The Garden in 3Iid^Winter 



sort of people, as Lady Grove might say, who 

 would call a napkin a " serviette." A serious 

 stand ought to be made against this sort of 

 thing. Those who know their Parkinson 

 may sigh for more of the good old words ; 

 but " gilliflower, the pride of our English 

 gardens," and too many of its contemporaries, 

 are dead beyond hope of resurrection. The 

 greater our duty to our country and to posterity 

 to hold fast by such of the ancient names as 

 still have life in them. To preserve the pansy 

 or heart's-ease, fairest of flower-names, from 

 yielding place to violay is surely worth an effort. 

 Some old-fashioned garden flowers seem to 

 have been spared as yet. The hollyhock is 

 still with us ; I do not hear mignonette 

 spoken of as reseda^ though even that may 

 come ; and the worst offenders have not dis- 

 covered the botanical names of sweet-peas and 

 stocks. 



In our Madeira gardens, rich with 



" Flowers of all heavens and lovelier than their names," 



we have so many plants not yet endowed with 

 English titles, that we are driven perforce to 

 the Botanical Dictionary. Perhaps if Mr. 



77 



