NINETEENTH CENTURY 301 



blossom and perfect their growth before hay-time." In such 

 places he advocated the planting of spring-flowering bulbs, 

 Poet's Narcissus, Daffodils, Anemones, Tulips (especially 

 Tulipa sylvestris), Star of Bethlehem, and so forth. One 

 of the first places where " wild gardening " in woods was 

 carried out was Longleat, by Lord Bath's forester Berry. 

 Mr. G. F. Wilson's garden at Wisley, which has since become 

 the property of the Royal Horticultural Society, was one of 

 the most successful on a smaller scale. 1 Very soon " wild 

 gardening " became the fashion, and there seemed to be a 

 general revolt against the old " bedding out." Within ten 

 years of the publication of the first books on the subject the 

 new style had many adherents, and although occasionally a 

 want of neatness and a growth of weeds were considered the 

 essential characteristic of a wild garden, as a rule the results 

 achieved were very charming. 



It was about this time also that the " rock garden " was first 

 developed. Among the plants which had recently been intro- 

 duced was an immense number whose natural place of growth 

 was on mountain slopes or between the crevices of stones. It 

 seemed only reasonable to try and give these plants, as nearly 

 as possible, the same conditions of life in England as on their 

 native hills. The result of this desire was the formation of 

 rock gardens, very different from the pile of stones which 

 went by the name of a " rockery " fifty years earlier. These new 

 rock gardens have been in every way successful, as rare alpines, 

 which it was thought almost impossible to grow in this 

 country, have been made to thrive. One of the first to be 

 constructed was the well-known example at Kew. This was 

 begun in 1882, the nucleus of the collection of plants, being 

 some 2,600 bequeathed by George Carling Joad. Every 

 season new things of interest have been added, and it is wonder- 

 ful to see plants from nearly all the mountain ranges of the 

 world perfectly at home within a few miles of the City of 

 London. The illustration of a typical rock garden is part of 

 a very large one formed a few years later by Lord Redesdale 



1 In "Some Results" at the end of The Wild Garden, Crowsley, 

 Oxfordshire, Tew Park, and Mr. Hewittson's garden at Weybridge are 

 mentioned as among the earliest. 



