THE WILD GARDEN. 



To understand the aim of this Httle book, it is 

 desirable to take a broad glance at the past and 

 present state of our flower-gardens. From about 

 twenty years ago, back to the time of Shake- 

 speare, the flowers of an English garden were 

 nearly all hardy ones : they came from northern or 

 temperate regions, in most cases from climates 

 very like our own ; they were as hardy as our 

 weeds ; they bloomed early in the keen spring air, 

 and late in the wet autumn gusts, as well as in the 

 favoured summer's day. 



The daughters of the year, 

 One after one, thro' that still garden passed. 



Passages from our greatest poets and writers — 

 Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, and others — embody 

 the names of the principal classes of flowers used 

 in this ancient style of gardening, and show us what 

 infinite delight it was capable of affording ; and its 

 B 2 



