FLOWER-BORDER AND PERGOLA 



not be mucli room left for the Clematis, but then it 

 will have become bare below, and can ramble over the 

 wall on the north side, and, in any case, it is a plant 

 with a not very long lifetime, and will be nearly or 

 quite worn out before its root-space is reached or 

 wanted by its neighbours. Next on the wall is the 

 beautiful Rose Acacia {Robinia hispida). It is perfectly 

 hardy, but the wood is so brittle that it breaks off 

 short with the slightest weight of wind or snow or 

 raiQ. I never could understand why a hardy shrub 

 was created so brittle, or how it behaves in its native 

 place. I look in my "Nicholson," and see that it 

 comes from North America. Now, North America 

 is a large place, and there may be in it favoured 

 spots where there is no snow, and only the very 

 gentlest rain, and so well sheltered that the wind only 

 blows in faintest breaths ; and to judge by its behaviour 

 in our gardens, all these conditions are necessary for 

 its well-being. This troublesome quality of brittleness 

 no doubt accoimts for its being so seldom seen in 

 gardens. I began to think it hopeless when, after 

 three plantings in the open, it was again wrecked, but 

 at last had the happy idea of training it on a wall. 

 Even there, though it is looked over and tied in twice 

 a year, a branch or two often gets broken. But I 

 do not regret having given it the space, as the wall 

 could hardly have had a better ornament, so beautiful 

 are its rosy flower-clusters and pale-green leaves. As 

 it inclines to be leggy below, I have trained a Crimson 



