VARIETY IN ANNUAL FLOWERS 43 



Malby, whose work the picture is. I quote: "The principal tree 

 in the Sedgwick garden is an evergreen oak, while the one on 

 the left is, I believe, an apple. The beautiful water-worked 

 pavement is sandstone quarried on the estate which is at Hors- 

 ham, Sussex, in the Weald, with magnificent views of the Sus- 

 sex Downs over nearly half a circle. The pavement plants are 

 dwarf campanulas, thyme and sedum, and they make a beautiful 

 efiFect. The yuccas do particularly well there and are one of the 

 chief features." 



Yuccas, then, should be used for bold decorative effect as at 

 Sedgwick and at Munstead Wood. Filamentosa grows four feet 

 tall, gloriosa is shorter; the one most generally seen in our own 

 northern gardens (says Bailey) is flaccida, which persists for 

 years. They are eccentric as to bloom — there may be no 

 flowers for two or three years, then a great outburst; and as is 

 natural with plants of this character, they establish themselves 

 slowly after moving. Give them a sunny position, a rich yet 

 sandy soil; good drainage is an essential, since they are natives 

 of the Mexican tableland of our country. In some cases it is 

 advised that they be grown in raised beds, but this is probably 

 for countries where rainfall is heavy, or for gardens whose 

 situation is low. 



Below the Sedgwick yuccas the flowering plant used is Cen- 

 taurea gymnoscarpa; but other plants to associate with the yucca 

 are for example Tritoma and Dracaena — where one has a green- 

 house to draw upon — and, in rather more available plants, 

 some of the newer cannas, dwarf ones, in tones of yellow, salmon, 

 apricot only. The canna leaf, so difficult to use ordinarily in 

 plant composition, may well harmonize with the tropic look 

 of that of the yucca; and in a suitable position the two might 

 look extremely well together; but such plants as these need a 

 rich and quiet background of green. 



