THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



must be set out as smooth and as " hard " as tin plate, and 

 that terraced gardens are not suited for our beautiful hardy flowers. 

 But one may here and there see a better way, and at Rhianva, the 

 free growth of evergreens and climbers, and the delightful inter- 

 lacements of hardy flowers, ferns, and creepers, make the garden 

 beautiful. Again, I remember, the garden at Ockham Park in 

 Dr. Lushington's time was formal and yet beautiful, through the 

 freedom of the vegetation. So again in Italy, the stiffness of 

 the stone is soon softened by the graceful forms of trees, shrubs, 

 and trailers as at Verona and in many Italian gardens. 



Fifty years ago the site of Rhianva, on the banks of the Menai 

 Straits, was a steep field, with the large gray rocks so characteristic 

 of Anglesey, and was crossed by a small stream which lost itself in 

 marshy ground by the shore, where stood a couple of old Apple and 

 Thorn trees and a little white-washed cottage. The extreme 

 steepness of the rocky ground made the site difficult to deal 

 with, and a number of supporting walls were built to form terraces ; 

 and, by the help of a protecting sea-wall, the flowers were carried 

 down to the very edge of the water. Facing a little to the 

 south-east, the garden was protected from the violence of the 

 westerly gales, while the more tender plants were sheltered from the 

 east winds of spring by the larger shrubs and trees. The climate is 

 mild in winter, and the garden being on a southern slope the trees 

 and shrubs grew with great rapidity ; so that hedges of red Fuchsias 

 and of blue and pink Hydrangeas soon hid the stone walls. Myrtles 

 and Camellias, and some Acacias, were found to thrive out of 

 doors ; and at the present time the only difficulty is to prevent the 

 shrubs from injuring each other, through their rapid growth. In 

 summer the luxuriant abundance of the Roses, climbing from bush 

 to bush, the Cypresses, the Tamarisk and the Vines ; and the sea, 

 and the purple mountains in the background, seem to belong rather 

 to the Lake of Como than to Anglesey. All the borders are mossed 

 over with small green plants ; large, hardy exotic Ferns are spread 

 into groups ; and a lacework of Ivy, Vine, and creepers is seen in 

 many parts. A mixed order of planting is pursued, but in many 

 cases the shrubs and plants are allowed to spread as they will, and 

 the climbers take picturesque shapes. Rhianva is an example of the 

 error of the notion that a terraced garden should only be arranged 

 as a " bedded-out " garden. We have here a terraced garden in a 

 position that called for it, namely, a rocky slope, in which the only 

 way of making a garden was by terracing the ground, but it is a 

 garden that shelters every treasure of our garden flora, from the 

 Cyclamen to the Tea Rose. 



It has been said that, however valuable the more beautiful hardy 



