290 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



monocotyledons there is often an unfathomable com- 

 plexity of colour, as on the surface of the sea; but in 

 dicotyledons there seems to be a greater complexity 

 of nature and purpose, as in the earth; and there- 

 fore they look more at home upon the earth, and as 

 if they were its inhabitants and not passing visitors 

 from an unknown state of being. 



These may seem fanciful distinctions, but they can 

 be applied to some purpose in the arrangement of 

 flowers. It is certain that the beauty of monocoty- 

 ledons is of one kind and the beauty of dicotyledons 

 of another, and also that these different beauties are 

 enhanced by intermixture and contrast. A number 

 of Tulips or Daffodils or Spanish Irises grown by them- 

 selves are apt to look monotonous and unsubstantial. 

 Their true character is revealed only when they are 

 mingled with plants of another nature, when they 

 seem to have sprung up among them by chance, giving 

 a last touch of strangeness and wonder to the beauty 

 of the whole. Any formality of arrangement is con- 

 trary to their nature. They should look as if they 

 had alit among the leafage of other plants like a flight 

 of glittering birds. Then our pleasure in them is not 

 troubled by the thought that they will so soon be 

 withered. Their fugitive brilliance is at its best when 

 contrasted with the more quiet and enduring beauty 

 of other plants, and especially of shrubs, such as 

 Rosemary or some of the Veronicas which never look 

 dishevelled or exhausted with flowering. These give 

 the sense of permanence that is needed in all garden 



