n8 MY GARDEN 



was privileged to see some fine flower-spikes in pots. 

 It shoots up a lofty stem from its great foliage and 

 produces scattered white blossoms splashed with gold. 

 It is a fleeting but a noble moraea. 



Ornithogalum arabicum prospers grandly out of 

 doors, and only asks for deep planting and plenty of 

 sunshine. O. aureum failed with me. Nutans is, of 

 course, hardy, and its handsome green and white 

 blooms begin to appear before February is over. The 

 little Star of Bethlehem, O. umbellatum, twinkles in 

 May. The frame species I do not know. Phaedra- 

 nassa is said to do in a warm border. Mine did 

 nothing under those conditions, but I flowered them 

 afterwards in a cool house, and then parted from 

 them without emotion. They affect the yellows, 

 oranges, and greens of lachenalia, but don't manage 

 the colours so well to my mind. Always understand, 

 however, that I speak with the utmost humility when 

 criticising unfavourably anything that blooms. My 

 opinion is purely personal, and a man whose criticism 

 on any subject was worth less never lived. I have 

 lacked the critical faculty from my youth up. There 

 are possibly people who think the world of phaed- 

 ranassa ; it may touch a magic chord in your heart : 

 at any rate an outlay of fourpence will enable you to 

 make the experiment. Romulea is hardy, and his 

 kinsman, spatalanthus, for some years opened shining 

 purple, yellow-eyed blossoms in a hot corner ; but I 

 rather think in digging when he was down I accident- 

 ally slew him. This beautiful little flower should be 

 tried in a cold frame if you dare not trust it out of 



