308 A HISTORY OF GARDEXIXG IX EXGLAXD. 



crevices of stones. It is only reasonable to try and give these 

 plants, as nearly as possible, the same conditions of life here in 

 England as on their native hills. The result of this has been 

 the formation of several rock gardens, very different from the 

 old-fashioned pile of stones which went by the name of a rockery. 

 These new rock gardens are in every way successful, as rare 

 Alpines, which it was thought almost impossible to grow in this 

 countrx', are now made to thrive. The illustration of a typical 

 rock garden is a part of the very large one at Batsford 

 (Gloucestershire), made by Mr. Mitford within the last few 

 years. The one at Kew is a well-known example. Every year 

 there are new things of interest there. It is wonderful to see 

 plants from nearly all the mountain ranges of the world perfectly 

 at home within a few miles of the City of London. 



Another development of gardening during the last few years 



has been sub-tropical gardening. Mr. Robinson has kindly 



pointed out to me that this kind of gardening, which came 



to us from Paris some twenty years ago, did something to 



relieve the formality of " bedding-out," although not nearly 



as important an improvement as the newer movement 



towards hardy flowers. Groups of Cannas, Caladiums, and 



such like, in beds, help to render them less stiff. There 



can also be obtained fine results from planting out the 



hardier kinds of tree ferns and palms during the summer 



months. But the best kind of sub-tropical garden is the 



permanent one. Even in the coldest districts of England, 



numerous plants will grow which give a tropical appearance.* 



In Norfolk and Suffolk, where the late frosts are most trying 



to gardeners, various bamboos will flourish ; Bambusa Metake, 



Simonii, viridiglaucescens, and edulis are perfectly hardy, and 



besides these many things such as Berberis, Aralias, Gunnera 



scabra, Aristolochias, giant Heracleums, Arundo Donax, several 



species of Rhus and Spirea, Polygonum cuspidatum, Tamarix, 



Yuccas, Polygonatum multiflorum, Solomons seal, Bocconia 



cordata, and several sorts of Acanthus, besides taller trees, such 



as the Ailanthus glandulosa, and Japanese maples ; these when 



* The Sub-tropical Garden. By W. Robinson. 2nd Kdition, 1S79. The 

 Bawloo Garden. By Bertram Freeman Mitford, 1S96. 



