1 68 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



few feet below, and in turn trickling away into the woodland 

 lower down, where it can be used to advantage for the 

 purpose we have in mind. In just these happy circumstances, 

 many years ago I spent much time in adding beauty to a 

 phase of gardening not then common, and where the founder 

 of the garden delighted on occasion to roam. An opening in 

 the wood gave all that was desirable, and with sun and 

 warmth and varying degrees of moisture a large area was 

 furnished with the plants varying from such carpeting sub- 

 jects as Anagallis tenella, Sibthorpia europcea, Linncea borealis, 

 andPratia angulata to the giant Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, 

 of several feet high and through. 



There are also peat-loving and loam-loving plants, hand- 

 some Lilies as pardalinum and superbum that reflect their 

 greatest beauty in the woodland bog garden, while dozens of 

 others, Primulas, Trilliums, Sarracenias, Parnassias, Dode- 

 catheons, Cypripediums in variety, Saxifraga Hirculus, Marsh 

 Marigolds, Orchises, Pinguiculas, Droseras and the like may 

 all be grown to perfection in a few square feet of bog. There 

 are, of course, Primulas such as P. japonica and Saxifragas 

 such as peltata that are not quite suited to the smallest of 

 these bog-beds, unless, indeed, they be given place at the 

 outer margins where the chief supply of moisture enters. 

 Just what is suited to any and every case will, of course, 

 depend entirely upon circumstances. Happily there are 

 plant giants like the Gunnera, Osmunda, and Spiraea, to- 

 gether with the miniatures I have already named, that make 

 bog gardening possible in large and small gardens alike, and 

 where the plants of our own marshes and woods may, with 

 others from the higher mountains of Europe and elsewhere, 

 jointly play their part in making this aspect of gardening one 

 of the most fascinating of the year. 



THE HARDY NYMPH^AS OR WATER LILIES 



The following article is by Mr. James Hudson, V.M.H., 

 head gardener at Gunnersbury House, Acton. Mr. Hudson 

 is an expert on hardy Water Lilies, having made a careful 

 study of their requirements for many years : 



Their Popularity. Perhaps no flower among all the British flora is 

 more admired than our common or wild Water Lily, Nymphcea alba. 

 It was about the first of all flowers that claimed my attention nearly 

 sixty years ago. I remember well the lovely effect that was made upon 



