192 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



of a similar pale -green tint. The blooms are, 

 however, flatter when fully expanded. The Bath 

 variety is the form which produces the bulk of the 

 Christmas flowers. It is larger than the type, 

 Helleborus niger, and exceptionally free-flowering. 

 Madame Fourcade is not unlike altifolius but is 

 smaller, with more cup-shaped flowers, and is fully 

 a month later in blooming. Ruber or apple- 

 blossom bears flowers of a pale rose colour. 

 Christmas roses are partial to a deep, rich soil and 

 a sheltered and somewhat shaded position. The 

 winter aconite {Eranthis hyemalis) is a charming 

 plant, opening its bright yellow flowers in the early 

 days of the year. In cloudy weather the golden 

 globular blooms set in their Elizabethan ruffs of 

 green are very beautiful, perhaps even more so 

 than when fully expanded in the sunshine. For 

 its value in the landscape to be realised the winter 

 aconite should be seen gleaming afar in countless 

 thousands beneath the leafless trees. In short 

 grass, under large deciduous monarchs of the glade, 

 the flowers are seen at their best, for, where the 

 ground is open, the sheet of gold glows from a 

 distance, but in shrubberies, on sloping banks, and 

 by woodland walks it will also flourish. In some 

 places the plants seed and increase freely, while in 



