H.AKDY EXOTIC KLOWKlJlXCi PLANTS. 



127 



positions in largo gardens it \vonl<l bo an inijuovfniont to allmv 

 the very walks or drives to become covered with very dwaif 

 plants — plants which could be walked upon witli little injury. The 

 surface would be dry enough, being drained below, and would Ix' 

 more agreeable to the feet. Removing any coarse weeds that established 

 themselves would be much easier than the continual hoeing and scraping 

 required to keep the walk bare. Of course this only refers to walks in 

 rough or picturesque 

 places — the wild gar- 

 den and the like — in 

 Avhicli formal l>are 

 walks are somewhat 

 out of place. 



Asphodel, Asjoho- 

 delus. — The Asphodels 

 are among the plants 

 that have never been 

 popular in the mixed 

 border, nor are they 

 likely to be so, the 

 habit of the species 

 being somewhat coarse 

 and the flowering period 

 not long, and yet they 

 are of a stately and 

 distinct order of beauty, 

 which well deserves to 

 be represented in open 

 sjiaces, in shrubberies, 

 or on their outer fringes. 

 The plants are mostly 

 natives of the countries 

 round the Mediterranean, and thrive freely in ordinary soils. 



Lords and Ladies, Arum. — Mostly a tropical and snb-tro])ical 

 family, some of which grow as far north as southern Europe. These 

 are cpiite hardy in our gardens. The Italian Arum is well worthy of 

 a place in the wild garden, from its line foliage in winter. It should 

 be placed in sheltered half-shady places where it would not suffer 

 much from storms. The old Dragon plant (A. Dracontium) grows 

 freely enough about the foot of rocks or walls in sandy, or dry, peaty 



Tall Asphodel in copse. 



