CHAPTER XII 



Tom Tiddler's Ground 



I HAVE never felt the disgust for variegated foliage evinced 

 by so many good gardeners, and in many cases I warmly 

 admire it. For instance Iris pallida, Astrantia major (as 

 seen at Bitton, for it does little more than just exist here), 

 Acer Negundo, and A. calif ornica aurea, Hypericum Mose- 

 rianum tricolor and Polemonium coeruleum in their widely 

 different lines of variegation are to my idea delightfully 

 delicate in colour harmonies. The cream and soft yellow 

 alternating with grey-green in Iris pallida, and forming 

 endless intermediate shades of colour where one overlays 

 the other, make a leaf worth examining closely, while a 

 good clump of it is a strikingly beautiful thing among other 

 Iris foliage. 



Towards the end of summer, and before the autumnal 

 tints begin to brighten them up, most of our shrubs and 

 trees become very heavy in their tone of green, and we 

 miss the contrasting shades of Spring vegetation. Then the 

 value of a Silver Elm or Acer Negundo, the Ghost Tree, and 

 of golden-leaved shrubs is apparent, and even in the borders 

 variegated herbaceous plants seen in fine specimens and 

 bold groups give relief from the uniformly heavy greens of 

 late summer and the glaring brilliancy of crowded flowers. 

 But even if a plant is not improved in beauty by varie- 

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