THE FLOWER GARDEN IN THE HOUSE. 



319 



darkness within the bronze vessels tends to keep the flowers longer 

 than when they are in glass vessels exposed to the light. 



Japanese ways of arranging flowers are extremely interesting, and 

 may sometimes be practised with advantage ; but, with a great variety 

 and good shape of vessels, the Japanese way is not so necessary as 

 a system, for the reason that, given a variety of good shapes and 

 different materials, we can place any single flower, branch, or bunch 

 in a way that it will look well with very slight effort and in very little 

 time. Any way involving much labour over the arrangement of 

 flowers is not the best for us or for the result far from it. 



Lenten Roses, February. 



Having got a good and constant supply of flowers, and variety 

 of vessels, the question of arrangement is the only serious one 

 that remains to be thought of, and it is not nearly so difficult if 

 we seek unity, harmony, and simplicity of effect, rather than the 

 complexities which we have all seen at flower shows and in " table 

 decorations," many of them involving much wearisome labour, 

 while a shoot of a wild rose growing out of a hedge or a wreath 

 of honeysuckle would put the whole thing to shame from the 

 point of view of beauty. In all such matters laying down 

 rules leads to monotony, and yet there is much to be said for 

 ways distinctly apart from the old nosegay masses and the 



