WINTER IN THE GARDEN 199 



covering the front of a house with its dark leaves 

 lighted up with hundreds of egg-shaped orange 

 fruits gleaming like fairy lamps among its foliage — 

 a sight that may be witnessed any day in the south- 

 west. One of the handsomest of our winter plants 

 is the glad win {Iris foetidisdma). In the dark days 

 of the year it makes a pretty picture, the plants 

 spreading out into dense tufts, with arching leaves 

 of dark green, and, surmounting the leaves, the 

 dried flower stems, whose capsules have split apart, 

 disclosing the brilliant orange berries within. In 

 an open wood where the clumps stand thickly, the 

 ground beneath the leafless branches wiU gleam 

 brightly with the berries exposed by the thousands 

 of expanded seed-pods. There is no more effective 

 indoor decoration for the winter months than the 

 berry-bearing stems of the gladwin arranged with 

 dried grasses — a decoration that will last until the 

 spring brings fresh flowers again to fill their place. 



THE END 



Printed ^ R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. 



