On Many Subjects
“is adapted to the second or third row in the bed; the stem is firm and elastic, the foliage full and broad, of a lively green; the cup large, and of the finest form; the white pure, and wholly free from stain; the pencilling on the petals is beautifully marked with black or dark purple, and the feathering uniform and elegant; it preserves its shape to the last, the outer leaves not sinking from the inner; in a word, it is considered the first flower of its cast, and the best that has ever been produced in England;”
An old English poem sings the charm of the tulip in the following strain:
For brilliant tints to charm the eye,
What plant can with the tulip vie?
Yet no delicious scent it yields
To cheer the garden or the fields;
Vainly in gaudy colours drest,
'Tis rather gazed on than caressed.”
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