FAMILIAR 



GARDEN FLOWERS. 



CEOWN IMPEEIAL. 



FritiUaria Iniperialis. 



T is not often in the present 

 day we meet with the crown 

 imperial, although it is one of 

 the " old-fashioned " flowers 

 that were in great favour 

 before bedding came into 

 fashion. It is a noble flower, 

 peculiar in character, and 

 adapted for a style of ' gar- 

 dening that effects a kind of 

 compromise between the old 

 style and the new. Having 

 an entrance court much over- 

 shaded by large trees, and 

 desiring to keep this court 

 in a state of permanent but 

 changeful gaiety, we had prepared for the purpose a series 

 of compartments faced with handsome mouldings in Ran- 

 some^s imperishable stone, and a central jardinet of the 

 same material. In place of earth these compartments 

 were filled with coeoanut-fibre refuse, and in this 

 material pot plants were plunged to make ornamental 

 groups ever varying, and always beautiful. The practice 

 carried on through a series of years developed into what 



