Tom Tiddler's Ground 



unless one wishes for a large crop of this rare British 

 plant, the heads must be cut off before these bulbs drop 

 and plant themselves. Among large subjects Atriplex 

 Halimus has made a big bush of itself in spite of constant 

 applications of my secateurs, and now is very silvery and 

 charming, so much so that one wonders why it is so 

 seldom to be seen except on gardens on sea fronts. 

 Eucalyptus Gunnii, I believe the true thing and therefore 

 the hardiest of all, is shooting up above everybody else, 

 and these with the Rose and Bramble and a young Picea 

 pungens glauca form the tall centre of the grey corner ; 

 the lawn front contains other Artemisias, Salvia argentea 

 with its immense leaves like grey plush, Anthemis Cupa- 

 nanii, a plant too little known, for besides feathery grey 

 leaves it has white daisies that are singularly well shaped 

 and brilliant. Suaeda fruticosa and Artemisia maritima 

 from the Norfolk coast are here, but Diotis maritima 

 refuses their company, and will only live in the rock 

 garden. Onopordon bracteatum comes for a short stay, 

 and flowers and dies when at its best, in its silly biennial 

 way. Anemone Pulsatilla does well here, and thrusts up 

 fluffy, lilac flowers with Chinchilla fur boas round their 

 necks among the steely blue-grey leaves of Cerinthe alpina. 

 Seseli gummiferum, a strange, stiff -habited, glaucous, umbel- 

 liferous biennial, is very effective just before it starts 

 flowering, but Festuca glauca, the grass with imitation 

 hoar frost eternally on its leaves, is the best of the 

 whole lot, and finishes the grey plants by running as a 

 wedge into the beginning of the golden things. Golden 

 Thyme is the first plant in the golden edging, and 

 then comes a fine striped form of Foxtail Grass that 

 '95 



