76 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



It is of no use to disguise the fact that to keep 

 herbaceous borders bright and full of interest, with 

 a succession of perennial flowers for every season, 

 requires considerable knowledge of plants to begin 

 with, and no less forethought in the detail of 

 arrangement, to say nothing of the manual labour 

 which is far from light. It can be done, however, 

 and who can tell all the story of the far-reaching 

 influence of such work when it is successfully car- 

 ried out ? A perfect garden of this type, lying 

 under the shadow of one of the most beautiful 

 of our English cathedrals is very dear to memory. 

 It belonged to one of the ancient ecclesiastical 

 residences of the close, and, in his leisure hours, 

 was the constant care and pride of the venerable 

 chancellor of the cathedral. A broad grass walk 

 smooth as velvet led down to the swift-flowing 

 river which formed the boundary of the garden. 

 On each side of the green path was a long and 

 wide border filled with choicest hardy flowering 

 plants. That was all. There was no attempt at 

 display, no wide-spreading lawn, no grandeur of 

 terrace to distract the eye, over and above the 

 borders which hid the vegetable garden ; only a 

 small green space where low rockeries held the 

 minute and rarest treasures brought home from 

 Alpine climbs. The herbaceous borders were at 

 once the garden and the marvel of it. Gathered 

 from all temperate climates, from mountain and 

 from plain, the flowers stood in their serried ranks, 

 a marshalled host of forms and hues unrivalled 

 every colour chosen, every contrast matched. And 

 over all reigned the spell of most complete order. 



