6 VARIETY IN THE LITTLE GARDEN 



qualities of bravery and mirthfulness, else how could it venture 

 forth, as too often it does, smiling, to its own destruction? 



It happens that all our crocuses ^- and now through their 

 habit of multiplying there are sheets of them — lie in and out 

 of a high wire fence around our ground, a fence hidden by shrubs. 

 Many of them, therefore, are near the public walk and all be- 

 neath the public eye, and part of the pleasure of these fine 

 flowers in spring is that enjoyment of them by all who pass by. 

 Another welcome pleasure is the sight of groups of small chil- 

 dren, shepherded by their teachers to the crocus borders, the 

 sound of their little squeals of delight in the flowers and of fear 

 of that ever-present bee in the crocus cup. 



The crocus is sold by all dealers, and the various species 

 crocus, like the named sorts, can be brought in freely from 

 Europe. There is no quarantine against this bulb at the time 

 of writing. And now we may even more enjoy the crocus in 

 the little garden — enjoy it entirely — because we may have 

 again the blue of scilla. The scilla is no longer prohibited by 

 the Government. Scilla sibirica is, luckily for us, the companion 

 in time of bloom of much purple crocus, and very beautiful is this 

 effect along the ground. Scilla campanulata excelsior is a later- 

 blooming flower, tall, with lavender bells of a specially delicate 

 loveliness when associated with Myosotis. The beauty of these is 

 such that it is impossible not to include them among the treasm-es 

 of the American spring, and without them we are left without 

 rich and essential color for the painting of our spring borders. 



Like the crocus too, there is to me nothing serious about the 

 hyacinth. In fact, these are pure fun. They have no form 

 to commend them except in the singles. They are heavy, stiff, 

 bungled-looking as to shape, but for the range of their col- 

 ors and for the clear tones of those hues they are magnificent. 

 We use not many, but a few which have become treasures. 



