154 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



cially amateur gardeners, from doing as they 

 would. All that theory can do is to work out ideal 

 plans for those who have not the leisure to do 

 it for themselves, which may at least suggest 

 schemes that can be modified to suit individual 

 cases and views. A bulb garden, according to 

 circumstances, may or may not be the reality, as 

 well as the dream, of perfection. I know of a bed 

 in a small cottage forecourt which through the 

 springtime of year after year is a medley of snow- 

 drops, crocuses, and squills, followed by chequered 

 fritillaries and tulips. This bed remains, appar- 

 ently untouched, except for a little surface dressing 

 in the autumn ; but every summer, when the bulbs 

 go out of flower, pink annual larkspurs and love- 

 in-the-mist, probably self-sown, take their place, 

 and though, as we know, effects depend much upon 

 environment, the result in that particular spot is 

 dainty and charming, and could scarcely be bet- 

 tered. On the other hand, it is not uncommon, 

 more particularly in the garden of a specialist, to 

 see a border which was full of interest in early 

 spring looking for the rest of the year like a blot 

 upon a fair page. The solution for that kind of 

 difficulty, which is not always to be avoided, is 

 to choose a less prominent position for the indul- 

 gence of that peculiar hobby. 



It may be taken as an axiom that it is a very 

 hard matter indeed to keep a bulb garden always 

 in evidence and at presentable pitch, without help 

 from other plants of a different character. Thus 

 we find ourselves on the horns of a dilemma. 



There are two ways in which these troubles may 



