i2 4 MY GARDEN 



going to do out of doors ; but I cannot say with 

 certainty yet. 



And now I will name a last little gem by way of 

 conclusion to this rough and ready survey. There 

 are doubtless hundreds of other pretty half-hardy 

 treasures beside this handful to be got from the in- 

 exhaustible storehouse of South Africa ; but among 

 them all you shall not flower a daintier atom than 

 Melasphaerula graminea. It is, I think, rare in cultiva- 

 tion. I got mine from Holland as something quite 

 different, and only after considerable difficulty named 

 it. A beautiful picture of the plant will be found in 

 the Botanical Magazine, No. 615. One may describe 

 melasphaerula as a tiny gladiolus-like blossom carried 

 on a twisted stem irregularly. It is yellowish-white, 

 with dark crimson streaks on the petals, and has 

 grassy foliage. It appears to be quite hardy, but I 

 pay it the compliment of a piece of glass through the 

 autumnal rains, and hope it may presently increase. 

 It was found by Thunberg in the Groenekloof Hills at 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and sent to Kew in 1787 ; 

 but they have not got it there now, I believe. " In 

 the capillary tenuity and elastic tremulousness of its 

 branchlets, it reminds us of the quaking grass, Briza," 

 says Curtis. 



And now you may leave the white rockery ; but do 

 not be impatient with me, or endeavour after such an 

 ordeal to escape from my garden altogether. There 

 is much more that I desire to show you before you 

 depart, and many cheerful things to tell you. 



One important point must be made here. You will 



