306 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. 



prolonged. By planting such things as violas or "tufted 

 pansies," a mass of colour from early spring until late autumn 

 can be obtained. The garden at Shrublands has been thus 

 arranged, according to the suggestions of Air. W. Robinson, 

 with great success. The beds are filled with roses, pinks, 

 and carnations, and many hardy plants, the masses of colour 

 being skilfully arranged. One bed, shown in the illustration, 

 is composed of Lobelia cardinalis in the centre with a border 

 of Centaurea ragusina, which makes a striking effect until late in 

 the year. This bringing back to our gardens the numerous 

 hardy plants which were banished, and in many cases ruthlessly 

 torn up and thrown away when the rage for " bedding-out " came 

 in, is the greatest improvement of the end of the nineteenth 

 century. They are once again holding their proper place, and 

 with all the new species which every year come to swell the list 

 of things which will endure our cold climate, more lovely effects 

 could be produced than ever were possible with the stiff bedding 

 plants of forty years ago. But no one would wish to discard 

 altogether these half hardy things. Our green-houses, a blaze of 

 bright colours with tuberous Begonias, or some such flowers, are 

 a wonderful sight, and even from a practical point of view it is 

 a good plan to make room in the houses, by planting out some 

 of these things in the summer. Very different is this arrangement 

 from devoting all the glass to nurture up geraniums to fill the 

 whole garden. Bacon's aim was to have flowers in the garden 

 during every month of the year, and in his essay he mentions 

 some for each successive season. Surely after a lapse of three 

 centuries we ought to be able to attain that object and arrange 

 that no month should be without its brightening flowers. 



" The daughters of the year 



One after one through that still garden passed, 

 Danced into light and died into the shade." 



SHELLEY. 



Among the many plants which have been introduced 

 of late years the class of Alpines has been very largely 

 represented. We now possess an immense variety of plants 

 whose natural place of growth is on rocks, or between the 



