64 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



is reasonable great." Doubtless, towards the close 

 of the sixteenth century it was to have been seen 

 blooming in the famous garden at Leyden ; per- 

 haps some descendants are still to be found in 

 that city, yearly honouring the great man who 

 named them, and helped to make the city famous. 

 But in none of the gardens round Haarlem have 

 I seen it, and in no grower's catalogue does it 

 figure, at all events under its original name. 



Irises, besides being among the latest of the bulb 

 flowers, are almost among the earliest. In early 

 March one may see Iris reticulata, Bakeriana, 

 histroides, and a few other delicate - looking 

 specimens blooming in surroundings which look 

 singularly unsuitable to them. But these, as yet, 

 are very little grown, are somewhat costly, and 

 still in appearance something reminiscent of their 

 Asiatic homes. None of them are recorded to be 

 natives of Europe, although I myself have seen 

 irises surprisingly like Iris reticulata, which were 

 found by their present owner growing wild in 

 Spain. They were, when I saw them, blooming 

 under a north wall in a garden not far from the 

 Scottish border, this in a March blizzard, and they 

 had done so for some four years in succession. In 

 colour, shape, and scent they were exactly like 



