GENERAL INTRODUCTION 247 



Very different is Sir Frank Crisp's celebrated alpine 

 garden at Friar Park, Henley on Thames, near Windsor. 

 Here in a temperate and rather humid climate Sir Frank 

 succeeds in growing almost the whole of our mountain 

 flora, so that it is easier to say what is missing than what 

 is not. All lovers of plants have seen views of this wonder- 

 ful creation. The alpine garden alone, of which I have 

 given a full description in the Garden, covers an area of 

 four acres ; the rocks, ten thousand tons or more in 

 weight, were brought from Bradford, and have been 

 admirably grouped into one harmonious picture. 



In this genial air, rich in moisture and almost equable 

 in temperature, alpines flourish excellently. Except for 

 some species from the greatest heights, more particularly 

 Androsaces of the group Aretia, all the collection is thor- 

 oughly at home and flowers well in a grandly arranged 

 and sun-bathed rockery. The general plan, designed by 

 Sir Frank Crisp and executed under his supervision, is 

 copied from nature, being a miniature reproduction of 

 the Matterhorn and his supporting spurs. The whole effect 

 is unique, and the secret of its beauty is harmony of 

 line, and, above all, balance of size between the plants 

 and the rocks. The eye receives a perfectly proportioned 

 view, every detail of which is to a determined scale a 

 point too often forgotten in this style of work. The 

 larger plants and those of massive foliage are placed at 

 the bottom, and by successive terraces, which rise most 

 naturally tier on tier above the hollows, one passes to the 

 absolutely dwarf, shorn vegetation at the base and on the 

 scarps of the central peak. 



The main valley is hollowed by a murmuring stream, 

 which falls in a series of cascades from the base of the 

 Matterhorn to an alpine hut, built in the valley beside a 

 tarn gay with mountain aquatics. Sitting at evening on 

 one of the gigantic stones which form the stages of this 



