DECEMBER 129 



prospect of the garden in December is much better by- 

 making all the flower-beds too tidy. I feel sure that 

 the dead flower-stems (the 'Kecksies' of Shakespeare 

 and the old writers, and the word still lingers in a few 

 parts) must be some protection to the plants; and, 

 when the hoar-frosts come, these dead stems, especially 

 where the dead flower-heads remain, put on a won- 

 derful beauty, as any one may see who will walk by 

 an old hedgerow in a hoar-frost and look at the rank 

 herbage, particularly where there is any abundance of 

 the large umbelliferous plants. 



But even in December the garden is not altogether 

 without flowers, and, as wise Ulysses says, 'Though 

 much is taken, much abides.' About a hundred years 

 ago a pretty book was published called Bowles's Flora ; 

 or, a Curious Collection of the most Beautiful Flowers as they 

 appear in their Gh'eatest Perfection each Month of the Year. 

 There are twelve plates, one for each month ; and 

 in each is a vase filled with the flowers of the month. 

 They are well drawn and engraved, and coloured by 

 hand ; and it was a very popular book, for in old houses 

 I have often seen the set of plates framed and glazed. 

 The flowers have all their English names, and it is easy 

 to see that our grandfathers could in each month show 

 collections of flowers which were as beautiful as those 

 we have now, though perhaps not so varied. In the 



I 



