horticulture. Among others which I recollect was an idea of growing bulbs the
year round! No trouble with bulbs! you just plant them and they do their duty.
A patient friend at Kew made me a list of genera and species which, if all went
well, should flower in succession. But there was a woeful gap about midsummer--just
the time when gardens ought to be brightest. Still, I resolved to carry out
the scheme, so far as it went, and forwarded my list to Covent Garden for an
estimate of the expense. It amounted to some hundreds of pounds. So that notion
fell through.
But the patient friend suggested something for which I still cherish his memory.
He pointed out that bulbs look very formal mostly, unless planted in great quantities,
as may be done with the cheap sorts--tulips and such. An undergrowth of low
brightly-coloured annuals would correct this disadvantage. I caught the hint,
and I profit by it to this more enlightened day. Spring bulbs are still a _spécialité_
of my gardening. I buy them fresh every autu
