44 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 



become with them a thing more contemptible than the pro- 

 duction of wall paper, because, instead of gathering round their 

 homes much of the choicest interest of the vegetable kingdom— 

 a thing which every Englishman can do without a particle of 

 expense for artificial heat — -they make a series of blotches, and 

 boast that there is scarcely a leaf to be seen. " I have," says the 

 gentleman above quoted, " amidst hundreds of plants in my own 

 garden, which recall absent friends and far-oif scenes — I have 

 flourishing in my flower-beds Acanthus from • the walls of 

 the Coliseum, Cyclamen from the tomb of Virgil, and Anemone 

 from the cliffs of Sorrento." Where are the associations of the 

 common " bedding " gardener ? where even the fragrance or the 

 beauty of his flowers ? They are mostly devoid of any such 

 thing, simply affording telling colour of some kind — it matters 

 not whether by leaves or flowers. We must change aU this, 

 without destroying any good feature of " bedding out." We must 

 again have our mixed borders, not the old mixed borders, but 

 better than were ever seen. 



There are several other ways of arranging hardy plants in a 

 more beautiful, natural, and pleasing manner, but the mixed 

 border forms a sort of reception room for all comers and at all 

 times. On its front margin you may place your newest Sedum 

 or silvery Saxifrage ; at the back or in the centre your latest 

 Delphinium, Phlox, or Gladiolus ; and therefore it is, on the 

 whole, the most useful arrangement, though it should as a rule 

 be placed in a rather isolated part of the garden, where the 

 extent of the place permits of that. Not that a mixed border is 

 not sufficiently presentable for any position ; but, having many 

 more suitable things to offer for the more open and important 

 surfaces of the garden, this had better be kept in a quiet, 

 retired place, where indeed its interest may be best enjoyed, 

 y no better situation be offered than the kitchen-garden, make 

 a mixed border there by all means. The little nursery depart- 

 ment, if there be one, will also suit ; but best of all, in a large 

 place, would be a quiet strip in the pleasure-ground or flower- 

 garden, separated, if the garden be in the natural style, by a thin 

 shrubbery, from the general scene of the flower-garden. It is 

 vain to lay down any precise rules as to the position or arrange- 

 ment of this or anything else ; for, even if we succeeded in 

 having them adopted, what a sad end would it not lead to — 

 every place like its neighbour! That, above all others, is a 



