On Gardeners' Flowers 



within them shine brighter and brighter 

 as we gaze, and will not every painter 

 allow the superiority of such beauty ? 

 Even so it is with many a simple field- 

 flower. We scarcely know what its beauty 

 comes from, what renders it so dear, so 

 full of deeper meaning, and yet sooner 

 than lose it we would part with some of 

 the choicest flowers of the garden, and 

 many a wild one which far surpasses it in 

 every outward advantage. 



We may note another point of compari- 

 son. One of Rubens' highest excellences 

 is colour, a very showy colour, — in fact, 

 always toned up to a certain standard of 

 floridity. But is Rubens, with all his gor- 

 geousness and prodigality, ever ranked 

 with the very greatest colourists? Now, 

 our gardeners very closely resemble him 

 here. 



In conclusion, then, I think that the 

 gardener does wrong in too frequently 

 driving out the single flower by the double, 

 especially when, as in double Anemones 

 and Hollyhocks, the gain is very paltry in 

 comparison with the loss. He is wrong, 

 moreover, when he creates what can only 

 be felt as deeply degraded flowers, like the 

 doubleTulips, Narcissuses, and Violets, these 

 last being only valued for their superior 



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