298 BOG PLANTS 



make a hit with the swamp pink (Helonias bullata*}. And perhaps 

 some one will discover the possibilities of the dainty little star 

 flower (Trientalis dmericana*). 



In short every wild flower that grows in damp woods should 

 be lovingly studied by someone who has the patience to propagate 

 it and help it establish a good-sized colony, for only when we grow 

 a flower in a large mass, in its right environment, can we discover 

 its true worth and meaning. 



We must not hesitate to apply this principle to large, coarse 

 plants that we ordinarily think of as weeds. For example, the 

 viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare] is a draggle-tail weed along dusty 

 roads, but at Iver Heath I saw it glorified almost beyond recogni- 

 tion by the easy magic of bog-planting. A single plant had at- 

 tained the enormous height of four or five feet and the flowers were 

 about an inch long. You can tell at once that it belongs to the 

 borage family, for the flowers are reddish purple at first, but change 

 to a bright blue and are borne in numerous one-sided spikes. 

 It blossoms all summer, and at the time I saw it was a prodigy 

 of bloom. 



HARDY ORCHIDS FOR BOG GARDENS 



I was eager to see the European orchids, having had some ink- 

 ling of their glories from great picture books like "Hortus Eystet- 

 tensis." There are thirty-six of them native to Great Britain. 

 I judge that the showiest is the old original lady's slipper (Cypri- 

 pedium Calceolus), a brown and yellow beauty that is almost 

 extinct in Britain. Second in showiness, I suppose, is the great or 

 fragrant orchis (Habenaria conopsea) a rosy purple flower, which 

 is common in the wild throughout Great Britain and blooms all 

 summer. Another famous orchid is the spotted orchis (Orchis 



* Native to America. 



