lo BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



house, store-room, or other site. The plants in most 

 gardens look as though they have merely come to pay 

 an afternoon call, dressed exactly h la mode, speaking 

 always "cumeelfo" — like the people of Troy Town, 

 and elsewhere — giving one the certain knowledge that 

 they will only say the right thing, look the right thing, 

 and leave at the right time, unregretted and unmissed. 

 The " comfortably-at-home " effect is produced mainly 

 by three causes — firstly, the presence of abundant 

 deciduous trees and shrubs, giving infinitely varied 

 effects of light and shade ; secondly, the arrangement 

 of the plants in bold groups of single species ; and, 

 thirdly, the provision of each separate plant with depth 

 of suitable soil, and space to develop its individual form. 

 There is plenty of background, and not too much 

 episode. 



Country people often think that the way to enjoy 

 London is to spend day and night in one continuous 

 round of " sight" seeing. In like manner, people often 

 have an idea that the perfect garden is a continuous 

 sheet of wonderful flowers. How great is the fallacy 

 contained in this idea it should be needless to point out. 

 Leaf and stem, light and shade and fragrance, these are 

 quite as essential parts of a garden as are the "blooms" 

 of the gardening showman. 



An eye for beauty is largely a product of training 

 and experience. A soul and a brain there must be as a 

 basis, but "taste" is to a large extent cultivated. One 

 must have read much before one is able to appreciate 

 the style of a Ruskin or a Pater, a Maeterlinck or a 

 Le Gallienne ; one must have studied many pictures 

 before being able to realise the beauty of the works of 

 the great artists ; and in like manner one must needs 

 have loved and watched plants long and steadfastly 

 before the beauty of winter twig and summer leaf comes 

 home to him. 



