DITCHES AND XATtROW SHADY LANES. 37 



between riven rocks, and gaily oc('n]iy the little dark caves 

 beneath the ureat boidders on maiiv a horror-stricken nioiin- 

 tain gorge, and whicli garland Avith inimitable grace the vast 

 flanks of rock that gnard the dark conrses of the rivers on 

 their paths throngh the hills. And as these dark walls, 

 ruined by ceaseless pulse of the torrent, are beautiful 

 exceedingly, liow iniich moiv may we make all the shady 

 dykes and narrow lanes that occur everywhere ! For while 

 the nymph-gardener of the raA^ne may depend for her novel- 

 ties on the strav grains of seeds brouuht in the moss bv the 

 robin when building her nest, or on the mercy of the hurrying 

 wave, we may place side by side the snowy white wood lily 

 (Trillium grandiflorum), whose home is in the shades of the 

 American woods, with the twin flower of Scotland and northern 

 Europe, and find Ijoth thrive on the same spot in ha^jpy com- 

 panionship. And so in innumerable instances. And not only 

 may we be assured of numbers of the most beautiful plants of 

 other countries thriving in deep ditches and in like positions, 

 but also that not a few of them, like the white wood 111}-, will 

 thrive much Ijetter in them than in any position in garden 

 borders. This plant, when in perfection, has a flower as fair 

 as any white lily, while it is seldom a foot high ; but, in con- 

 sequence of being a shade-loving and wood plant, it usually 

 perishes in the ordinary garden bed or border, while in a 

 shady dyke or any like position it will be found to thrive as 

 well as in its native woods; and if in deep, free, sandy, or 

 vegetable soil, to grow so as not to be surpassed in loveliness 

 by anything seen in our stoves or greenhouses. 



Our wild flowers take j^ossession of the stiff', formal, and 



