TVoodgate^ Four Oaks. 



1 1 



WOOD 



disturbed. It consisted of red sand and gravel with scarcely any admixture either 

 of clay or lime and over it, separated by a sharp line of demarcation, was a top layer 

 ol black vegetable leaf -mould six inches 

 thick, the spoil of unnumbered autumns. 

 In the mixture of this mould with the 

 sand rhododendrons grow with extreme 

 freedom owing to the absence of hme, as 

 a noble bank of flowers at the north-east 

 corner of the garden testifies. For many 

 garden denizens this mixture proved too 

 vigorously acid, 

 and for about 

 two years it 

 killed almost 

 everything that 

 was planted, 

 but time and 

 lime have made 

 it amenable. 

 Even now very 

 deep planting is 

 necessary, as the 

 top soil dries off 

 very rapidly in 

 hot weather. 

 Lilies of various kinds, es- 

 pecially Lilium auratum, 

 speciosum, monadelphum and 

 the Canadian varieties, 

 do very well, while every sort 

 of campanula flourishes exceed- 

 ingly. Those charming bulbs 

 that we owe to South Africa, 

 ixias and sparaxis, with the 

 hardy calochorti from North 

 America, stand the winter well 

 by being covered with a little 

 bracken, which preserves them sufficiently from 

 frosts. The Calif ornian poppy wort, delicate 

 alike in the texture of its flowers and its 

 fragrance, adds its stately beauty and spreads 

 freely underground, but Asclepias tuberosa 

 (better called Butterfly Silkweed) point blank 

 refuses to grow despite the sandy soil which 

 text-books preach for it. Needless to say, 

 before roses could be induced to make their 

 home here, no little clay was imported, but, 



that done, they grow well, and -delphiniums, in common with most herbaceous 

 things, add the charms of their serried spikes in blues from lavender to indigo. 

 Though Mr. Bidlake is skilful more than common with his planting, the garden owes 



YEW 

 HEDGE 



JAPANESE 

 IRIS 



FIG. 12. — WOODGATE : GARDEN PLAN. 



