SCOTCH NOTES 



The striking T N Scotch gardens three great characteristics appear to strike 



Features the visitor before all others the wealth of flower, the 



of Scotch picturesque setting of the gardens, and their lasting power 



Gardens into late autumn - 



The wealth of flower, and luxuriance of growth, give the 



plants a look of healthy contentment with their surroundings, 

 which is very pleasant. Inevitably a comparison is made with 

 the gardens of my own part of England, East Kent, which is 

 rich in sunshine, but has by reputation almost the lowest rainfall 

 in Great Britain. More and more I am coming to the conclusion 

 that rain is a far more important consideration to gardens than 

 sun, and that one of the lesser advantages that a gardener gains 

 in life is his thorough enjoyment of a rainy day ! Even this 

 last wet summer has not shaken my belief in this theory. On 

 our shallow soil, with the chalk only a foot or so below, 

 we have not had a shower too much. Annuals and 

 herbaceous plants have done twice as well as usual, and 

 though I must confess that Roses could have done with less 

 wet when in summer flower, their autumn bloom is fine, and 

 I have never seen stronger growth made in the season, and such 

 fine heads of buds. This greater luxuriance where moisture 

 is found strikes one in the west of England, and, to a still 

 larger extent, in Ireland, which notoriously has more rain and 

 less sun than we have. Plants like Myrtles, which one has been 

 accustomed to think needed sun to make them flower, grow into 

 trees, and clothe themselves in August with starry white blossoms, 



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