64 THE WILD GARDEN. 



prising tiling is that it has not been done to a large extent 

 already, because it is so very easy and so very delightful. 

 Eecently a good many different varieties of Lily of the Valley 

 — nearly as many as twenty — have been collected, and are 

 beginning to be cultivated by some of our growers of herbaceous 

 plants. The difference in these is not owing to soil or situa- 

 tion. When grown in the same place they manifest differ- 

 ences in length of spike and size of foliage ; and also in time 

 of blooming. In some the spike is short, and in others nearly 

 one foot long. This important fact should, of course, be noted 

 by any who would, in places where the Lily of the Valley 

 does not grow wild, interest themselves in establishing it. 



There are advantages in wood- culture for many hardy 

 plants — the shelter, shade, and soil affording for some things 

 conditions more suitable than our gardens. The warmth of 

 the wood, too, is an advantage, the fallen leaves helping to 

 protect the plants in all ways. In a hot country plants that 

 love cool places could be grown in a wood whei'e they would 

 perish if exposed, Mr, G, F. Wilson has made himself a 

 remarkably interesting and successful wild garden in a wood, 

 from W'hich he sent me in the autumn of last year (1880) a 

 flowering stem of the American Swamp Lily (L. superbum) 

 eleven feet liigli. No such result has ever l)een seen in any 

 garden or border of the ordinary type. These Lihes of his 

 grow in a woody bottom where rich dark soil has gathered, 

 and where there is shelter and shade. 



Placing every plant in one border with the same condi- 

 tions as to soil and exposure was a great mistake. A great 

 many beautiful plants haunt the woods, and we cannot change 

 their nature easily. Even if we should grow them in open 



