66 A LITTLE GARDEN THE YEAR ROUND 



wonderful ones that have helped to make the 

 gardens of Holland famous and gorgeous. 

 There is not a more beautiful flowering bulb 

 to be found for the purpose of planting for 

 naturalistic effects for lawn, field, meadow, 

 wood, hillside or rockery. The traveler in Eu- 

 rope finds joyous delight in coming upon the 

 Hyacinth in its native haunts. One will find 

 it in Greece and in Sicily, and sometimes in 

 Capri, wild upon the mountain-top. The 

 flower takes its name from Hyadnthus, son 

 of the Spartan king, Amyclas, who was killed 

 when playing quoits with the god Zephyrus, 

 through the treachery of the jealous Apollo. 

 The old Greek legend has it that from the 

 blood of Hyacinthus there sprang up a flower 

 to bear his name, on the leaves of which ap- 

 peared the exclamation of woe, AI, AI. There 

 is no reason why we should feel that we live 

 in so practical an age that while we busy our- 

 selves with the prose of flowers we have not 

 time for the poetry of their love. Indeed, it 

 is hard to understand how any one who loves 

 a garden and the plants therein can fail to take 

 an interest in everything, legendary or other- 

 wise, pertaining to each of them. 



