70 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



we look upon them. No dew that falls can now 

 keep them alive, as it will the humble moss so 

 much better than they on which they rest. And 

 it is almost worse when the poor gathered flowers 

 are brought indoors and placed in some blue jar 

 or Salviati vase, and the artist shows how care- 

 fully he can draw, not so much the petals of the 

 flowers as the texture of the porcelain or the 

 iridescence of the glass. It is difficult enough 

 worthily to paint the light and glow of colour in 

 any beautiful flower, but, if it is to be painted, 

 let it be when the plant is still growing, and as 

 it grows. Any garden will give subjects enough, 

 if they are only sought for. Here is a bank of 

 daffodils ; here the white narcissus and the red 

 anemone have formed a group ; here a blue 

 forget-me-not looks up into the bell of the 

 snake's-head fritillary ; here is a great peony 

 bowed down with its crimson globes ; here a 

 nasturtium trails its bright yellow blossoms along 

 a bit of grey old rock ; here a cluster of holly- 

 hocks keep watch by a garden walk ; here the 

 purple clematis clings to the orchard hedge. 



