THE WILD GARDEN 



66= 



Pride, I\y-leaved Toadflax, St. John's 

 Wort, Periwinkle, Bellflower and Fox- 

 glove. The paths leading to these leafy 

 dells were cunningly contrived, and, hke 

 some merry child at play, would wend 

 hither and thither, and at the moment 

 least expected discover to you the goal. 

 Vigorous creepers climbed high up some 

 tree-trunks, chief among them being 

 Dutchman's Pipe, clambering Roses, orna- 

 mental Mnes, the large-leaved Irish Ivy, 

 \'irginian Creeper, Polygonum or Bind- 

 weed, and Old Man's Beard or Tra\-eller's 

 Joy. Most of these veiled rather than 

 hid the giant boles, scarcely detracting 

 from their innate charm while investing 

 them with a fresh strange beauty. 



Then in high summer-time the glory of 

 this little \\'ild garden lay in its clumps of 

 orange and scarlet Lihes, Madonna Lilies, 

 Azaleas, ]\Iock Orange and Giant Spiraea ; 

 and round about the little pond there 

 clustered golden Marsh Marigolds. Siberian 

 Iris, Lad^^'s Smock, Flag Iris. Japanese 

 Iris, Reeds, Rushes and Sedges. And 

 casual sunbeams filtering through the Fir- 

 tree tops, touched to brighter lustre the 

 moisture-loving flowers, and brought an 

 unwonted radiance to the water surface. 



But after all there is no wild garden 

 comparable \\'ith that fashioned by Nature 

 with her own wild flowers. Take note of 

 common effects on the woodland fringe. 

 the roadside ditch, the hidden hollow. 

 and see with what simple material Na- 

 ture achieves her most gorgeous effects. 

 Flowers are not found in twos and threes 



dotted here and dotted there, but in 

 bold and striking groups, in soft and 

 graceful masses. First of all choosing 

 the spot that grows them best. Nature 

 poses them in great sheets of leaf and 

 flower so skilfuUy that while they combine 

 to form one harmonious whole, each is 

 complete and satisfying in itself. The 

 most fascinating wild-flower scene I 

 have ever come across was found in a 

 meadow in South Bucks. From end to 

 end, froni side to side, bounded only by 

 the limiting hedges, the meadow grass 

 was covered so thickly as from a short 

 distance to appear hidden by the Purple 

 Orchis, a great and wonderful mass of 

 colour such as the wild flowers of this 

 countrv seldom deign to show. Another 

 scene that haunts the memory and brings 

 home to one the wondrous beauty of even 

 the prosaic highway is that of a small 

 pond, its stagnant surface smothered 

 beneath white, yellow-centred blooms of 

 the Water Crowfoot. 



He who would plant a wild garden 

 should carry such scenes as these in his 

 mind's eye. They will influence his work, 

 and perchance when the garden has grown 

 it may be found that the fascinating spell 

 which memory weaves has imparted to 

 the artificial garden something of the 

 naturalness of the wayside and the wilds, 

 a naturalness that admits of no explanation 

 yet carries with it the glamour that dis- 

 tinguishes a garden from a mere collection 

 of plants. 



H. H. Thom.\s. 



