THE GARDEN IN SPRING 



The dividing line between the seasons is, of course, 

 quite arbitrary, for Nature progresses evenly, gradually, 

 unceasingly, and not in the jerky way which our clumsy 

 divisions of time imply. StiJl it is convenient, almost 

 necessary indeed, to adopt some such broad classifica- 

 tion of the periods of the year as that into the four seasons 

 which has done duty for so many centuries. One may 

 take the flowering of the snowdrop to indicate the onset 

 of spring, though itself belonging more especially to 

 winter. Yet the Dutch Crocus seems to be the earliest 

 real spring flower, and a brighter little herald of the 

 glories to follow could not be selected. The parents of 

 most of the Dutch Crocuses are two species which grow 

 wild in South-Eastern Europe, C. aureus and C vernus. 

 The latter is sometimes considered to be a native British 

 plant, but in all instances of its discovery in English 

 hedges or meadows its presence is most likely due to 

 removals of garden soil or garden rubbish. 



There are nearly seventy distinct species of Crocus 

 known to botanists, and most of these are well worth 

 growing, though more bloom in the autumn than in the 

 spring. Even in the seventeenth century, Parkinson 

 described as many as thirty-one kinds, but probably 

 some of these were merely garden varieties. 



Crocus imperati^ found wild near Naples, is one of 

 the earliest species to flower as it is also one of the 

 most beautiful, the inside of the petals being coloured 

 a deep purple, whilst the outside is of a lightish brown, 

 the stigma standing as a brilliant orange lamp in the 

 centre of the flower's cup. 



37 



