vi PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. 



from the hills and valleys of the countries of the northern and 

 temperate world ? 



From thoughts of this kind, if I turned to actual things, I 

 saw the liower gardener meanly trying to rival the tile or wall- 

 paper men, and throwing aside with contempt all the lovely things 

 that through their height or form did not conform to this idea (so 

 stupid as to life), and this, too, the rule, not only in the villa 

 garden, but in our great public and private gardens. There was, 

 happily, always the beauty of the woods and lanes and the lovely 

 cottage gardens in the country round London, and here and there, 

 though rare, a quiet garden with things as the great mother made 

 them and grouped them. And so I began to see clearly that the 

 common way was a great error and the greatest obstacle to true 

 gardening or artistic effects of any kind in the flower garden or 

 home landscape, and then made up my mind to fight the thing 

 out in any way open to me. 



The English Flower Garden consists of two parts : the first 

 dealing with the question of design the aim being to make the 

 garden a reflex of the beauty of the great garden of the world 

 itself, and to prove that the true way to happiest design is not to 

 have any stereotyped style for all flower gardens, but that the best 

 kind of garden should arise out of its site and conditions as happily 

 as a primrose out of a cool bank. 



The second part includes most of the trees and plants, hardy 

 and half-hardy, for our flower gardens and pleasure grounds, and 

 it is illustrated with a view to show the beauty of the things 

 spoken of, as few know the many shrubs and trees worth a place 

 in our open-air gardens, and it is of little use to discuss arrange- 

 ment if the beauty of the flowers is hidden from us. No stereotyped 

 garden of half a dozen kinds of plants will satisfy any one who 

 knows that many beautiful aspects of vegetation are possible in a 

 garden in spring, summer, and autumn. 



English names are given where possible as it is best to speak 



of things growing about our doors in our own tongue, and the 



practice of using in conversation long Latin names, 



English names, a growth of our own century, has done infinite 



harm to gardening in shutting out people who 



have a heart for a garden, but none for the Latin of the gardener. 



There is no more need to speak of the plants in our gardens by 



