In My Vicarage Garden 



many small patches of it which I could only com- 

 pare to brooches set with brilliant jewels ; the 

 outside of each rosette being a pale rose, and the 

 inside a glittering spot formed by the cobweb 

 that joins together every leaflet of each rosette. 

 This likeness is increased by the fact that on all 

 that I saw at Piora the rosettes were very small, 

 and unopened except to a small extent. I fancy 

 that later in the year the rosettes expand and be- 

 come flat, but they are so closely packed that it 

 is hard to see how they can find room to expand. 

 I was none the less glad to see the little beauty 

 growing in such abundance and beauty, because 

 I have never thoroughly succeeded in growing 

 it. In England it is a most capricious plant, 

 growing well in one garden, and in another, with 

 apparently the same surroundings, utterly refusing 

 to live. And I must add another charm that the 

 flowers give to the walks at Piora — there is an 

 abundance of sweet-scented flowers. Among these 

 there are two small orchids of very delicate and 

 pleasant smell, the little black orchid, nigritella 

 angustifolia, and the gymnadenia odoratissima ; 

 the nigritella being fairly abundant and the 

 gymnadenia not so frequently met with. These, 

 however, do not give out their scent till sought 

 for, and so do not account for the pleasant smells 

 that are met with in the walks unsought. Much 

 of this comes from the Alpenrose, and after rain 

 the sweetbriar bushes scattered through the woods 

 give out their well-known scent ; but there are 



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