GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



Crocuses, which appear in early spring, not far 

 behind the snowdrops, have also become favorites to 

 plant in the grass of well-ordered lawns. They present 

 many varieties from which to choose, including those 

 of yellow, white, purple, blue, and differently striped 

 colors. It is the yellow ones, however, which show 

 the most cheery faces in the early season ; and although 

 they are usually seen intermingled with those of various 

 colors, I have wondered whether the variety called 

 "giant yellow" would not have given greater pleasure 

 if planted to the exclusion of all the others. When 

 planted on sloping banks, yellow crocuses seem to 

 rob the surrounding earth of all the harshness asso- 

 ciated with March. 



Other delightful harbingers of spring, conspicuous 

 at the time of the crocuses, are the so-called scillas, 

 or squills. Of this group of bulbous plants the Siberian 

 squill, Scilla Sibirica, is the one generally recognized. 

 It is as hardy as the snowdrops and crocuses, its bulb 

 living in the ground for several years and sending up 

 flowers regularly with the call of spring. Intensely 

 blue in color, the beauty of the squill is accentuated 

 beside the pure white of the snowdrop and the cheery 

 yellow of the crocuses. These three plants form a gay 

 company, eager to welcome a rude and blustering 

 month. For March is their day; it is then that they 

 appear at their best. As soon as the warm days come, 

 they shrivel and disappear as swiftly as do the hepaticas 

 in the woods. The squills, however, outlive their 

 two early companions, often showing their bloom 

 beside that of the daffodils. 



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