INTRODUCTION 7 



deal of ignorance hampers me. I have got plenty 

 of stout, healthy, vigorous bulbs from Central Africa 

 that ought to flower, and evidently can flower, but 

 won't flower. Tropical plants are like Nature's self : 

 they never pardon stupidity. If you muddle with 

 equatorial bulbs, they sooner or later die ; and if 

 you muddle with Nature, you do. 



This year Carson's gloriosa, encouraged by rumours 

 of its success, has flowered abundantly, and made a 

 specimen of great beauty. It also did well at Kew, 

 and was much admired there. 



Now, some people say that there are a couple of 

 simple fundamental rules to follow in a garden ; and 

 declare that if they were only observed, we should 

 have no failures. First, master the needs and neces- 

 sities of a growing thing, both above ground and 

 beneath ; secondly, deny yourself that plant unless 

 you can furnish its correct requirements. This per- 

 haps sounds cowardly, and personally I do not insist 

 upon the letter of the rules, though their spirit may 

 be considered. On a garden of London clay, for 

 instance, the results of following this counsel must 

 be so meagre that a gardener's spirit would perish 

 for lack of sustenance. In England we cannot go 

 to such lengths ; we have to experiment and probe 

 the possibilities of our climate to their hideous depths. 

 I experiment myself in my nursery. I grow new 

 plants there that is, plants that are new to me 

 and compare their achievements with the handsome 

 things alleged about them in the catalogues. Much 

 innocent amusement may be secured in this way 



