Ferns of to from the start. Give it but a sufficiency of its beloved 
the Burren condiment, and it asks no more. Stint it, however, in that 
respect, and, though you supplied it with every other delicacy 
to be found in a nurseryman’s catalogue, it will sulk, droop, and 
die on your hands. A still rarer plant, Helianthemum Vineale, I 
have known to be transplanted successfully by at least one 
enthusiast, who is also a good botanist, but have never 
myself attempted it. Epipactis atro-rubens is an even higher 
horticultural pinnacle, only to be assailed successfully by the 
bona-fide expert. Spirgza Filipendula, well known in gardens, 
but truly wild here, is, on the other hand, rather too easy to 
establish. The same may be said of Poterium Sanguisorba, 
it being apt to become so rampant as in the end to need 
getting rid of. More attractive than either of these is the 
small-flowered wild Burnet Rose (Rosa spinosissima). Although 
no great rarity, there is a special charm about it which is 
indescribable. ‘To stand in June upon the rocks of the Burren 
in North Clare, and to see it festooning their nakedness 
in all directions, mixed with the white Dryas octopetala, just 
spoken of, and the red Geranium Sanguineum, is to sigh to 
produce the like effect elsewhere. And this word Burren 
brings me back to our Ferns, of which the great pride 
and possession of the storm~beaten west is of course the true 
Maiden-hair (Adiantum Capillus-Veneris). To peep into one 
of those desolate-looking Burren clefts, and to see it flourish- 
ing almost within reach of the Atlantic spray, is to con- 
vince yourself absolutely of its hardiness) Try, however, 
to induce it to live elsewhere, even under precisely similar 
conditions, and you will very soon have to admit that the 
gardener who has ever induced it to survive for even a single 
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