CHAPTER III

FLOWERS ON THE WALLS

Behind the narrow strip of ground with flowers and shrubs on the other side of the drive there is a low stone wall.  A piece of the lawn on which the mulberry tree stands has been cut away, and a flight of steps leads down to a little gate into the foldyard.

This wall between the garden and the foldyard is very old and rough—­not like the smooth brick walls you see in towns.  The stones are of different shapes and sizes, the mortar has fallen out of it in many places, and here and there are holes and crevices.  Yet it is a very beautiful old wall, for many things grow on it; mosses and grasses, and other flowers too, are there.

On this May morning we not only see, but also smell, one of the flowers which grow upon the wall—­it is the beautiful sweet-scented Wallflower.  It grows here and there along the top of the wall, and a few plants of it are even springing from the sides.  Some of the plants are quite large and their stems are tough.  These have grown here for a long time.  The Wallflower is a perennial plant; unless it is killed or torn up by the roots it will live and grow for many years.  Others are quite young and only a few inches high.  These have grown from seeds dropped last autumn by the older plants.

You very likely wonder how the Wallflower or any other plant can grow upon the wall, for there is no earth to be seen—­nothing but stones and crumbling mortar.  But if we pull up one of the smaller plants we shall find earth clinging to its roots.  Dry dusty earth has been blown upon the wall by wind, and has lodged in chinks and holes.  Dust and soil, too, were mixed with the mortar when the wall was built; and dead leaves falling on it and decaying have produced a little more—­for decayed leaves make earth or “soil.”  Wallflowers and other plants which grow on walls and rocks find very little soil sufficient for their needs.

Most of the blossoms of the wallflowers upon this wall are of a golden yellow colour and are very sweet.  Some of the blossoms are, however, a darker yellow than others, and here and there are petals which are quite brown.

If we look at the garden behind us we shall see that Mrs. Hammond has several beds of Wallflower this year; it is a flower of which she is very fond.  There are wallflowers of two different colours in her beds.  One kind has bright golden blossoms, rather deeper in colour than any of those upon the wall; the other has flowers that are a rich dark brown.

[Illustration:  Wallflower.]

These plants are sturdier and more bushy than those upon the wall, and there are more flowers on each plant.  The flowers are finer, too, and have a stronger scent.  If Mrs. Hammond had wished she could have sown seed to produce many different shades of brown and yellow Wallflowers.  She might also have had a purple Wallflower, and even a Wallflower of so pale a yellow as to be almost white.