156 The Wild Garden 



Daisies will ,form a very interesting aspect of vegetation. 

 It is that which one sees in American woods in late summer 

 and autumn when the Golden Rods and Asters are seen in 

 bloom together. It is one of numerous aspects of the 

 vegetation of other countries which the ' wild garden ' will 

 make possible in gardens. To produce such effects the 

 plants must, of course, be planted in some quantity, and not 

 repeated all over the place or mixed up with many other 

 things. Nearly 200 species are known, about 150 of which 

 form part of the rich vegetation of North America. These 

 fine plants inhabit that great continent, from Mexico— where 

 a few are found — to the United States and Canada, where 

 they abound, and even up to the regions far north of that 

 quarter of the world. 



" In my own garden, at Gravetye, many thousands of these 

 Asters were massed in picturesque ways for the first time : 

 almost every kind in cultivation in gardens in broken but 

 effective groups between the cedars, yews, and other ever- 

 green trees near the house. The trees were planted in 

 a much more open way than is customary, thus avoiding 

 a crowded growth. The Asters kept the ground quite 

 furnished and clean, and were often very beautiful in the 

 autumn winds. They were never staked and perfectly hardy 

 they required no attention after planting. As these plan- 

 tations, however, were really part of the garden, some more 

 attention was given the Starworts than would have been the 

 case in a wild garden ; that is to say that after two or three 

 years in the same place they were moved, to encourage 

 growth and a longer bloom. The more vigorous of the 

 species — and indeed all of them — may be naturalized in open 

 woods or copses, or by river banks and in hedgerows. 

 Milk Vetch, Astragalus.— A numerous family of hardy 



