MIDSUMMER 



71 



much wanted. As if inspired, he at once said : " Call 

 it the Cenotaph of Sigismunda." The name was so 

 undoubtedly suitable to the monumental mass of Elm, 

 and to its somewhat funereal environment of weeping 

 Birch and spire-like Mullein, that it took hold at once, 

 and the Cenotaph of Sigismunda it will always be as 

 long as I am alive to sit on it. It is a favourite resort 

 of the pussies, sheltered, and receiving the alternate 

 benefits of full afternoon sun and its milder filtration 

 through the still taller Birches opposite. Pinkieboy's 

 portrait, at page 257, was done there while he was 

 enjoying his after-dinner siesta. 



How endlessly beautiful are the various kinds of 

 Iris, of which so many bloom in June. In fact they are 

 plants for nine months of the year, for stylosa begins 

 to flower in November, and before its long blooming 

 season, extending to April, is over, there comes the 

 glorious purple Iris reticulata and its varieties, and in 

 a snug sunny place at the foot of a south wall Iris 

 jjcrsica, whose delicate petals of palest greenish-blue 

 are boldly painted with stronger colours ; and the 

 curious Iris tuberosa of Italy, made of black velvet 

 and green satin. Then come the wonderful Irises of 

 the Oncocyclus group, not plants for every garden, 

 because some arrangement has to be made for keeping 

 the bulbs dry to ripen after flowering, without removing 

 them from the ground. But those who will take the 

 trouble of giving them the needful treatment have the 

 reward of seeing some of the most wonderful and yet 



