APRIL 51 



Border plants are pushing up vigorous green 

 growth ; finest of all are the Veratrums, with their 

 bold, deeply-plaited leaves of brilliant green. Delphin- 

 iums and Oriental Poppies have also made strong 

 foliage, and Daylilies are conspicuous from their fresh 

 masses of pale greenery. Flag Iris have their leaves 

 three parts grown, and Pa3onies are a foot or more 

 high, in all varieties of rich red colouring. It is a 

 good plan, wh«n they are in beds or large groups, to 

 plant the dark-flowered Wallflowers among them, their 

 colour making a rich harmony with the reds of the 

 young Paeony growths. 



There are balmy days in mid -April, w;hen the 

 whole garden is fragrant with Sweetbriar. It is not 

 " fast of its smell," as Bacon says of the damask rose, 

 but gives it so lavishly that one cannot pass near a 

 plant without being aware of its gracious presence, 

 Passing upward through the copse, the warm air draws 

 a fragrance almost as sweet, but infinitely more subtle, 

 from the fresh green of the young birches ; it is like 

 a distant whiff of Lily of the Valley. Higher still 

 the young leafage of the larches gives a delightful 

 perfume of the same kind. It seems as if it were the 

 oiEce of these mountain trees, already nearest the 

 high heaven, to offer an incense of praise for their 

 new life. 



Few plants will grow under Scotch fir, but a 

 notable exception is the Whortleberry, now a sheet of 

 brilliant green, and full of its arbutus-like, piuk-tinged 



