292 ' MV GARDEN. 



climbers over the roof of my fernery, and yet to admit sufficient light 



for the ferns. A single climber might be grown to cover the roof ; 



nevertheless a change of foliage and a variety in form and colour are 



so delightful, that the perfection of growth is sacrificed to variety, and 



we prefer to wander with admiration from one lovely form to another 



rather than to obtain perfection by giving to every beautiful species 



its just due. 



" But who can paint 



Like Nature ? Can imagination boast, 



Amid its gay creation, hues like hers ? 



Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, 



And lose them in each other, as appears 



In every bud that blows,"— Thomson's Seasons. 



MY ORCHIDS. 



" Yet Spring's awakening breath will woo the earth. 

 To feed with kindliest dews its favourite flower. 

 That blooms in mossy banks and darksome glens, 

 Lighting the greenwood with its sunny smile." — Shelley. 



Many persons speak of Orchids as eccentric plants, to be looked 

 upon with wonder, not with admiration ; yet I must confess that, in my 

 opinion, they are, in form and colour, the loveliest of all the lovely plants 

 which adorn the woods and fields. Although some of the European 

 orchids are particularly beautiful, yet it is in the tropical species that 

 the full glory of these plants is displayed. Of our British orchids 

 twenty-eight species are recorded as growing in the county of Surrey 

 alone. A few have been found in the fields near us, and more are 

 found on the neighbouring chalk downs. Nearly all British orchids are 

 terrestrial, and have bulbs or quasi-bulbs. 



First and foremost, I grow the common orchid {Orchis mascula, 

 fig. 609), which abounds in Kent, and indeed in most parts of the 

 kingdom. It flowers in April and May, and is so beautiful that many 

 should be grown. I procure them by digging the roots from the 

 hedgerows in February and March, before the flower appears. Although 

 many have flowered in the highest perfection and have seeded every 

 year, yet I have never known them to multiply; nor can I tell how 



