+ ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 
overlap by three or fourinches. Then,at the innerextremity 
of the nearer block—the smaller—let him set a tiny pillar 
Juniper. (He must proportion the size of this for himself, 
of course, according to the size of his boulders.) Thus 
the point of the V formed by the two stones will be two 
inches or so to the tree’s left. Then let him fill the fore- 
ground with, say, Helvine Soleiroli, Veronica canescens, or 
some tiny Alpine, with, perhaps, to left or right, nestling 
under the rock, a tuft of Saaifraga burseriana Gloria. 
And there—let him try the experiment—in a yard or so, 
he will have a lovely, perfect picture, set up by his own 
skill, at the cost of half-a-crown or so. And he will not 
be the creator of that beauty, nor will the stones, nor I 
that preach. The little shrub will be the keynote of the 
whole. Oh, but pity fights in me with anger when people 
lament to me, ‘ We can do so little because our garden is 
so small. It is all very well for you, with plenty of 
room, but what can one do with a miserable little bed 
like ours?’ O fortunati, sua si bona norint! But a 
little garden, the littler the better, is your richest chance 
of happiness and success! Far, far happier, far far easier 
to deal, as I have said, and say again, and shall shortly 
shout if these complaints continue, to have a minute 
compact plot of loveliness to scheme and deal with, than, 
like hapless me, a great unwieldy tract of stone, necessary 
for the multitude of my plants, but, thanks to walls and 
houses and such jars, incapable of being lugged into any 
real coherent picture of beautiful design and proportion. 
If I have not yet said much of deciduous shrubs, it is 
because I cannot find much place for them in the rock- 
garden. The rock-garden, it seems to me, imperiously 
demands permanence of its inmates. Especially do you 
require vegetation that will fill the dark long void of 
winter. Therefore all deciduous shrubs are best banished, 
in my view, to the outskirts and upper reaches of the 
