34 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



slope. Occasionally a garden flower which has 

 sprung up from some stray seed will add a 

 certain unexpected charm to a walk or grass 

 plot. Such flowers are in a sense weeds no 

 doubt, but " weeds of glorious feature," and 

 there are few who, like Lady Byron and the 

 story is characteristic would at once order the 

 gardener to uproot them. One beautiful form 

 of semi-wild garden is where, on some piece of 

 rich* peat soil, rhododendrons have been thickly 

 planted. There is a fine example of this at 

 Knowsley, where thousands of large shrubs are 

 growing in the greatest luxuriance, and where, 

 as the slight irregularity of the ground permits, 

 you pass between banks' and slopes and hollows, 

 quite purple with the clustered blossoms. 



It is of course impossible to lay down any 

 code of rules which would be equally applicable 

 to every garden. As I have already said, there 

 will always be a certain amount of bedding- 

 out necessary, especially for the architectural 

 gardens that surround a stately house ; but we 

 may hope that in all bedding-out more attention 



