172 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



a very precious object amid a surrounding ex- 

 uberance of blossom. Often in English rock- 

 gardens there is too little unoccupied rock. 

 Ubiquity of plant life in this respect is not so 

 artistic as when there is a modicum of reticence ; 

 nor is it so truthful. 



Another by no means inappropriate feature is 

 that which can be lent by shrubs or bushes ; not 

 as hedges, for Switzerland, when compared with 

 England, may be said to be devoid of 

 "... Little lines 

 Of sportive wood run wild." 



Characteristic commonplaces in England, where, it 

 is said, they cover one and a half million acres, they 

 are rare in Switzerland ; or, at any rate, as Leslie 

 Stephen remarked, "those detestable parallelo- 

 grams, which cut up English scenery with their 

 hedgerows, are sternly confined to the valley." And 

 in the valley they are comparatively scarce, and lack 

 the charm pertaining to the English hedgerow. 



No ; if our field is to have an Alpine allure, 

 hedges must be tabu. But a negligent grouping 

 around the rocks or upon the outskirts of the 

 field, of such bushes as Rhododendron ferrugineum, 

 Rosa alpina, Berberis vulgaris, Rosa 'pomifera, 

 Juniperus nana, Sambucus racemosa, and the two 



