86 FA.VILIAS GARDEX FLOWERS. 



to Indicate the direction of their movement. But he elected 

 to beobjectivej and despite the grotesqueness of the design, 

 the effect is at once picturesque and noble, and the story 

 is told with unmistakable perspicuit}'. In the year 1499, 

 when Bishop King had a dream of angels on a ladder, 

 which this grand window was to commemorate, there was 

 not much attention given to conventional reproductions of 

 plant form, but they could build, and when a iloral wreath 

 or capital was needed, they found the means to produce it 

 in a way to command the admiration, and perhaps the 

 surprise, of posterity. This Jacob's ladder, or Polemonium 

 carnlenm, appears peculiarly adapted for the purposes of 

 conventional art, and the variegated variety may in respect 

 of its very delicate beauty, combined with its peculiar 

 mechanism of form, be described as essentially an 

 " artistic "'■' plant. As a matter of fact, there is no such 

 thing as an artistic jilant, nor can there be ; but the term 

 is convenient, and serves in some degree to expound one of 

 oiu' commonest inborn notions. 



The polemoniums are related to the phloxes, cobteas, and 

 gilias. There are many species known in gardens. The 

 one before us is not only known as Jacob's ladder, but 

 also as Greek valerian. It is a British plant perhaps, and 

 is certainly to be met with as a wilding in the northern parts 

 of the kingdom, but it is probably only as an escape from the 

 cottage gardens. A large-flowered form of it is known as 

 Polemoniniii r/raniliforinn. This is quite worth a place in 

 the garden, as it is a true perennial, although described in 

 the books as a biennial. The dwarf kinds [F . hinnile, P. 

 rejitans, and P. Picliardsoiii) are probably varieties of one 

 species. They are very hardy plants, thriving best in a 

 poor soil and a cold position. Another xexy dwarf kind is 



