236 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



our pictures, taken as a whole, make 

 it abundantly plain that the thought, 

 and Ihe taste, and the loving care 

 which have been devoted to these 

 gardens have been richly rewarded. 



What is the principle animating 

 the makers of the gardens which has 

 produced so admirable a result. To 

 our mind, pondering on the gardens as 

 a whole, or in detail, it is deliciously, 

 deliberately, and definitely indefinite. 

 No hard and fast rules have been 

 followed ; no external authority, no 

 matter how eminent, has been allowed 

 to dictate rules of taste. In the spirit 

 (if willing desire to recognise beauty in 

 many systems, in the wise determina- 

 tion to borrow gooJ ideas from many 

 sources, and with set purpose to 

 devote attention principally to those 

 plants and flowers which should show 

 themselves appreciative of the soil and 

 climate of Broughton, the new master 

 and mistress of Broughton set them- 

 selves to work. It is delightful to see 

 the progress which they made, and 

 the readiness with which they assimi- 

 lated ideas. One of our pictures, for 



example, represents a Carious dial, of which the style is a 

 clipped shrub, while the hours are designated by figures 

 in llowers and foliage set close in a semi-circular bed cut 

 out of the green turf. That pretty conceit was borrowed 

 from the ancient gardens, long ago remodelled and now 

 grown old a second time, of New College, Oxford. 

 Doubly appropriate is this, for Wykeham's name is closely 

 associated with New Coliege as with Broughton. The 

 motto, too, is neat, " Give light to them that s't in darkness, 

 and guide our feet into the way of peace." Roses, again, 

 were indispensable ; but of the rose garden proper, as it now 

 stands, there was but the framework in the shape of an old 

 and utterly-neglected walled garden. That it was the best of 

 frames need hardly be said. Now it has a rich herbaceous 

 border running along the wall, and all the central space, cut 

 into beds ot somewhat elaborate shapes, is full of roses, 

 which tlourish amaxinglv. Where the terrace now lies 



Copyright. 



LADY'S GARDEN. 



Country Life.' 



I ofjrrigU. 



THE ROSE GARDEN. 



beneath the drawing-room windows, where the yews, clipped 

 into dark green spiral form, stand sentinel, was formerly an 

 unsightly pasture, and beyond, a restful spectacle from the 

 windows, is a formal garden. In the west garden, also, great 

 efforts are being made to introduce yew hedges, the trees 

 having been planted at a height of 3ft. 6in., and the chances 

 are that they will flourish and endure to be a glory of 

 Broughton for ages, and to attain beauty very soon. Fountains 

 have their place, and one of them, shown in a picture, is 

 encircled with a beautiful verse from Fitzgerald's "Omar," 

 and the reader may exercise his or her imagination in selecting 

 the most appropriate quatrain ; for there is a fountain, and it is 

 in a rose garden (of China roses, by the way), and Omar can 

 find a quatrain appropriate to either or to both. A pergola 

 also is there, of rustic boughs cunningly built together, and 

 something stark in outline a: present. But the roses grow at 

 its foot ; they give sure promise of rich clothing of leaf and 

 blossom, and the picture serves our 

 purpose of showing the gardens of 

 Broughton as they grow in beauty year 

 by year. Even now the most peculiar 

 and essential feature of the gardens 

 remains unsung. To few persons, 

 indeed, is it given to enjoyso unmatched 

 an opportunity of creating a garden of 

 the water and th. 1 water-side as that 

 which the moat at Broughton affords. 

 Its still and gleaming waters are the 

 home of many a beautiful water plant, 

 and the Marliac lilies, the most beau- 

 tiful of them all, grow there in great 

 perfection. And on the far side of the 

 moat, in the deep, moist soil, is an 

 attractive half-wild garden of the 

 Marish plants. Here Iris Germanica, 

 Sibirica, and the common yellow flag 

 thrive in strong colonies, and Iris 

 Ka-mpferi displays its wealth of 

 glorious colour. Here Arundo Uonax, 

 Gunnera Mannicata with its grand 

 leaves, and the common bulrush, grow 

 in lush luxuriance, and form already 

 a beautiful picture. So we part 

 fro;n Broughton, presuming to say that 

 never in its long history of nearly six 

 centuries has it presented so fair a 

 spectacle, and that the aspect of it 

 will grow in beauty year by year. 



' Country Li/e." 



