 either to our use or pleasure, or both. The interest 

 1 For a further account of thistles see p. 81. 



