*> THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GtJTDE. 



a stranger would scarcely discover that there were bees in the place, 

 especially if liot admitted beyond the front of the rockery. And I 

 shall now say a word as to its beauty. As I sit in the sanctum in the 

 midst of heaps of papers, I derive immense and untiring pleasure by 

 occasionally looking out at the ferns, and grasses, and succulent 

 plants with which the walls and banks are studded. I cannot 

 imagine a prettier bijou picture than is the bank d, which I have in 

 full view as I sit at my desk. There is a great tuft of the varie- 

 gated-leaved willow herb, EpUohium angustifoliiim, fol. var., which is 

 exquisitely beautiful, with creamy leaves and rosy purple blossoms ; 

 several tufts of variegated grasses, the bold orbicular leaves of 

 Saxifraga crassifoUum, the grandly-striped leaves of the variegated 

 variety of Aspidistra lurida, the silvery Artemisia argentea, and 

 many more of such strikingly charactered plants, the boundary be- 

 yond being a fifteen-feet wall of rich green privet, which brings out 

 the elegant lines of the grasses and the silvery and creamy lines of 

 the variegated plants superbly. 



In the nook on the left there are numerous fine examples of 

 hardy ferns that have grown to great dimensions. This nook is 

 quite shaded, which is not the case with the banks d, and the soil 

 is made for ferns, and consists of "Wanstead peat and loam, chopped 

 up together. Here of course are great tufts of Lastrea Filix mas 

 and the lovely lady-fern, AtligriumFiUxfcemina, and the crested and 

 tasselled varieties of both. Also fine patches of common polypody, 

 Folypodiiim vidgare, the hart's-tongue in several forms, the beautiful 

 Onoclea sensihilis, which is quite hardy here; and a good selection of 

 British ferns of smaller growth. The horse-tails, such as Fquisetum 

 sylvaticum, JE. arvense, and others, add a rare and exquisite charm to 

 the nooks in which they grow, and, as already recorded, the back- 

 ground of this nook consists of bracken, which has attained to a 

 remarkable degree of luxuriance, and has a grand appearance, 

 towering up in front of the dark ruin. 



Though on so small a scale, I might with perfect justice describe 

 this rockery as constituting a series of three distinct gardens. First, 

 we have on the summit and sides of the walls of the bastion 

 numerous succulents, and a few alpines. The position is not well 

 adapted for ferns, though we could keep them there by regular 

 watering. It is much better, however, to plant a position so that 

 the least possible care will be required ; at all events, our rule is 

 never to make work, there is too much of that already ; so we plant 

 things in such a way that they will, generally speaking, take care of 

 themselves. The mesembryanthemums are invaluable for such 

 work, and their free and abundant flowering give them a first claim 

 to consideration for positions much exposed to sun and scantily 

 supplied with moisture. The sunny banks on the right serve for 

 herbaceous plants, and a few choice trees and shrubs ; and on the 

 left of the bastion is the fernery. It would be wearisome to the 

 reader, and perhaps of but little practical service, were I to enter 

 into any particulars as to the details of the planting, or the various 

 failures and successes that haA'e occurred during the seven years 

 that have elapsed since the scheme was carried out. Several choice 



