THE GARDEN IN WINTER 



473 



swaying this way and that at the bidding 

 of the keen-edged breeze. Sometimes 

 there is nothing in the garden more 

 dehghtful than Nature's wild disorder ; 

 this is true when her withered reeds and 

 wizened sedges are silvered with the 

 inimitable pencilling of frost and snow ; 

 then every branch and spikelet stands out 

 in bold relief. 



Even the common forest trees are in 

 some respects most beautiful in winter- 

 time, when the delicate tracery of branch 

 and twig is outlined in exquisite silhouette 

 against a blue-grey sky, and the giant 

 trunk shows to the full its natural grace 

 and symmetry. Many tree trunks are 

 moss-grown and lichen-covered, and it is 

 only when boughs are bare that Nature's 

 wonderful tapestry, woven by the hand 

 of Time, is exposed to view. Besides, 

 each has its own characteristics — the Oak 

 and Elm, Poplar and Chestnut, rugged 

 with deep furrows ; the Beech with 

 smooth grey-purple bark ; the Silver 

 Birch, while showing to some extent the 

 vigour of the forest trees, yet blends with 

 this a matchless grace and perfect elegance 

 that tell of the garden. Others equally 

 common and some more rare have a beauty 

 that is recognised only or chiefly in winter. 

 Perhaps the most handsome of all our 

 forest trees in winter is the Scots Fir, 

 whose tall and rugged trunk takes on a 

 rich orange shade. When touched by the 

 dying glory of one of those ruddy sunsets 

 that \\inter often gives, the warm colouring 

 glows with an intense brilliance, until in 

 strong silhouette against the darkening 

 sky it throws a radiance round about 

 that even the garden of high summer can 

 seldom show. 



Some trees have a certain strange and 

 curious charm in the winter months from 

 the fact that while their leaves fade they 

 do not fall, but. withered and wizened by 

 the buffetings of many storms, still cling 

 with a desperation born of a great love 

 for the tree that bore them, even when 

 bursting buds and carolling birds respond 

 to the call of spring. E\-en on wind-swept 

 heights, exposed on all sides to the fury 

 of the winter gales, one meets with the 

 curious sight, in mid- winter and in 

 spring, of a tree, scarcely in leaf, though 

 certainly not leafless. 



And the flowers of the winter garden ? 



They are more numerous than one would 

 think, yet some of them at any rate pass 

 unnoticed since they are comparati\-ely 

 inconspicuous. Nevertheless they are well 

 worth seeking out, for many of them have 

 the saving grace of fragrance, without 

 which a flower comes nearest to losing 

 claim on the love and sympathy of the 

 gardener. But it would be unpardon- 

 able to slight a winter flower simply 

 because it lacked sweet fragrance; yet 

 having this fair quahty, must we not 

 prize it the more highly ? Earliest of 

 all the winter flowers, perhaps, is the 

 Jasmine, wreathing its slender leafy shoots 

 with fragrant yellow blossoms that 



" Twinkle to the wiutrv' moon, 

 And cheer the ungenial day." 



They make a delicate tracery on many a 

 staring wall even before the old year passes 

 to the new, and when winter fades to 

 spring the Jasmine may still be found in 

 bloom. Then there is the ^^'inter Sweet — 

 surely shrub was never more aptly named 

 — which comes into blossom in the depth 

 of winter with flowers that are delightfully 

 fragrant. The Winter Sweet is accom- 

 modating to such an extent that one 

 may grow it as a bush in the open garden 

 or as a climber on a wall, but it is well 

 worth while to give it the latter position, 

 or there it comes earher, and its flowers 

 seem all the sweeter. The Witch Hazels 

 are less commonly gi-own, and their 

 flowers lack sweet scent, but this defect 

 is almost compensated for by the exquisite 

 crinkled blossoms in brown and gold that 

 are freely produced on the spreading 

 leafless shoots. No shrubbery can be 

 without interest in the winter if the Witch 

 Hazels find a home there — and they need 

 the minimum of attention. Still less 

 frequently met with, yet most striking 

 when covering a wall, as it does without 

 difhculty, is the Californian Garrya, an 

 evergreen that bears gracefully drooping 

 tufts of pale green catkins in early winter. 

 Everyone knows the Mezereon — 



" Though leafless, well attired, and thick beset. 

 With blushing wreaths, investing every spray," 



that smothers its stiff straight stems with 

 little rosy flowers in late winter, flowers 

 that exhale a rich fragrance that is de- 



