of a succession to Daffodil and Narcissus in long grass would An Alpine 
be solved. One has tried to introduce the flowers to the grass, Hayfield and 
but probably the more successful plan would be to start with Columbines 
the flowers and let the grass introduce itself. Some day I hope 
to try the plan of clearing a bit of ground and planting all the 
treasures of one such Alpine field—Geranium, Trollius, the 
fluffy mauve Thalictrum, pink Persicory, Astrantia, Ranunculus 
aconitifolius, St Bruno Lilies, and Columbines, etc. 
Columbines (4guil/egia) are perhaps one of the best plants 
for holding their own in a Wild Garden, and flourish year after 
year, struggling successfully even through a tangled undergrowth, 
and encouraging one to persevere in the effort to establish 
garden flowers in wood and field. The self-sown Columbines 
are mostly soft dull pinks or reds—toning, by the way, 
capitally with Weigelias—but others are mauve or purple. 
Some retain the tight form of the wild kind, and others 
achieve a certain length of spur and pointed petal. ‘The pure 
white variety, particularly that named after Miss Jekyll, is so 
strong that a large percentage can always be trusted to 
come true to seed. The long-spurred varieties, which come 
from Siberia and North America, are unfortunately not so 
easy to grow, but the hybrids of these and the common 
Columbine are hardy and have the vigour and height which 
the former often lack. Among the hybrids of the short and 
long-spurred varieties most beautiful kinds will be found— 
tall blue and white, probably the result of a cross with 4. 
cerulea or glandulosa—white and lemon yellow, cream and 
pink, etc., all long-spurred and three feet in height. These 
will all grow in the Wild Garden and few plants are more 
graceful. 
2F 225 
