VARIOUS FLOWER GARDENS. 39 



mild in winter, and the garden being on a southern slope the trees 

 and shrubs grew with great rapidity ; so that hedges of red Fuchsias 

 and of blue and pink Hydrangeas soon hid the stone walls. Myrtles 

 and Camellias, and some Acacias, were found to thrive out of 

 doors ; and at the present time the only difficulty is to prevent the 

 shrubs from injuring each other, through their rapid growth. In 

 summer the luxuriant abundance of the Roses, climbing from bush 

 to bush, the Cypresses, the Tamarisk and the Vines ; and the sea, 

 and the purple mountains in the background, seem to belong rather 

 to the Lake of Como than to Anglesey. All the borders are mossed 

 over with small green plants ; large, hardy exotic Ferns are spread 

 into groups ; and a lacework of Ivy, Vine, and creepers is seen in 

 many parts. A mixed order of planting is pursued, but in many 

 cases the shrubs and plants are allowed to spread as they will, and 

 the climbers take picturesque shapes. Rhianva is an example of the 

 error of the notion that a terraced garden should only be arranged 

 as a " bedded-out " garden. We have here a terraced garden in a 

 position that called for it, namely, a rocky slope, in which the only 

 way of making a garden was by terracing the ground, but it is a 

 garden that shelters every treasure of our garden flora, from the 

 Cyclamen to the Tea Rose. 



It has been said that, however valuable the more beautiful hardy 

 flowers, their place is not the parterre, but some out-of-the-way spot. 

 Not only may any terrace garden be embellished with hardy flowers, 

 but it is the best place for them. The odd notion that our fairest 

 flowers must not show themselves in the flower garden might lead 

 one to suppose that there never was anything in the flower garden 

 before bedding-out was invented. Is it well to devote the flower beds 

 to one type of vegetation only, whether it be hardy or tender? We 

 have been so long accustomed to forming flat surfaces of colour in 

 flower beds that few think of better ways of filling them. In Nature 

 vegetation in its most beautiful aspects is rarely a thing of one effect, 

 but rather a union or mingling of different types of life often suc- 

 ceeding each other in bloom. So it might often be in the garden. 

 The most beautiful effects must be obtained by combining different 

 forms so as to aid each other, and give us a succession of pictures. 

 If any place asks for permanent planting it is the precious spot 

 of ground near the house ; for no one can wish to see large, grave- 

 like masses of soil frequently dug near the windows. It is easy to 

 form beds that would look well in all seasons by the use of choice 

 shrubs of many kinds Rhododendron, Azalea, Dwarf Cypress, Heath, 

 Clematis, Honeysuckle, Weigela, Hydrangea, Skimmia, Rock Rose, 

 Tamarix, Daphne, Yucca, Tree Peony. Why should we not use 

 beautiful Andromedas or Kalmias or fine evergreen Barberries in the 



