THE BOG GARDEN 167 



amount of moisture; but it does not want more 

 than it can hold. The surface of such a bed, if it be 

 of tolerable breadth, need not be at one uniform 

 level. Some plants will enjoy the gentle trickle 

 from a hidden pipe near their roots, while others 

 will do better on a hillock where the soil, though 

 not dry, is less saturated with moisture. Stepping 

 stones in the hollows, or a raised pathway winding 

 in and out, will add greatly both to comfort and 

 pleasure. Nothing is more tantalising than to be 

 prevented from full sight of a new or interesting 

 flower by inability to get near enough to it. 



Naturally the choice of plants will be restricted, 

 not only as to number, but in character, by the 

 size of the bed. It will not do to introduce spread- 

 ing bamboos or certain kinds of iris or coarse- 

 growing willow herbs into a limited space, however 

 much they may seem, at the moment, to suit the 

 situation ; for they would soon take entire pos- 

 session, and oust the more delicate occupants. If 

 shelter from north or east is desirable, no shrubs 

 are more suitable, at least in the southern counties, 

 than the so-called Ghent azaleas, which are really 

 the descendants of two or three American species. 

 These are perfectly hardy, and thrive in moist 

 peaty soil, and would always give the right effect 

 in fringing one side of the bed. Where azaleas 

 would not answer, and for summer greenery, hardy 

 ferns of the osmunda and lady-fern types, and 

 handsome foliage plants, like Gunnera scabra, for 

 large space, or Saxifraga peltata where a smaller 

 plant of somewhat like character is wanted, would 

 provide a little shade. Flowering plants suited to 



