62 A YEAR IN A LANCASHIRE GARDEN. 



stripes are so much deeper, in some the dark claret 

 spots are so much more numerous. 



Another bed is of Lilium speciosum, planted to 

 take the place of a bed of Sweet William, which 

 was quite a glow of colour in the earlier part of 

 the summer. This dear old Sweet William, which 

 was the favourite in the old cottage gardens, and 

 which, with the Lad's-love and the Pink, was the 

 chosen flower for the buttonhole of the country 

 boy, is now far too much neglected. Its rich velvet 

 clusters of twenty different shades make a bed of 

 exquisite beauty. It is over too soon, but it can 

 be supplanted (may I say ?) by something else. In 

 a second bed of Sweet Williams I placed Gladiolus 

 bulbs, and now they are coming into flower from 

 out the green cushion, from which we have cut the 

 withered blossoms. 



A bed of the sweet little pink Pinks has of 

 course been over some time, and though the bed 

 is now quite bare of bloom for I cannot disturb 

 the roots it is well worth sacrificing some colour 

 in autumn for the three summer weeks of delicious 

 perfume. Clusters of white Pinks have been no 

 less sweet on the herbaceous borders, and now the 

 Clove Carnations take their place. 



It is curious that so familiar a flower as the Pink 



