340 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



The name Sweet John has not lived, but Sweet William 

 survives, and may be expected to live for ever. 



Botanical authorities do not attempt to fix a date for 

 the introduction of the Snapdragon to Great Britain, 

 and they tell us that it is a native. That is open to 

 doubt, but it has certainly been a wilding for a period 

 which runs into centuries. Of the Sweet William they 

 tell us that it came from Germany in 1573. A coloured 

 plate of the plant appears in the Botanical Magazine, 

 t. 207. 



There was a time when the Sweet William was 

 specialised by florists, who grew a strain called Auricula- 

 eyed, and were disposed to make the plant almost as 

 great a favourite as the Auricula itself. The movement 

 subsided, and the Sweet William no longer enjoys status 

 as a florist's flower. It is the turn of the Snapdragon 

 to be exalted. The florists and particularly Scottish 

 florists have devoted a great deal of attention to raising 

 improved varieties, and have even given special names 

 to them. 



Both plants have shared in the increased popularity 

 of hardy flowers generally, and that is of much greater 

 moment than a rise and fall in the favour of a limited 

 number of florists. It means that as garden plants they 

 enjoy the favour of thousands. 



Those flower-lovers who have to garden on chalk 

 ground learn fully the value of Snapdragons. These are 

 the plants which never fail, however poor and shallow 

 the soil may be, and however dry the season. They 

 are a boon and a blessing on chalk. They never tire, 

 they never flag. They may be planted at almost any 

 season, and they will remain in bloom when almost 

 everything else in the garden has gone. Even if the 

 flowers possessed no particular charm, these qualities 



