244 GARDENS : THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



almost feel the rhythmic measure with which they pass 

 across the flowery mead. Would that our garden crafts- 

 men had acquired the power of true representation, of 

 lifelike reproduction, which the artist monk attained ! Do 

 we not feel that years of quiet study and contemplation of 

 the real hillside must be the true source of his success ? 

 We who deal with garden design do not paint pictures 

 upon canvas to hang upon walls, we have living materials 

 with which to paint our pictures, and therefore it should 

 be easier for us than it was for Fra Angelico to produce 

 in a garden what we have seen upon the natural hillside. 



How then can we in England, where, alas ! the dear 

 olive does not grow, obtain- a grey-green that will in a 

 measure bear the same quiet colour as that tree of many 

 myths ? Men say it grew upon Adam's grave, whence 

 came the branch taken by the dove to the ark. From it, 

 too, came the wood of our Lord's cross. For this reason, 

 in the South it is supposed that a branch of olive will 

 keep away witches, and therefore in Italy we often see a 

 branch or twig in the centre of a newly sown field. Mules 

 and horses carry a piece of it in their harness, and a 

 fisherman's boat will breast any storm at sea if a spray of 

 olive is on board. In Lombardy, upon Palm Sunday, 

 olive-leaves are blessed and thrown upon the fire to 

 preserve the crops from lightning. 



We Northerners can only fondly call to remembrance 

 these treasured tales, our imagination alone can recall 

 the silver-grey shimmer, the tremor and soft rustle of the 

 leaves. Our nearest make-believe tree that will, in a 

 measure, take the olive's place is the ilex. It can be 

 planted in numbers upon our terraces, and the bright 

 green sword-like leaves of the iris beneath will give some 

 of the glorious effects of rye-grass of which Fra Angelico 

 has made a carpet for his Saints. 



