JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
17 
•  :  -  • 
January  3,  1901. 
Winter  Aconites. 
It  was  the  late  George  Augustus  Sala  who  said  that — “  With 
summer  flowers  we  seem  to  live,  as  with  our  neighbours,  in  harmony 
are  in  need  of  true  friendship,  not  mere  acquaintanceship.  It  is  in  winter 
that  we  are  closely  drawn  to  our  few  flowers  in  a  way  we  cannot  feel 
when  there  are  hundreds  around  to  distraot  our  affections.  It  is  then 
that  we  hang  over  their  blossoms  and  find  in  their  simple  beauty  traits 
and  fascinations  we  cannot  see  in  those  of  the  voluptuous  summer. 
WINTER 
and  good  order;  but  spring  flowers  are  cherished  as  private  friend¬ 
ships.”  How  true  this  is  we  never  realise  until  the  dull  days  come  that 
are  to  our  gardens  as  the  days  of  trial  are  to  ourselves — times  when  we 
ACONITES. 
It  was  to-day  that  I  found  what  I  have  looked  for  several  days — the 
first  blooms  of  the  Winter  Aconite  in  a  little  shady,  cosy  corner  where 
neither  biting  frosts  nor  chill  winds  have  much  power  over  its 
