THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS 291 



design, and the same kind of foil that nature pro- 

 vides for her momentary splendours. 



There are some flowers which seem to keep a wild 

 beauty however familiar they are to our gardens, and 

 others which look as if they could never grow wild 

 anywhere, but must have been created for the gar- 

 den. Nearly all the Campanulas look wild wherever 

 they are, and as if they ought to be in the woods or 

 on the mountains. The Cranesbill is always a wild- 

 looking plant, whereas its near relation the zonal 

 pelargonium, commonly called the Geranium, is the 

 tamest of flowers. Tame flowers are not, however, 

 to be condemned for their tameness. They might 

 look out of place in a hedgerow, but they often look 

 beautiful enough in a garden. Sometimes they look 

 tame because they have been developed by the gar- 

 dener. Thus garden roses are often the tamest of 

 flowers, and wild roses the wildest. But some flowers 

 look tame only because they come from some far 

 country with a flora utterly unlike our own, and be- 

 cause therefore we can think of them only as growing 

 in gardens. Lilium auratum grows wild in Japan, 

 but for us it is entirely a garden flower, since there is 

 nothing at all like it among our wild flowers; whereas 

 many even of the most exotic Campanulas remind 

 us of our own Harebell or some other native species. 

 It is well to bear in mind the wildness or tameness 

 of different flowers when planning their arrangement. 

 One must not be too subtle in such matters; but, 

 where there is a large garden with some parts of it 



