go The Wild Garden 



heads of flowers. In this spot the soil is a deep loam, 

 neither too hght nor too heavy, but of such a character as 

 just to suit this Lily as well as all the Martagons, the old 

 white L. candidum, testaceum, and, in fact, all the European 

 kinds. . 



' Besides Lilies may be noticed here — other interesting 

 results — gigantic tufts of Funkias in the shadiest part of the 

 wood, for, as a rule, they like sun. It is clear they are not 

 fastidious in this respect, for finer tufts we have not seen ; 

 those who would relieve the monotony of woodland walks 

 might plant by the margins tufts of F. Sieboldi, F. ovata 

 and F. subcordata, avoiding the small-growing kinds, especially 

 those with variegated foliage. One of the greatest successes 

 has been with the charming little Epigsea repens or May 

 Flower of the N. American woods. Here it forms quite 

 a carpet, amidst the fallen leaves, and under these con- 

 ditions pretty Linnaea borealis also grows.' — Garden. 



A great many beautiful plants haunt the woods, 

 we cannot change their nature easily : and even if we 

 grow them well in open places, their bloom will not 

 be so enduring as in the wood. The secret of 

 wild gardening is adapting plants to the soil. The 

 Solomon's Seal is typical of certain wild garden plants 

 that do not go off early, like Daffodils and Crocus, 

 and therefore require a different position — the friendly 

 shelter of wood or copse. In my district there was 

 not a bit of it wild, and it was important to secure so 

 beautiful a thing in large groups, without giving any 

 of the flower garden to it — I mean places where we 



