^ Spring Flowering TSulbs (& 



I met a smiling bonny lass, 

 They call her Daffodil. 



And all the shepherds, that were nigh, 



From top of every hill 



Unto the valleys loud did cry, 



" There goes sweet Daffodil." ' 



Batte. 

 * Ay, gentle shepherd, now with joy 

 Thou all my flocks dost fill, 

 That's she alone, kind shepherd boy ; 

 Let us to Daffodil.' 



None of the narcissi family take kindly to formal beds. 

 A thick row of nodding ' daffadowndillies ' bordering a 

 path leading to a cottage door look lovely, but those same 

 daffodils solemnly planted out in a stiff bed fail to be 

 even interesting. The real fact is that our ' formal ' beds 

 are not nearly formal enough ! A series of * beds ' is 

 an unfinished affair and consequently falls between two 

 stools, for it is neither pleasant homely cottage gardening, 

 nor is it more than an elementary beginning of formal 

 gardening. Our ancestors, who excelled at this art, did not 

 stop half-way, and there was a great variety in the means 

 they used. Daffodils, or for that matter any of the 

 spring bulbs, look delightful in a bed laid out as a i knot 

 garden.' Plenty of designs for these are to be found in 

 the old gardening books. The broad lines depicted in 

 these designs are planted with thyme or any other low- 

 growing shrub and the open spaces filled with the bulbs. 

 A bed planted in this fashion bears no resemblance to the 

 carpet bedding of Victorian days, but is a real pleasure to 

 the eve, The beauty of the flowers is distinctly enhanced 



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