Gardens of the Poets 217 



combe. Of it I never weary, and for it I am ever 

 grateful. 



Shakespeare Gardens, or Shakespeare Borders, 

 too, are laid out and set with every tree, shrub, and 

 flower named in Shakespeare, and these are over 

 two hundred in number. A distinguishing mark 

 of the Shakespeare Border of Lady Warwick is the 

 peculiar label set alongside each plant. This label 

 is of pottery, greenish-brown in tint, shaped like a 

 butterfly, bearing on its wings a quotation of a few 

 words and the play reference relating to each special 

 plant. Of course these words have been fired in 

 and are thus permanent. Pretty as they are in 

 themselves they must be disfiguring to the borders 

 — as all labels are in a garden. 



In the garden at Hillside, near Albany, New 

 York, grows a green and flourishing Shakespeare 

 Border, gathered ten years ago by the mistress of 

 the garden. I use the terms green and flourishing 

 with exactness in this connection, for a great impres- 

 sion made by this border is of its thriving health, 

 and also of the predominance of green leafage of 

 every variety, shape, manner of growth, and oddness 

 of tint. In this latter respect it is infinitely more 

 beautiful than the ordinary border, varying from 

 silvery glaucous green through greens of yellow 

 or brownish shade to the blue-black greens of some 

 herbs ; and among these green leaves are many of 

 sweet or pungent scent, and of medicinal qualities, 

 such as are seldom grown to-day save in some such 

 choice and chosen spot. There is less bloom in 

 this Shakespeare Border than in our modern flower 



