•^ The Scented Qarden ^ 



it was grown not only out of doors, where it becomes a 

 rampant weed, but also in pots, for the scent of the 

 whitish lilac flowers is almost indistinguishable from that 

 of ' cherry-pie.' It was apparently very fashionable as a 

 pot plant, for an early nineteenth century writer observes 

 loftily, ' The modest flowers of this plant were too in- 

 significant to have attracted the notice of the ignorant, 

 who have not souls to admire humble merit, whether in 

 men or flowers, until it has received the sanction of fashion 

 or the patronage of the great.' 1 The scent of the flowers is 

 indeed sweet, a bowl of them in midwinter looks pleasantly 

 old-fashioned, and perhaps some day this relation of the 

 humble coltsfoot will again i be patronized by the great.' 

 In spite of its scent, T. fragrans should only be planted 

 in a wild part of the garden, for once it has taken hold it 

 is difficult to eradicate. 



Considering the number of flowers one can pick 

 from a square foot of Iris stylosa, this iris should find a 

 place even in the smallest garden. The lovely lavender- 

 blue flowers seem to bring summer into midwinter, for 

 the blue of their scented petals is almost the blue of a 

 summer sky. These plants, which are natives of Algeria, 

 like being starved in a sunny spot by a wall in light soil 

 with plenty of lime rubble. Put into ordinary garden soil 

 they produce leaves and no flowers, but given the con- 

 ditions they like they produce abundantly, and their 

 masses of long leaves give the flowers a considerable 

 amount of protection. /. stylosa will not flower the first 

 season, for it requires a little time to settle down com- 

 fortably. The flowers for indoor decoration should be 

 picked in bud, for though the masses of long leaves give 



1 H. Phillips. Flora Historica. 

 22 



