94 



GARDENING BY MYSELF. 



white velvet, perfumed beyond *' the pow- 

 ders of the merchant ;" and pliant hare- 

 bells, and the great yellow goblets of the 

 tulip -tree. Then you will not miss the 

 chick winter-green, with its striped leaf — 

 for '' foliage plants" are not confined to the 

 garden ; and you will w^atch for the superb 

 perfection of the wild lady's -shpper, or 

 cyprepedium. 



Yet do not try to bring it into your 

 Fairyland. It will not live long, — it cannot 

 be itself while it lives. And this is strangely 

 true of many of our fairest wild plants. 

 Whether the dry, sophisticated garden soil 

 blights them ; whether they pine for the 

 fresh scent of the woods, or miss their na- 

 tive shade ; whatever it is, very few of 

 them are worth the transplanting. The 

 wild columbine loses its airy grace, and 

 stands up stiff and still in a large family 

 clump; the wind-flower thinks life not 

 worth the having ; the little wood violets 

 lose heart when confronted with " czar" 

 and " king," and dwindle and wish them- 



