HAEDY EXOTIC FLOWERING PLANTS. 137 



shrubbery, for in juiiiiiil; the shrulis uiid tall trees. Here they grew in 

 certain half- open little spaces, wliieli were so for removed from the 

 maro'in that they were not dug and were not seen. When I saw the 

 Larkspurs in flower they were certainly the loveliest things that one 

 could see. Thej^ were more beautiful than they are in borders or beds, 

 not growing in smdi close stiff tufts, and mingling with and relie\-eil 

 by the trees above and the shrubs amund. Little more need be .said 

 to any one who knows and cares about such plants, and has an oppor- 

 tunity of planting in such neglected places. This case points out 

 pretty clearly that one might make wild gardens fr(jm the mere parings 

 and thinnings of the beds and borders in autumn, in any place where 

 there is a collection of good hardy plants. The cut on p. 28 does 

 scant justice to the scene, whieh, perhaps, it is not in the power of 

 wood engraving to illustrate. 



Pink, Dianthus. — A numerous race of beautiful dwarf mountain 

 plants, ^^ith flowers mostly of various shades of ro.se, sometimes sport- 

 ing into other colours in cultivation. The finer mountain kinds would 

 be likely to thrive only on bare stony or rocky ground, and amidst 

 A'ery dwarf vegetation. The bright D. neglectus would thrive in any 

 ordinary soil. Some of the kinds in the way of our own D. csesius 

 grow well on old walls and ruins, as do the single carnations and 

 pinks ; indeed, it is probable that many kinds of pink would thrive 

 on ruins and old walls better far than on the ground. 



Foxglove, Digitalis. — It need not be said here that our own 

 stately Foxglove should be encouraged in the wild garden, jiarticularly 

 in districts where it does not naturally grow wild ; I allude to it here 

 to point out that there are a nundier of exotic species for which a 

 place might be found in the wild garden — some of them are not very 

 satisfactory otherwise. The most showy hardy flowers of midsummer 

 are the Foxglove and the French willoAV (Epilobiuin angustifolium), 

 and in wild or rough places in shrubberies, etc., their eft'ect is beautiful. 

 In such half shady places the Foxglove thrives best ; and, as the French 

 willow is much too rampant a plant for the garden proper, the proper 

 place for it too is in the wild garden. It is a most showy jilant, and 

 masses of it may be seen great distances off. The delicately and 

 curiously spotted varieties of the Foxglove should be sown as well 

 as the ordinary wild form. 



Hemp Agrimony, Eupatorium. — Vigorous perennials, with 

 white or purple fringed flowers. Some of the American kinds might 

 well be associated with our own wild one — the white kinds, like 



