82 TOWN AND WINDOW GARDENING 



and thought, and got out of old grooves ; but they can do the 

 hard work, and are quick to take ideas. Our Fern-bank 

 was not allowed to be grotto-y. Not a scrap of clinker, 

 nor a flint, nor a shell — least of all a fossil — was permitted 

 to come near it. We waved the border up and down in 

 quite irregular fashion with hills and dales and comfort- 

 able crannies to hold the plants when they should come. 

 A month or two had to pass before we could plant, and 

 this was fortunate in a way, as things could settle down. 

 We had made the fernery in the spring, and in the 

 autumn we furnished it — a good time for doing so, for in 

 the autumn holidays one finds so many treasures to bring 

 home in box or basket. This was what we did ; and 

 besides that, had ordered a good many beautiful and hardy 

 Ferns from some growers in the south of England. 



I do think this is such a good plan. The more 

 frequented country places have been so depleted by the 

 careless Fern-hunter and the over-zealous field-class, that 

 really there are now few wild Ferns to spare. Whenever 

 I come across any, growing in all their beauty, my impulse 

 is to leave them, not to take them away, especially delicate 

 Ferns like Tricomanes, or the Sea or Bladder Spleenwort ; 

 nor would I ever rifle a lake-side of the Royal Osmunda, 

 unless in Ireland, where it might be growing like a weed. 

 Quite common things we may take a portion of, with 

 care — not the whole root — the Male and Lady-Fern for 

 instance, the Blecknums, the Hart's-tongues from the 

 well-side, and the Polypodies of the wood and hedgerow. 

 Ferns can be moved and planted with safety either in 

 spring or autumn. In the garden for dividing and 

 replanting, we find February the best month. 



In making a Fern-bank it must never be forgotten 

 that, though the hardy kinds stand cold well, they do hate 

 draught. We carried our border round a little at both 

 ends, and planted shrubs so as to make it quite a cosy 

 corner. The wall itself had been stocked with climbers — 



