APKIL 5T 



The upper parts of the rock-garden that are 

 beyond hand- reach are planted with dwarf shrubs, 

 many of them sweetly scented either as to leaf or 

 flower — GauUherias, Sweet Gale, Alpine Rhododendron, 

 Skimmias, Pernettyas, Zedioms, and hardy Daphnes. 

 Daphne pontica now gives off delicious wafts of 

 fragrance, intensely sweet in the evening. 



In March and April Daffodils are the great 

 flowers for house decoration, coming directly after 

 the Lent Hellebores. Many people think these beauti- 

 ful late-flowering Hellebores useless for cutting because 

 they live badly in water. But if properly prepared 

 they live quite well, and will remain ten days in 

 beauty. Directly they are cut, and immediately before 

 putting in water, the stalks should be slit up three 

 or four inches, or according to their length, and then 

 put in deep, so that the water comes nearly up to the 

 flowers ; and so they should remain, in a cool place, 

 for some hours, or for a whole night, after which they 

 can be arranged for the room. Most of them are 

 inclined to droop ; it is the habit of the plant in 

 growth; this may be corrected by arranging them 

 with something stiff like Box or Berberis. 



Anemone fulgens is a grand cutting flower, and looks 

 well with its own leaves only or with flowering twigs 

 of Laurustinus. Then there are Pansies, delightful 

 things in a room, but they should be cut in whole 

 branches of leafy stem and flower and bud. At first 

 the growths are short and only suit shallow dishes. 



