i6 The Wild Garden. 



the great mountains of Europe ; from Greece and 

 Italy and Spain, from the sunny hills of Asia 

 Minor ; from the arctic regions of the great conti- 

 nents — in; a word, from almost every region inte- 

 resting to the traveller he may bring seeds or plants 

 and establish round his home the pleasantest 

 souvenirs of the various scenes he has visited. 



Moreover, the great merit of permanence belongs 

 to this delightful phase of gardening. Select a wild 

 rough slope, and embellish it with the handsomest 

 and hardiest climbing plants, — say the noble moun- 

 tain Clematis from Nepal, the sweet C. Flammula 

 from Southern Europe, and the magnificent new 

 hybrid Clematises, (if the earth be rich and there 

 are rocks and banks on which they can be so 

 arranged that they will not be overrun by coarser 

 kinds, and that their masses of shoots may spread 

 and bask in the sun till they glow into sheets of 

 purple of various shades) " Virginian creepers " in 

 variety, Rubus biflorus, with its whitewashed stems, 

 and other kinds ; various species of hardy vines, 

 Aristolochias, Jasmines, Honeysuckles — British 

 and European, wild Roses, etc. Arranged with 

 some judgment at first, such a colony might be left 

 to take care of itself; time would but add to its 

 attractions, and the owner might go away for ten 



