4 AN ISLAND GARDEN 



Says the wise Lord Bacon again : " And be- 

 cause the Breath of Flowers is far sweeter in the 

 Aire (when it comes and goes, like the Warbling 

 of Music) than in the hand, therefore nothing is 

 more fit for that delight than to know what be 

 the Flowers and Plants that doe best perfume the 

 Aire." 



The most exquisite perfume known to my gar- 

 den is that of the Wallflowers ; there is nothing 

 equal to it. They blossom early, and generally 

 before June has passed they are gone, and have 

 left me mourning their too swift departure. I 

 wonder they are not more generally cultivated, 

 but I fancy the fact that they do not blossom till 

 the second year has much to do with their rarity. 

 It requires so much more faith and patience to 

 wait a whole year, and meanwhile carefully watch 

 and tend the plants, excepting during the time 

 when winter covers them with a blanket of snow ; 

 but when at last spring comes and the tardy 

 flowers appear, then one is a thousand times re- 

 paid for all the tedious months of waiting. They 

 return such wealth of bloom and fragrance for 

 the care and thought bestowed on them ! Their 

 thick spikes of velvet blossoms are in all shades 

 of rich red, from scarlet to the darkest brown, 

 from light gold to orange ; some are purple ; and 

 their odor, who shall describe it! Violets, 

 Roses, Lilies, Sweet Peas, Mignonette, and Helio- 

 trope, with a dash of Honeysuckle, all mingled 

 in a heavenly whole. There is no perfume which 

 I know that can equal it. And they are so lavish 

 of their scent ; it is borne off the garden and 



