Introduction, etc. 23 



placed singly or in open groups near the margins 

 of a bold clump of shrubs or in the open grass ; 

 and the system is applicable to all kinds of hardy 

 ornamental subjects, from trees downwards, though 

 in our case the want is for the fine-leaved plants 

 and the more distinct hardy subjects. Nothing, 

 for instance, can look better than a well-developed 

 tuft of the broad-leaved Acanthus latifolius, spring- 

 ing from the turf not far from the margin of a 

 pleasure-ground walk ; and the same is true of 

 the Yuccas, Tritomas, and other things of like 

 character and hardiness. 

 We may make attractive 

 groups of one family, as 

 the hardiest Yuccas ; or 

 splendid groups of one spe- 

 cies like the Pampas graSS Group and single specimens of 



plants isolated on the grass. 



not by any means re- 

 peating the individual, for there are about twenty 

 varieties of this plant known on the Continent, and 

 from these half a dozen really distinct and charm- 

 ing kinds might be selected to form a group. The 

 same applies to the Tritomas, which we usually 

 manage to drill into straight lines ; in an isolated 

 group in a verdant glade they are seen for the first 

 time to best advantage : and what might not be 



