126 A GARDEN DIARY 



terraces sloping slowly to the waves, that moan 

 and mutter eternally around their bases. To 

 represent the Burren even the Burren plants 

 by three or four tiers of stones, which are not 

 even limestones, might well seem even to oneself 

 the very acme of absurdity. I refuse however 

 to be ashamed of it, and if my Dryas octopetala 

 and my Helianthemum canum, my Potentilla 

 fruticosa, and my Cystopteris fragilis would but 

 accept such hospitality as I can offer them ; 

 would but pretend that fragments of lime rubbish 

 are slabs of limestone, I should be content, and 

 ask no more of them. 



Some are kindly enough, but others are hope- 

 lessly supercilious, and I am at my wits' end 

 how to cater for them. If distinguished visi- 

 tors would only condescend to mention their 

 wants plainly, how gladly, I have often thought, 

 would one hasten to satisfy them. When they 

 merely look disgusted, and, after sulking hope- 

 lessly for some months, die upon one's hands, 

 what is an unfortunate host or hostess to do ? 

 Here is Helianthemum canum, for instance, 

 which for the last nine months I have been 

 keeping from dying, as it were by main force. 

 Up to now I have in a measure succeeded, and 

 have even occasionally flattered myself that it 

 was beginning to resign itself. I know perfectly 

 well however that it has in reality made up its 

 mind upon the subject, and that one of these 



