94 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
Daffodils and 
Bluebells. 
Associated with them are the blue star-like flowers of the Hepatica and 
its white variety. In another shady spot a colony of the Apennine 
anemone throws up every April its clustering masses of pure blue 
flowers, as do also the variously-coloured forms of Anemone nemorosa. 
In the open spots on the southern side of the hill (for they love the 
sun) are groups of yellow, blue, and white crocuses. On the same 
areas the purple flowers of the meadow saffron (Colchicum) appear 
in September. Then the beautiful chionodoxas and grape hyacinths 
have each their place. 
But with all these, and many other such dainty gems, the real 
glory of this wild garden is made by the daffodils. It is about the 
middle of March that the clouds of flower that make 
this hill so lovely for two months begin to gather. 
Among the first comers is the old double daffodil. 
This is followed by a succession of varieties of daffodil and narcissus 
rising in masses from the grass, which reach their highest beauty in 
April, but continue their display until May, when the poet’s narcissus is 
in flower. They are followed by masses of Scilla festalis (or S. nutans), 
the bluebell of English woods. The daffodil is the most useful 
of all wild garden bulbs. It seems able to take care of itself in all 
situations, whether in the grass or beneath the trees. Many thou- 
sands have been planted in the woods, the Queen’s Cottage grounds, 
and the wilder parts of the grounds, and most of the kinds come 
up year after year with no evidence of deterioration. It is in such 
places, perhaps, that the daffodil looks its best, where irregular masses 
of flower stretch away in the distance beneath the trees, the areas 
of colour broken here and there by the dark trunks. Close to the 
Main Entrance is a patch of grass between the path and a shrubbery. 
This is planted with daffodils, crocuses, and other things. In the 
spring it is a very effective “ flower meadow.” The mound on which 
the flagstaff stands is also a wild garden. It is planted with spring- 
and summer-flowering shrubs, such as double gorse, rambler roses, 
and the like, and the open spaces between are filled with flowering 
bulbs. After the daffodils are over their place is taken by the blue- 
bells. Great areas of them grow beneath the trees in the woods to 
the east of the Lake, but they produce the loveliest effects in the 
Queen’s Cottage grounds. 
