474 



THE NATURE BOOK 



tected some yards away- The Japanese 

 Quince, with its scarlet blossoms that show 

 so well against a whitewashed wall ; the 

 winter l^owering Hone\'Suckle — botanists 

 rightly call it Lonicera fragrantissima ; 

 the Golden Bell Flower [Forsythia), the 

 Dogwood, that smothers its branches with 

 little yellow blossoms ; the winter bloom- 

 ing Rhododendrons ; Laurustinus that 

 flowers practically the winter through ; 

 the common Mahonia, with broad glossy 

 leaflets and cheerful yellow blossom ; 

 these and some of the Heaths are just a 

 few of the flower treasures of the winter 

 garden. For I have not written of the 

 Winter Aconite, Hepaticas in red, white 

 and blue, the little Cyclamen that loves 

 the shelter of withered fern fronds, Snow- 

 drops and Christmas Rose, about which 

 many years ago Piiiuh sang : 



" A fiddlestick's end for the frost and snows. 

 Sing hey, sing ho! for the Christmas rose." 



One of the great joys of a just ap- 

 preciation of the garden in winter is 

 found in the fact that throughout the 

 so-called cheerless months one is not only 

 enjoying to the full the subtle pleasure 

 which the winter garden gives to those 

 who care to seek her beauties, but one 

 anticipates the coming of spring, and to 

 the garden lover spring comes with the 

 turn of the year. 



Gardening has many pleasures, but 

 perhaps the greatest of them all is that 

 while the present always gives more than 

 enough for perfect enjoyment, the bright 

 future is ever uppermost in one's thoughts. 

 This is of especial advantage in the depth 

 of winter, for the deliberations of the gar- 

 dener as he prepares for next year's flowers 

 are full of the promise of spring, when 

 once again Nature's smile shall spread to 

 the uttermost corners of the garden, trans- 

 forming the sleeping ground into a fairy 

 carpet of living colour. 



H. H. Thomas. 









IN IllK GRIP OF WINTER 



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