AUTUMN BEAUTY 137 



capped Stigmata like a candle, or perhaps the torch of 

 its hardy little spirit. Speciosus blooms late. It is 

 usually well into October before I come upon them, 

 standing gravely beneath the Lilac bushes, or piercing 

 the gray-leaved creepers at the front of the Michaelmas 

 Daisy border. Surely there is much interest and a 

 touch of mystery attached to these frail flowers standing 

 so carelessly at the gate of winter. Their nakedness 

 for the leaves are borne in spring and wither long before 

 the vaselike flower comes adds to the feeling that they 

 are "somehow different," but nevertheless one is glad to 

 have them the more the better. We have here only 

 the two kinds, but there are others which would be 

 worth trying: C. nudiflorus, pulchellus, iridiflorus, can- 

 cellatus, and sativus are a few. They may be planted in 

 late summer and early autumn and, like their brothers 

 at the other end of the year, enjoy a light, well-drained 

 soil, free from clay and manure. A cushion and cover- 

 ing of sand is advisable, and a ground cover of some 

 small creeper, such as Gypsophila repens, Veronica pros- 

 trata, or Cerastium, is a protection to their frail beauty. 

 The first week of October sees many changes upon 

 the fair face of the garden, and by the middle of the 

 winter the gay tints are lowered to halftones and there is 

 little colour, save here and there a sparkle where an 

 indomitable California Poppy still blooms, or a lumi- 

 nous spike of Larkspur reaches skyward, less opulently 

 clothed, less tall, but never before so heavenly blue. It 



