A beautiful poem about a spring garden in Rome taken from:-
Book X De Re Rustica
Now when the earth, its clear divisions marked
As a comb, shining, from squalor free
Shall claim her seeds, 'tis time to paint the earth
With varied flowers, like stars brought down from heaven,
White snow-drops and the yellow shining eyes
Of marigolds and fair narcissus blooms,
With Fierce lions' gaping mouths and the white cups
Of Blooming lilies and the corn flag bloom,
Snow-white or blue. Then let the violet
Be planted, which lies pale upon the ground
Or blooms with gold and purple blossoms crowned,
Likewise the rose too full of maiden blush.......