4 The Wild Garden 



It is beyond the power of pen or pencil to picture 

 the beauty of these plants. Innumerable and infinitely 

 varied scenes occur in all northern and temperate 

 regions, at many different elevations, the loveliness 

 of which it is impossible to portray; the essential 

 thing to bear in mind is that the plants that go to 

 form them are hardy, and will thrive in our climate 

 as well as native plants. 



Such beauty may be realized in every wood and 

 copse and shrubbery that screens our ' trim gardens.' 

 Naturally our woods and wilds have no little loveliness 

 in spring ; we have here and there the Lily of the 

 Valley and the Snowdrop, and ever5rwhere the Primrose 

 and Cowslip ; the Bluebell and the Foxglove take 

 possession of whole woods ; but, with all our treasures 

 in this way, we have no attractions in or near our 

 gardens compared with what it is within our power 

 to create. There are many countries, with winters 

 colder than our own, that have a rich flora; and by 

 choosing the hardiest exotics and planting them 

 without the garden, we may form garden pictures. 

 To some a plant in a free state is more charming than 

 any garden denizen. It is taking care of itself; and, 

 moreover, it is usually surrounded by some degree 

 of graceful wild spray— the green above, and the moss 

 or grass around. 



Numbers of plants of the highest order of beauty 

 may be at home in the spaces now devoted to rank 

 grass and weeds, and by wood walks in our shrubberies. 



