'Go down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time; 

 Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from Lon- 

 don!) 

 And you shall wander hand in hand with love in sum- 

 mer's wonderland; 

 Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from Lon- 

 don!). 

 — "Go Down to Kew in Lilac-time* — Alfred Noyes. 



CHAPTER XII 



Shrubbery and Shrubs 



IT is the common habit to think of and make 

 use of shrubs — almost never of shrubbery. 

 Which is all the difference between a nursery 

 and a garden picture, in the last analysis. For 

 shrubs individually have not the pictorial qual- 

 ity; indeed I think we may very safely say 

 that neither has anything else that goes to the 

 making of a garden, alone and by itself. Soli- 

 tary growths may become splendid and perfect 

 specimens, but their very perfection destroys 

 their picturesqueness. So I am going to ask you 

 to banish completely the thought of the lilac 

 bush or the snowball in the midst of the door- 

 164 



