Flowers and Gardens 



sweet sugary or treacly odour, but, on the 

 contrary, we find a smell even more dis- 

 gusting than the Daffodil's. The Starch 

 Grape Hyacinth, too {Muscari racemosum), 

 remarkable for the fruity hue of its beaded 

 blossoms, whose flowers rub together with 

 a crisp glassy feel, like that of a bunch of 

 Bluebell stalks, when we press the spike 

 betwixt the fingers, is in this respect the 

 same. Why should it be so ? On the 

 other hand, there are thousands upon 

 thousands of flowers in which the least 

 shortcoming of perfect beauty cannot be 

 detected by the most critical eye. The 

 thorns of the Rose or Thistle are of 

 course no imperfections at all, but right 

 and very beautiful in their place. 



Note 4 



When any flower has attracted unusual 

 attention, as has been the case for the 

 last two or three hundred years with the 

 Tulip, the cultivator is somewhat at a 

 loss for special means of excitement. He 

 then becomes a complete sensationalist. 

 Sometimes he will try to gain notice by 

 gigantic size, the fine vase-like curvatures 

 of the Tulip being replaced perhaps by a 

 monstrous broadly open cup shape, as 

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