GENERAL INTRODUCTION 249 



Nature then must be our model; but we must only 

 take what she offers of beauty, for there are in nature 

 uglinesses also to be avoided. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 

 went too far when he required in his ideal garden a place 

 for nettles! 



It all depends on taste and on sound judgment; con- 

 ventionalities of fashion must yield to individual liking, 

 to architectonic laws and artistic instinct. The skill of the 

 landscape-gardener who ventures on this class of work, 

 will be measured simply by his success in reconstructing 

 pictures from the region of the mountains and lower alps, 

 with an occasional bold excursion into the grander rocky 

 desolation of the highest the true alpine zone 1 . 



1 could multiply examples; for it is England in which 

 the love of flowers is quick and living the one country 

 where gardens are counted things of pride and worthy of 

 sacrifice. Scattered over this ancient and wealthy land are 

 a hundred other alpine creations, which, did not space 

 forbid, might well challenge my feeble pen to songs of 

 praise. Yet there are still some, where the collections are 

 of outstanding interest. 1 have a vivid memory of two 

 near Lancaster. Mrs. Saunder's garden at Wennington 

 Hall is a triumph of the simple style modest in extent, 

 severely utilitarian in design, but rich beyond words in 

 floral wealth. Here the choicest of the choice, the exclusive 

 alpine aristocracy, the most ill-conditioned of reputed 

 * ' miffs " respond to the personal attention of their mistress. 

 The following list speaks for itself Jlquilegia alpina, 

 Eritricbium nanum (from seed), Androsace glacialis, Helve- 

 tica, pubescens, villosa, Yitaliana, Jlzalea procumbens, 



1 Friar Park is open to visitors in the months of May to 

 September inclusive, on Wednesdays. The price of admission is sixpence 

 which are divided between The Convalescent Fund of Henley and The 

 Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution and the Royal Gardeners' 

 Orphan Fund. 



