YUCCAS. 91 



has also begun to flower, but I had nearly lost it 

 altogether, and the stoiy is rather a curious one. 

 I had noticed that both it and other creepers were 

 looking unhappy, and I could not guess the reason. 

 The Escallonia showed bare branches in many 

 places, the Ceanothus seemed shrunken and 

 brown, and a Gloire de Dijon Rose did no good. 

 At last it occurred to my gardener that the gal- 

 vanised wire, which I had put up to avoid driving 

 nails into the stone work of the windows, was to 

 blame. I pulled it all down, coated it thickly over 

 with paint, and, when it was again put up, all the 

 creepers seemed to start into fresh life, and grew 

 strong and vigorous. 



On a patch of green grass near the house stands 

 a Yucca Gloriosa, which I am always hoping will 

 flower, but it has never done so yet. Not long ago 

 I was at a stately place in Shropshire, and at the 

 end of a broad walk, where a circle of Yuccas had 

 been planted, there were no less than five in full 

 flower, throwing up pale jets of blossom, like foun- 

 tains, towards the sky. I never saw anything more 

 perfect in its way. But it is said that the right time 

 to see a Yucca is by moonlight. There is a very 

 striking passage in one of the letters of the most 



