Shrubbery, Plantation, and Wood 91 



wanted to grow our Roses and Carnations, and the 

 many things on which the beauty of the flower-garden 

 depends throughout our summer. So I put it pretty 

 freely under a plantation of Hollies, right out of the 

 garden, in a place never disturbed, and there it takes 

 care of itself, and flowers abundantly without any 

 kind of attention. A prettier thing could hardly be 

 seen in masses. At about the same time roots of it 

 were scattered in the Moat shaw where there were 

 large oaks overhead, and the usual underwood. 

 They have done pretty well every year since, but 

 each year they get stronger, and this year we have 

 been surprised at their beauty, especially in the 

 lower and richer parts of the copse, where they 

 found a depth of washed down soil near a small 

 stream. It is delightful to creep through the under- 

 growth and see their beautiful forms a yard high or 

 more fully blown and very much prettier than in 

 a mass in the pleasure garden, because they grow 

 separately, and one gets the full value of the arching 

 and bell-laden stem growing out of sheets of Bluebell. 

 No manure or attention has even been given beyond 

 planting — taking a basket of roots, making a few 

 holes in the copse here and there at not too regular 

 intervals and letting the plants alone ever since. In 

 districts where Solomon's Seal grows in the woods 

 there is no need to plant it, but there are many 

 places where it does not; and where there are no 

 woods it is sure to make a charming feature in the 



