IXTRODUCTION 



xiii 



Sweet Scabious, and many others, the odours of which are 

 not always so popular. These, among the most easily raised 

 of plants, are enjoyed by the simplest cottage gardeners. 



The garden borders bear for us odours as precious as 

 any breath of tropic Orchid : from the Lily of the Valley 

 to the Carnation — this last being perhaps the most grateful 

 odour of all the flowering host in our garden land. Among 

 these borders one meets with things sweeter than words may 

 tell of — Woodruff, Balm, Pinks, Violets, garden Primroses, 

 Polyanthus, day and other Lilies, early L^is, Xarcissus, 

 evening Primroses, Mezereon Bush, AVallflower and Pansies, 

 delicate in their sweetness. 



Xo one may be richer in delicate fragrance than the wise 

 man who plants hardy shrubs and flowering trees — Mag- 

 nolia, Thorn, Daphne, Lilac — names each telling of whole 

 families of delightful things. Among shrubs, those without 

 any very strong odour, like the hardy Heaths, are all the 

 more pleasant to many whose memories are often touched 

 by remembered fragrance of some plant they do not always 

 know. From the same regions where we found the Laurel 

 and the Myrtle we have the Laurustinus, beautiful in all 

 our sea-coast and milder districts, and many other lovely 

 things happy in our climate : one, the "Winter Sweet, even 

 pouring out delicious fragrance in mid-winter : Sweet G-ale, 

 that grows in any boggy place. Azalea, Allspice, and the 

 delightful little Mayflower that creeps about in the wood- 

 land shades in Xorth America. So, though we cannot boast 

 of Lemon or Orange groves, our climate is kind to many 

 lovely and fragrant shrubs. 



Even our ugly walls may be sweet gardens with Magnolia, 

 Honeysuckle, Clematis, Sweet Verbena, and the delightful 

 old Jasmine, still clothing many a house in London. Most 



