81 

 is quite hardy here. 



In the autumn some trees of Amelanchier vulgaris some- 

 times called Snowy Mespilus are conspicuous by reason of 

 the rich colouring of their leaves. 



Various low growing plants are dotted about the turf in 

 a natural manner ; these include Veratrum nigrum, Acanthus 

 spinosus, Gentiana lutea, Spirea Davidii, Astilbe Thunbergii, 

 A. rivularis, Spirea palmata, and others ; various kinds of 

 ferns are also used for this purpose, one plant of the common 

 male fern Lastrea filix mas has grown upwards until its 

 stem is 22 inches high, thus forming a miniature tree fern. 



The rockeries have never been kept in the form usually 

 adopted. Owing to deficiency of labour they have long since 

 become well clothed with various plants, and a distinctive 

 form is obtained by allowing each piece to have a predomin- 

 ating kind of its own ; thus one piece is chiefly clothed with 

 blue Aubrietias, in the spring ; another with Myosotis dissiti- 

 flora, and interspersed amongst these are various other plants 

 and shrubs which give flowers and foliage at other seasons 

 and are able to take care of themselves now they have become 

 established. 



Azaleas abound in large specimens, especially the decid- 

 uous kinds such as A. altaclarense, the common yellow A. 

 pontica, various shades of A. sinensis formerly called mollis, 

 A. coccinea speciosa, and others. These are perhaps the best 

 of all the spring flowering shrubs, many of them are sweet- 

 scented, they are extremely floriferous and include a large 

 number of delicate shades of colour. 



