MARCH 59 



buff on the under surface, and loaded with small, white, 

 fragrant flowers in July and August. After the bloom 

 has passed, its place is taken by a mist of cottony 

 seeds, which persist all winter. Not only has the 

 Olearia proved as hardy as common box, but it is 

 framed to resist the malign influence of London smoke, 

 so fatal to most evergreens. 



The common gorse has suffered sadly from frostbite, 

 and most of the commons near London will be grievously 

 dull this spring in consequence. It is nearly all killed 

 to the ground, though I have noticed a few bushes still 

 green and vigorous on Wandsworth Common. What 

 a glorious thing it is, and how little our poets have 

 done to celebrate it ! One never realises its splendour 

 till a season has to be passed without its goblin gold. 

 Gorse will not endure Scandinavian cold, and the story 

 has often been told mutato nomine of Linnaeus, that 

 for long it was only known to him as a greenhouse 

 exotic, and that when he first saw an English common 

 covered with bloom, he burst into tears of gratitude. 

 The anecdote is authentic, but its author was not 

 Linnseus, but another botanist, Dillenius, who tells it 

 about himself. 



Myrtles endure a very low temperature with impunity, 

 though they seem to require the breath of the sea to 

 keep them vigorous in our latitude. Here, in the west 

 of Scotland, not only have the plants trained on walls 

 suffered no more than the nipping of a few sprays, but 

 those in the open ground have lain comfortably lapped 

 in snow ready to start into fresh growth. I felt much 



