AN ISLAND GARDEN 41 



wafted everywhere, into the house and here and 

 there in all directions, in viewless clouds on the 

 gentle air. To make a perfect success of Wall- 

 flowers they must be given lime in some form 

 about the roots. They thrive marvelously if fed 

 with a mixture of old plastering in the soil, or 

 bone meal, or, if that is not at hand, the meat 

 bones from the kitchen, calcined in the oven and 

 pounded into bits, stirred in around the roots is 

 fine for them. This treatment makes all the dif- 

 ference in the world in their strength and beauty. 

 After the Wallflowers, Roses and Lilies, Mignon- 

 ette, Pinks, Gillyflowers, Sweet Peas, and the 

 Honeysuckles for fragrance, and of these last, the 

 monthly Honeysuckle is the most divine. Such 

 vigor of growth I have never seen in any other 

 plant, and it is hardy even without the least pro- 

 tection in our northern climate. It climbs the 

 trellis on my piazza and spreads its superb clus- 

 ters of flowers from time to time all summer. 

 Each cluster is a triumph of beauty, flat in the 

 centre and curving out to the blossoming edge in 

 joyous lines of loveliness, most like a wreath of 

 heavenly trumpets breathing melodies of perfume 

 to the air. Each trumpet of lustrous white 

 deepens to a yellower tint in the centre where the 

 small ends meet ; each blossom where it opens at 

 the lip is tipped with fresh pink ; each sends out 

 a group of long stamens from its slender throat 

 like rays of light ; and the whole circle of radiant 

 flowers has an effect of gladness and glory inde- 

 scribable : the very sight of it lifts and refreshes 

 the human heart. And for its odor, it is like the 



