134 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



flowers, and if cut will keep its beauty in water all 

 through the winter. I have also on a rock-work a 

 large mass of the dwarf Japanese euonymus (E. 

 radicans variegata), which I much prize. Not only does 

 it lighten up the rock-work at all times, and especially 

 in the winter, but it gives abundance of pretty sprays 

 which are most useful both in the house and the 

 church. 



The second class of plants which I recommend for 

 winter decoration are the evergreen hardy ferns. In 

 most gardens the ferns are only grown in one fernery ; 

 I grow them everywhere, and, provided that the 

 ground is not allowed to get too dry, they will flourish 

 everywhere, even in the fullest exposure to sunshine. 

 And as I walk round the garden in December their 

 beauty is very striking, and I wonder that they are 

 not more used to fill the summer beds with good winter 

 foliage. Care must, of course, be taken with the 

 selection when so used, but a good selection can easily 

 be made. The athyriums die down with the first frost, 

 and entirely disappear during the winter. The male 

 ferns keep their foliage much longer, though they too 

 get brown and withered before Christmas; but it is 

 curious that the many crested and tasselled varieties of 

 the male fern keep their fine foliage much longer than 

 the typical plants, and I have known them keep their 



