HOLLAND HOUSE 233 



Rhododendrons, that give a radiance of colour to 

 the Garden in Spring. Among the Rock-plants 

 are to be noticed many varieties of Sedums, 

 Thymus, Dranthus, Saxifrage, Aubrietia, Cistus, 

 Cytisus, Iberis, Helianthemum, Campanula, Hy- 

 pericum, and many other Rock-growing plants too 

 numerous to mention. 



Flagged stone steps lead down through the 

 Rock Garden, past a Sundial, and on through the 

 Rockeries to a Grotto containing a spring, from 

 which the water flows in fascinating little rivulets 

 through the Japanese Garden. 



Both the Rock Garden and the Japanese Garden 

 are innovations designed by the late owner of 

 Holland House, Lord Ilchester, who, with Lady 

 Ilchester, took such exceptional interest in their 

 Gardens. Few people realise (according to Mr. 

 Conder) what mystery and superstition lie behind 

 the making of a Garden in Japan for while 

 attempting to express nature (being followers of the 

 Landscape school which they adopted from the 

 Chinese), Japanese designs are symbolical and 

 intended to convey such abstract ideas as " Medi- 

 tation," " Retirement," etc. Even the very stones, 

 so essential to their arrangement, have all sex, 

 name, and meaning. There are three styles of 

 Gardening in Japan, " The Finished Style," " The 

 Intermediate Style," and "The Bold Style"; 

 which, unlike English methods, are never blended 



