PLANTING THE GARDEN 53 



without the slightest protection or coddling, it is 

 astonishing that they are not more grown. The flowers 

 as will be observed, are in the form of dense spheres, 

 upheld on stout stalks, and vary in colour from white 

 to deep mauve. It is, I find, advisable to break up the 

 clump immediately after flowering, when it has 

 attained this size, as it will have exhausted the soil 

 about it, while the extra pieces enable us to make 

 other and perhaps new plantations. 



As a background to such plants, by the water-side, 

 Iris can be employed, such as the clematis-flowered 

 Iris of Japan Iris Kcempferi ; I. Icevigata, I. aurea. 

 Also some of the many varieties of Spirea japonica, 

 correctly called Astilbe japonica, such as Peach 

 Blossom, Queen Alexandra, and the type. 



I also find that Sax. peltata planted in this position 

 gives an excellent appearance in my small garden, 

 suggesting the lines of the giant Gunnera scabra, and 

 it is of considerable interest in its curious method of 

 flowering, when in spring it throws up a reddish, hairy 

 stem some three feet high, surmounted by a panicle 

 of white flowers, often composed of from four to seven 

 petals, instead of the orthodox five of the Saxifrage. 

 The leaves do not appear at all until the flower is well 

 out, and then rapidly expand to about twelve to 

 fourteen inches in diameter. 



In the crevices of the shady parts of the pool side I 



