VARIOUS FLOWER GARDENS. 37 



PENDELL COURT. It will be seen here that even where it 

 is desired to have the flower garden, in part, against the house, 

 it is by no means always necessary that the ground should be 

 made " architectural." It is a great pleasure to see a beautiful old 

 house, with no impedimenta to keep one away from the door. 

 There are three good views of it : first, that of the lawn in front 

 of the house, which was a flowery meadow yet uncut, with no beds 

 or other obstructions to the view of the house, and with a fine 

 group of trees on either hand. It was a poem in building and in 

 lawn. Quite on the other side a border of flowers and a wall of 

 climbers ran from the house. Looking along this border to the 

 house, a shower of white climbing Roses was seen falling from 

 the wall, and a quaint gable and a few windows and glistening 

 rich Ivy behind formed a lovely picture. Another view of the 

 house from across the water, showing its west end, is also very 

 beautiful. There is a Wild Rose bush on the right and a tuft 

 of Flag leaves on the left ; before you, the water and its lilies ; then 

 a smooth, gently rising lawn creeping up to the windows, which on 

 this side are all wreathed with white climbing Roses. All these 

 views of the same house, although distinct, show no frivolous patterns, 

 fountains, statues, and such objects, which often destroy all repose. 

 The view from the house to the left is also free and charming a 

 wide meadow climbing up the hill through groups of trees, and in 

 the woody part reminding one a little of Alpine pastures. 



RHIANVA. We have not only to deal with ugly gardens, made 

 in the wrong places, but with a false idea that all the flowers 

 must be set out as smooth and as " hard " as tin plate, and 

 that terraced gardens are not suited for our beautiful hardy flowers. 

 But one may here and there see a better way, and at Rhianva, the 

 free growth of evergreens and climbers, and the delightful inter- 

 lacements of hardy flowers, ferns, and creepers, make the garden 

 beautiful. Again, I remember, the garden at Ockham Park in 

 Dr. Lushington's time was formal and yet beautiful, through the 

 freedom of the vegetation. So again in Italy, the stiffness of 

 the stone is soon softened by the graceful forms of trees, shrubs, 

 and trailers as at Verona and in many Italian gardens. 



Fifty years ago the site of Rhianva, on the banks of the Menai 

 Straits, was a steep field, with the large gray rocks so characteristic 

 of Anglesey, and was crossed by a small stream which lost itself in 

 marshy ground by the shore, where stood a couple of old Apple and 

 Thorn trees and a little white-washed cottage. The extreme 

 steepness of the rocky ground made the site difficult to deal 

 with, and a number of supporting walls were built to form terraces ; 

 and, by the help of a protecting sea-w r all, the flowers were carried 



