100 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



ally, near the sea. Most of our plants of it, which 

 grow very luxuriantly in dense masses, and appear 

 able to stand almost any amount of subdivision, 

 sprang from one small piece that we dug out of the 

 face of a cliff at Weston-super-Mare, and visitors to 

 the Isle of Wight will recall how beautifully miles 

 of the undercliff are decked with it. Its flowers, 

 small in themselves, are grouped into large masses 

 of rich colour, varying in different plants from deep 

 rose-colour to crimson, or, occasionally, white. Its 

 old English name is the setewale ; thus Chaucer, 

 writing in the reign of Edward III., tells how 



"Ther springen herbes grete and smale, 

 The Licoris and the Setewale." 



The idea of deliberately and of set purpose plant- 

 ing garlic in one's garden may be rather a shock 

 to some of our readers, but, truly, there are few 

 flowers of the early Summer more delicately 

 beautiful as we see the white stars clustered to- 

 gether against a background of rock or foliage. 

 The ways of the lover of wild nature appear to be 

 often found perplexing to those other folk. We 

 were showing our rock-garden with some little 

 pride to one of these latter, and he presently espied 

 some fine plants of the upright meadow crowfoot in 

 full bloom rising amidst the great masses of fern. 

 The companion of my walk looked at them 

 dubiously and then said, " I suppose you will 



