WEEDS OF THE GARDEN. 



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WEEDS OF THE GARDEN. 



By The Hon. Mrs. Boyle. (E.Y.B.) 



[Lecture delivered June 10, 1902.J 



I fear that to say so may be thought a sign of poor gardening ; yet, 

 nevertheless, I have to acknowledge that I admire weeds. There are 

 some indeed whom I love like old friends, whilst the grace and beauty of 

 some never fail to delight me. I do not, of course, mean things like 

 Shepherd's Purse — interesting as that really is — or Groundsel, or Chick- 

 weed ; although even these have their charm, and Groundsel especially 

 must not be too severely dealt with, since whenever one sees it — as Lord 

 Rosebery pleasantly said at Edinburgh — "one thinks of one's canary! " 

 Also when I confess to a love of weeds I do not refer to Stinging 

 Nettles, who come up singly never, but always in tribes and families, 

 always making one think of ruined homes and " dolelful haunts where 

 satyrs dance." Nor do I love afflictions such as Summer Cress or 

 Hound's-tongue and others which insist on reappearing summer after 

 summer, in spite of our persistent efforts at discouragement ; nor to Corn- 

 sow Thistle or Dandelion, each exquisitely leaved, but each a worry 

 because they " come too much. Also I have no regard for " The 

 Bishop's-weed." Why " The Bishop's " it were hard to say. One 

 detects in it nothing especially episcopal. By the confused description 

 in Gerarde's " Herbal " it would seem to be Hone-wort. In Paxton's 

 dictionary it is Sison Ammi, from the Celtic sisum, a running stream. 

 This Sison one should call an evil weed were it not so harmless. Any- 

 how it is too tiresome for words. Paxton is good enough to inform the 

 reader that " the seeds merely require sowing in common garden soil in 

 spring." Who would be so rash as to sow it? It suffices to receive a 

 parcel of any kind of plants from the north, and Bishop's-weed is pretty 

 sure to be amongst the packing, and you are safe to stock your garden 

 with it, without the faintest hope of ever getting rid of it, for the root 

 runs far and deep. 



The chief interest of garden weeds seems to rest with those that 

 spring up naturally, of themselves ; which as it were belong to the soil. 

 They are more in number, I think, than those sown by birds, or in other 

 ways imported. It is not easy, however, sometimes, to know for certain 

 which are true natives of the place. 



I would like to begin the list of garden weeds which may be supposed 

 to belong naturally to my own little plot in South Bucks by naming 

 » my favourite of all the Greater Celandine (in Somerset called the 

 Witches' Flower), GheUdonium majus. So pleasant to me is this lovely 

 plant that every spring, when the young growth may not at once be 

 visible, I suffer from fears lest the stock is lost ; yet in the end 

 there is no disappointment ; soon or late the weed I love is sure to 

 reappear. 



Great Celandine, when it has attained its proper size, is full of grace. 



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