CHAP. IX VILLA GAEDENING 63 



shrubs, the winds pass them by harmlessly. The bulb garden should 

 have its main features outlined with trees and shrubs, and in their 

 arrangement groups of the smaller flowering shrubs should advance 

 in a scattered or skirmishing order to the centre of the garden. 

 Rhododendrons and Azaleas make good nurses for Lilies. Open 

 beds in sheltered sites could be prepared for the Gladiolus, the Iris, 

 and the Tulip. Crocuses and Snowdrops might spring from a base 

 of creeping growth. Those things that dislike removal, such as 

 the Alstroemerias and Crown Imperials, could have their wants 

 cared for. A man with but little leisure may find more pleasure 

 in a garden like the one I have feebly attempted to describe than 

 in any other, and one of the advantages of it is, that it can be 

 any size we like — half an acre or more, or only a rod or two in 

 extent. There will be always something to expect, something to 

 watch for ; and this feeling of expectation, this anticipation of the 

 visit of old friends, forms a charm of a most interesting kind. The 

 ground must be well prepared by deep culture, and should be well 

 drained. The best result will be obtained in a sandy loam, adding 

 leaf-mould or peat to meet special wants. The different families 

 can be grouped together in irregular masses ; occasionally broad 

 patches of some low-growing plant, such as Alpine Phloxes, peren- 

 nial Candytufts, Pinks, etc., may intervene, as a garden full of 

 bulbs (of Lilies, for instance) would at times be too overpowering 

 without some other plants to tone it down. In a well-di'ained sandy 

 loani most of the bulb families will keep better in the ground. 

 When they become too crowded they must be taken up and divided ; 

 but with few exceptions they may be replanted again immediately. 

 All Lilies, for instance, lose strength if kept long out of the 

 ground. Florists' Tidips, or any other named section of bulbs, such 

 as the Gladiolus, should be taken up to have the beds prepared and 

 remade, and to secure the young spawn. But for the greater part 

 of the bulbs grown in the beds and borders, annual disturbance is 

 an evil which should be avoided as much as possible. Cocoa-fibre is 

 an excellent mulching for beds or patches of choice bulbs, and as 

 it decays it amalgamates with the soil and improves its character. 

 In planting anything of a new or rare character, place a spadeful 

 of compost round the roots. It is always a good plan to keep a 

 heap of rich, light, sandy soil laid by in a corner for this purpose. 

 Little thoughtful acts of this kind often make the difference be- 

 tween success and failure. It often happens that a plant arrives 

 from a joiu-uey in a weakened, exhausted condition, and if planted 

 carelessly, or even with ordinary care, in the natural soil, it might 

 die ; but if placed amid nice, dry, sweet, healthy compost, it 

 revives at once, and a good start is half the battle. 



