250 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Japanese Honeysuckles ; Jasmines ; over fifty kinds of Ivy, the 

 noblest of northern and evergreen climbers ; evergreen Thorn, with 

 its bright berries ; Cotoneasters of graceful habit ; Clematises, 

 especially the graceful wild kinds of America, Europe, and North 

 Africa. In mild districts particularly, the winter blooming Clematis 

 of North Africa and the Mediterranean Islands, which flowers in 

 winter or early spring, would be very pretty and give light shade. 

 The showy trumpet flowers (Bignonia], quite hardy in southern and 

 midland counties; and the Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia), with its 

 large leaves, would also be useful. The fine-leaved Lardizabala 

 of Chili, the brilliant coral Barberry of the same country (Berberi- 

 dopsis) ; the graceful, if not showy silk Vine (Periplocd) of Southern 

 Europe ; the Chinese Akebia, the use of the rarer climbers 

 depending much on the climate, elevation, soil, and nearness to the 

 sea. 



An alternative to the Yew hedge and the covered way is the 



plashed alley, but in some Elizabethan gardens it was often planted 



with trees of too vigorous growth, such as the 



The plashed Lime, which led to excessive mutilation and 

 alley. eventual distortion of the tree. Now, with our 



present great variety of trees, some of them very 

 graceful and light in foliage, it is by no means necessary to resort 

 to such ugly mutilation ; and it would be easy, as an alternative to 

 the pergola, the clipped hedge or the plashed alley, to have a shaded 

 walk of medium-sized or low trees only. These might even be fruit 

 trees ; but the best would be such elegant-leaved trees as the 

 Acacias, which preserve their leaves for a long time in summer. One 

 drawback of the Lime, in addition to its excessive vigour, is the 

 fact that it sheds its leaves very early in the autumn, and, indeed, 

 we have often seen the leaves tumble off in St James's Park at the 

 end of July, and in Paris also. It is most unpleasant to have in 

 an alley a tree which is liable to such an early loss of its leaves. 

 The common Lime is a tree of the mountains and cool hills of 

 Europe, and it cannot endure great heats and hot autumns ; whereas 

 some of the trees of North America and other countries are quite 

 fresh in the hottest days. Among these none is better than the 

 Acacia, of which, in France especially, a number of elegant varieties 

 have been raised, as hardy as the parent species which charmed 

 William Cobbett, but more graceful in foliage. Among the best of 

 these is the Mimosa-leaved Acacia, an elegant tree, which gives us a 

 pleasantly shaded walk, and yet is not likely ever to become too 

 coarse in habit. 



Fine turf is essential in and near the house and garden turf wholly 

 apart from the open park or playground. Flower-beds are often set in 



