176 LONDON PARKS <^ GARDENS 



brilliant show in the summer. The most distinctive 

 feature is the rock gardening. There is a very large 

 collection of Alpine and rock plants, which are growing 

 extremely well and covering the stones with delicious 

 soft green cushions, which turn to pink, yellow, white, 

 and purple, as the season advances. Even in the cold, 

 early spring, snowdrops, and the pretty little Chionodoxa, 

 the " Glory of the Snow," begin to peep out amongst 

 the rocks, and these are the harbingers of a succession 

 of bloom, through the spring and summer months. On 

 either side of one of the entrances, a long and pleasing 

 line of this rock-work extends, but the plants for the most 

 part are grown on mounds like rocky islands rising up 

 from a sea of gravel. There are several of these isolated 

 patches in the middle of the carriage drive. It is cer- 

 tainly fortunate, for those who only drive round the 

 Park, thus to have a full view of the charming rock 

 plants ; but to compare such a display to the rock 

 garden at Kew is misleading. There may be nearly as 

 many plants at Dulwich as at Kew, but the arrange- 

 ment of that charming little retired valley at Kew is 

 so infinitely superior that the comparison is unjustified. 

 The small stream which leaves the lake, and other 

 places in the Park, offer, just as good a foundation for 

 a really effective rock garden as the one at Kew. Such 

 an arrangement would give a much better idea of the 

 plants, in their own homes, than the islands in the 

 roadway, that must suffer from dust, besides looking 

 stiff and unnatural. It is, however, delightful to see how 

 well these plants are thriving. This is^^hardly astonish- 

 ing, as it is not in a crowded, smoky district, but in 

 one of the most favoured of suburbs. Dulwich Park 

 adds greatly to the advantages of the neighbourhood : 



