THE DAY BEFORE SPRING 59 



which we have found most satisfactory are: Veronica 

 repens, Gypsophila repens, Sedum album, Sedum acre, 

 Lotus corniculatus, Thymus lanuginosus and Serpyllum, 

 and Cerastium for small bulbs, with Aubrietia, Arabis, 

 Alyssum, Arenaria montana, Tunica saxifraga, Sweet 

 Woodruff and Stachys lanata for the larger sorts. 



Besides the bulbs and flowering trees April offers 

 more than one small delight to weave into our fairy 

 pictures. Earliest of these is the snowy Rock Cress 

 (Arabis albida) which lies in little drifts in sheltered 

 places and opens its wide fragrant blossoms in the early 

 part of the month. The foliage is gray, and after the 

 plants are out of bloom they are still pretty; they are 

 wanderers, sowing their seed freely and appearing in all 

 sorts of places. It loves the warm angles of steps or 

 walls or a chink in a low retaining wall where it hangs 

 in soft-coloured festoons. There is a double-flowered 

 Arabis, a thing of much more pride and circumstance 

 than the single, but I have not found that it comes 

 true from seed. Beds of pink and white Cottage Maid 

 Tulips are most fresh looking and springlike carpeted 

 with Arabis. 



Among the very prettiest low-growing plants of any 

 season are the Aubrietias, which form little mounds of 

 charming colour, the pleasant, dusty foliage almost 

 hidden by the crowding blossoms, lavender, purple, 

 rose, and crimson in many shades. Lavender is a splen- 

 did sort, Dr. Mules, a rich purple; Fire King, very 



