26 The Wild Garden 



borders. There are about twenty species, mostly from 

 Southern and Central Europe, Asia, and Siberia. 



I should perhaps omit the British Forget-me-nots, 

 wishing now chiefly to show what we may do with 

 exotics quite as hardy as our own wildlings, but where 

 a British plant is not wild within the district in which 

 we live, it may be brought into the wild garden \s3th 

 good effect. When I went to Gravetye Manor there 

 was not a trace of the common water Forget-me-not 

 there, in either of the two lakes or in the woodland 

 streams that fed them. We had of course to get so 

 good a plant for the garden to carpet moist beds; 

 it grows very rapidly, and as when the plants were 

 thick the boys took baskets of them and^ threw 

 them into the streamlets and round the margin of the 

 ponds so jthat_in a year we had_deligIit&il__groups 

 of the FOTget-me -not b3r3i? wate r in many places, anc 

 as the ponds and streams of the place flow into the 

 Medway river, no doubt seeds and plants were 

 carried far down its banks. Also, as there was none 

 of our beautiful wood Forget-me-not in the place, I 

 sowed some in freshly sown turf and had the pleasure 

 of seeing it bloom for many years. Thus we may 

 not only introduce hardy exotic plants, but some fair 

 flowers of our own country. How many garden waters 

 do not show some of our handsomest native water 

 plants, as the flowenng^Rush, great Buttercup^and 

 Bog-bean? We have another Forget-me-not, not 

 SntishTwhich surpasses them all— the early Myosotis 



