CHAPTER VIII 



RETROSPECT 



HAVING told in a brief way the " Story of My Rock 

 Garden " from the time of its inception to the present 

 day, it only remains for me to summarise the chief 

 advantages which such a garden has, and to emphasize 

 how intensely interesting a tiny piece of ground can 

 be, if we will only make close personal friends of its 

 little inhabitants. 



As I have previously pointed out, every day through 

 the year finds something fresh coming through the soil 

 to greet us, or lingering to a late time of the season, 

 so as to accompany us to a fresh beginning. Such a 

 garden teaches us to appreciate more keenly the small 

 things of Nature, and especially those which have come 

 directly from Nature's workshop, than is possible with 

 such plants as have been, to a large extent, evolved by 

 the hands of the skilled florist. 



To me many of these minute plants, with their pure, 

 unassuming, simple flowers, are much more attractive 

 than the large and showy blossoms, so frequently 

 admired, and alas ! too often of such brief decorative 



