XIXETEENTH CEXTURV. 311 



hyacinths bedded out, but these narcissi and many other 

 bulbs such as Scilla sibirica, Chionodoxa Lucih?e or Tuhpa 

 silvestris, can be naturahzed, and if planted in masses on grass, 

 in glades, or on the edges of lawns, they will give a brilliant 

 effect before the summer flowers have made their appearance, 

 and can be mown over with the rest of the grass if necessary 

 when their flowers are over. Bulb culture is a favourite pursuit 

 in the manufacturing districts of north-west England, It is 

 thought that the taste was carried thither by the Flemish weavers, 

 who in earlier times had brought the love of these plants with 

 them from the Low Countries, when they first settled in East 

 Anglia, Essex and Kent. There is also the kind of spring 

 garden which has been most successfully carried out at 

 Belvoir. Not only are the beds filled with such things as 

 " Forget-me-nots," Iris reticulata and Iris sibirica, Silenes, 

 Violas, \\'all-flowers or Heuchera sanguinea. Aubretias, Cerastium 

 tomentosum, but many Primulas, Anemones, Gentians, Cycla- 

 mens, and various alpines, are naturalized on a vast rock 

 garden. 



The idea of naturalizing plants in shrubberies, grassy banks 

 and wild places, is also a new departure of the late nineteenth 

 century. Mr. W. Robinson, by his works, the Wild Garden, 

 and the English Flower Garden, has done more than any 

 one to bring in this taste. By grouping flowers naturally in 

 this way, fine picturesque effects can be obtained. It is the 

 reverse of the " Landscape Gardening,"" which brought green 

 undulations of park-like appearance up to the house, and 

 banished the flower-garden ; it extends the flower-garden into 

 the surrounding country. In practising the art of wild 

 gardening, that is, naturalizing of plants, which are not natives, 

 but which are hardy in our climate, and if once planted will 

 take care of themselves, there is no need to banish the " formal 

 garden." The formal garden certainly seems to be the most 

 suitable to place near a house, and its design should harmonize 

 with the architecture. This kind of garden is necessary, if any 

 tender plants, or those that require special care and treatment 

 are to be reared, but beyond this formal garden, and separated 

 from it by some suitable enclosure, the wild garden, judiciously 



