304 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 



Phyllocladus rhomboidalis, Azara microphylla, among the num- 

 ber. At Carclew, Benthamias, the seeds of which were first 

 sent home to England from Ceylon by Sir Anthony Buller, 

 flourish ; some of the original ones still grow in the garden at 

 Heligan, where they were first planted. Still more favourable 

 is the climate of the Scilly Isles, and lately this has been taken 

 advantage of for growing narcissi. Mr. Dorrien Smith started 

 the culture, and during the last ten years of the century this 

 commerce steadily increased, and thousands of cut flowers 

 were sent to the London markets. 1 In the islands in February 

 there are acres of narcissi in bloom, which are picked and sent 

 off to London. Fields of many acres of Poet's Narcissus were 

 planted, and quantities of the polyanthus varieties are also 

 grown. The daffodil was then coming prominently into 

 notice, and each type was being enormously developed. 2 



In carrying out the idea of the wild garden, the spring 

 garden was completely transformed. Instead of consisting 

 only of a few tulips and hyacinths bedded out, it became a 

 fairyland, with thousands of narcissi and many other bulbs, 

 such as Scitta sibirica, Chionodoxa Lucilia, or Tulifa silvestris, 

 naturalized and planted in masses on grass, in glades, or on 

 the edges of lawns. These gave a brilliant effect before the 

 summer flowers made their appearance. There is also another 

 kind of spring garden which came into fashion about the same 

 time, and was first most successfully carried out at Belvoir. 

 Not only were the beds filled with " Forget-me-nots," Iris 

 reticulata and Iris sibirica, Silenes, Violas, Wall-flowers, or 

 Heuchera sanguinea, Aubretias, Cerastium tomentosum, and 

 such-like, but many Primulas, Anemones, Gentians, Cyclamens, 

 and various alpines were naturalized on a vast rock garden. 



No sooner had wild gardening, with all the possibilities it 

 opened up for the increased cultivation of hardy plants, drawn 

 a host of gardeners beneath its standard than a rival campaign 

 was embarked on. 3 The bringing back of forsaken hardy 



1 " Thirty-and-a-half tons of flowers, principally narcissi, or 3,258,000 

 blooms in 4,849 boxes, reached Penzance from the Scilly Isles yester- 

 day." — Daily Telegraph, February 26, 1896. 



2 Ye Narcissus, a Daffodil Flower. By Barr, 1884. 



3 The Formal Garden (Bloomfield and Thomas, 1892), Garden Craft, 

 Old and New (John Sedding, 189-). 



