MY GARDEN. 



be carefully watched, otherwise, in the absence of the gardener, he 



moves like an automatic machine, turning over the bulbs without the 



slightest remorse. Bulbous plants cannot be retained where the 



digging is done by labourers, Labourers in the bulb garden are as 



destructive as pigs, for what one uproots with its snout the other 



digs in with his spade. 



Milton well describes a bulbous plant when he sings : — 



" So, from the root, 

 Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves 

 More airy ; last, the bright consummate flower 

 Spirits od'rous breathes." 



PERENNIAL PLANTS. 



" There sprang' the violet all new, 

 And fresh pervinke rich of hew, 

 And floures yellow, white and rede, 

 Such plenty grew there never in mede." — Chaucer, 



In early spring the Violet {Viola odoratd) is the choicest of our 

 native flowers. When grown upon a well-exposed bank, where 

 the plant is thoroughly ripened, a patch of violets in full blossom 



makes a magnificent display. There are many 

 fl^X WH iW ^i^Wh varieties, one of which, the single Russian (fig, 

 --'■ 428), is very beautiful. The Czar has large 

 ^Mi>~i^i/)i^i?^^P^ leaves, and big, coarse, but highly-scented 

 V\ flowers. The single and double blue Neapo- 

 litan violets are great favourites at Paris and 

 Florence, where they are used for bouquets. 

 Fig. 4.8.-Ru5sian Violet. . The colour of the flowcr is an exquisite pale 

 blue, and when surrounded with white snowdrops, or themselves sur- 

 rounding a white camellia, the eififect is admirable. With me this 

 variety is delicate, and, though I have had many plants, not one 

 survives. It is well worth the protection of a frame. There are 

 white violets and tree violets, both good. I have a little violet 

 garden in which the different varieties are cultivated along with the 

 British orchids. We also grow the wild yellow unscented violet; 



