396 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



truth not a garden at all, but a small plot fresh from the 

 builders' hands. The builder had busied himself in eloping 

 with the rich gravel subsoil and substituting refuse of a varied 

 kind. The ground was taken possession of in September, 

 trenched, good soil substituted for bad, levelled, and before 

 the autumn had far advanced planted with a few things 

 known to prove impervious to the vicissitudes of suburban 

 life. I have pursued the healthy pastime of amateur garden- 

 ing for many years, and lived once in serener climes, but 

 was at first overcome by this spectacle of builders' rubbish 

 and unholy filching of good soil. 



" I noticed that many good garden plants seemed to thrive 

 in the district. In a garden near, perennial Sunflowers shone 

 with a wealth of golden blossom, the Starworts tossed their 

 cool-coloured flowers in the autumn wind, and the Sweet Peas 

 still carried a few fragrant blossoms. So, the foundation having 

 been made, plants were put in, too soon, unfortunately, as it 

 afterwards happened no fault of the plants that the borders 

 sank, and I had perforce to remake and then relift everything. 



" All the things named have succeeded beyond my very 

 moderate expectations. The forecourt garden (in dense 

 shade, the house being placed almost direct north and south), 

 was laid down with turf, and a narrow border made all round, 

 with a Yew hedge against the boundary fence, and for trees, 

 Silver Birch (a beautiful tree, which is a success in the light 

 soil of the neighbourhood), Thorn, Rose Acacia (Robinia 

 hispida), and a large green-leaved Holly. In the small border 

 skirting the house are planted the shade-loving Spanish Scilla, 

 Day Lilies, Crocuses, and Snowdrops, all a success, but the Win- 

 ter Aconites are always poor. Their puny little yellow flowers 

 would scarce cover a small button, so the Eranthis will in 

 the future go on the black list. For climbers, Ampelopsis 

 Veitchi, muralis, Rose W. A. Richardson, but this being placed 

 on the sunny side of the house the flowers get bleached by 

 the hot sun beating against the wall, and lose their rich cut 

 Apricot-like tint; Gloire de Dijon, a never disappointing rose ; 

 Alister Stella Gray, a perfect vision of exquisite orange buds, 

 and whitish expanded flowers ; Passion-flower, Honeysuckles, 

 and in the border the fragrant Lavender and Rosemary, two 

 shrubs so picturesque and interesting in colour that I wish 

 amateur gardeners would grow them more. The common 

 Lavender should never be omitted from the garden, whether 

 small or large. My bushes are in a little hot border, upon 

 which the sun shines fiercely, and the soil is light. Here this 

 fragrant blue-flowered bush delights to grow, spreading out 

 into a soft silvery group, and giving quite a handful of flowers 



