THE BOG GARDEN 171 



frequently to be seen. We do not know enough 

 as yet about the fine Italian species, the story of 

 the " lifting " of which from the Vatican gardens 

 Mr Farrer tells us in his " Rock Garden," to pre- 

 dict that it will eclipse the old one, and prove 

 equally hardy and amenable to the conditions of 

 an English marsh; but these "king cups," to 

 give them an old English name, are typical of 

 the kind of plant suitable for the rough and ready 

 bog garden of the osier brake. The common 

 European globe flower, native in the north and 

 in some parts of Wales, and of which there are 

 some fine foreign species, would be excellent for 

 naturalising in such a spot. It should be planted 

 in early autumn, and will thereafter, if once estab- 

 lished, take care of itself. The strong-growing 

 white buttercups, familiarly called " Fair Maids of 

 France," and pretty both in the single Swiss form 

 and in the double, as they are found in cottage 

 gardens, love a watery situation. The beautiful 

 feathery meadow sweets, e.g. the deep rose-coloured 

 North American queen of the prairie (Spircea 

 lobata), the Japanese S. palmata, the pink S. 

 venusta, and our own native species, S. ulmaria, 

 which has some good garden varieties, would all 

 flourish well, and serve to prolong the flower sea- 

 son into summer. Then there are the upright- 

 growing yellow loose-strifes and creeping-Jenny 

 all of them lysimachias the last of which would 

 clothe the sides of the raised pathway with its 

 long trails studded with yellow cups about mid- 

 summer or later. Mimulus luteus, too, would 

 quickly become colonised; and touch-me-not 



