82 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



plant had a bare space of ground round it. In the spot where once a plant had 

 bloomed, there was an end for the year of any flowers. Now a yard of ground 

 should have bloom on it at least eight months in the year, and this applies to 

 every yard of ground in a really good mixed border. I am certain that, once a 

 border is well made, it need not be dug up at all. But the question is what is 

 a well-made border ? I think a border is not well made, or suitable for growing 

 the most beautiful plants to perfection, unless it is as well made as a Vine border 

 in a vinery. Why we should not take as much trouble with the garden border as 

 the border of a conservatory I cannot imagine, seeing that Lilies will grow 1 1 feet 

 high in the open air, not less than \o>\ inches across the flower, and Irises little 

 less than that. The more I garden the deeper I get my drainage, and the fuller 

 of sand and fibre my soil. I consider, first, that a border must have a bed of 

 broken bricks or other drainage, with ashes over that, to prevent the drainage 

 from filling up ; secondly, that that bed of drainage must have 2 feet of light 

 soil over it ; thirdly, that that soil must have equal parts of sand, soil, and veget- 

 able matter. A soil of these constituents and depth is never wet in winter and 

 never dry in summer. During the dry weather I found soil like this, in which 

 quantities of auratum Lilies were growing, to be quite moist an inch below the 

 surface, and I know in winter it always appears dry compared with the natural 

 garden soil. 



But, for all practical intents and purposes, every 6 inches of ground could 

 contain its plant, so that no 6 inches of bare ground need obtrude on the eye. 

 Almost any kind of bare rock has a certain beauty, but I cannot say bare ground 

 is ever beautiful. Well, supposing the back of the border filled with Delphiniums, 

 Phloxes, and Roses, pegged down, and other summer and autumn-blooming plants, 

 and supposing the border to be made as I have described it, I should carpet the 

 ground at the back with spring-blooming flowers, so that when the Roses are bare 

 and the Delphiniums and Phloxes have not pushed above ground, the border should 

 even then be a blaze of beauty. Crocuses, Snowdrops, Aconites, and Primroses 

 are quite enough for that purpose. The whole space under the Roses I should 

 cover with the Common Wood Anemone, and the golden Wood Anemone, and 

 early Cyclamens, and the earliest Dwarf Daffodils. And among the Roses and 

 Paeonies and other medium-sized shrubs I would put all the taller Lilies, such 

 as require continual shade on their roots ; and such as pardalinum and the 

 Californian Lilies generally, the Japanese, Chinese, and finer American Lilies. 

 Now we come more to the front of the border, and here I would have com- 

 binations, such as the great St. Bruno's Lily and the delicate hybrid Columbines, 

 Primroses planted over hardy autumn Gladioli, so that when the Primroses are at 

 rest the Gladioli should catch the eye : Carnations and Daffodils, planted so that 

 the Carnations form a maze of blue-green for the delicate creams and oranges of 

 the Daffodils. When the Daffodils are gone there are the Carnations in the 

 autumn. A mass of Iberis correasfolia happens to have been the very best thing 

 (possible for some Lilium Browni to grow through, for the Iberis flowered early 

 .and then made a protection for the young growth of the Browni, and then a 

 ; lovely dark green setting for the infinite beauty of the Lily flowers. As for say- 

 ing that this cannot be done, I say that it is nonsense, for the Iberis flowered 

 ;beautifully under such circumstances, and the Lilies too. If once you get it into 

 your head that no bit of ground ought ever to be seen without flowers or immediate 

 prospect of flowers, heaps of combinations will immediately occur to those con- 

 versant with plants and the deep-rooting habits of most bulbs and the surface 

 rooting of many herbaceous plants for instance, Colchicums and Daffodils, with 

 a surface of Campanula pusilla alba. The big leaves of the Colchicum grow in 

 spring, and there would be nothing but leaves were it not for the masses of 



