Flowers and Gardens 



destroy individuality, to sweep away the 

 differences between flowers, and to bring 

 them all down to uniformity ; and worst 

 of all, it detracts from the life of the 

 expression. The stamens and pistils, 

 which are half the character of the flower, 

 which are as the very eyes in the human 

 countenance, are removed to make room 

 for more showy colour, and for a fuller 

 and more massive, but as a whole inferior, 

 form. For we should pause before saying 

 that any of these gains is a gain in the 

 highest sense. ^ 



How rich is the crimson of the double 

 Peony — how delicious to wander from 

 fold to fold of those innumerable petals, 

 almost as if amongst the clouds, and see 

 how the ever-changeful tints deepen and 

 graduate between them ! Do I blame 

 the gardener for creating this ? Not at 

 all, but I would have you observe what 

 has been lost. The single Peony had 

 not that lavish wealth of crimson, that 

 wide play of a single hue, but in true 

 splendour it surpassed. For the quantity 

 of its crimson was determined by a given 

 purpose, was carefully arranged and ac- 

 curately proportioned so as to contrast 

 with the central crown. The one blossom 



' See Note 7 at the end of the chapter. 

 146 



