INTRODUCTION. 



ix. 



maintenance in full charm, vested with those lovely starry growths which are a lesson in 

 cheerfulness, so glorious is their beauty won from the crannies of sterile rock, must be a 

 matter of thought. Here will be ferns — Blechnum, Adiantum, Polypody, Hartstongue, 

 and others. Perhaps the "rockery" will be nothing more than a rugged old wall, and nothing 

 in a garden is more delightful than picturesque stone or brickwork, w ith many a " flower 

 in the crannied wall." The delights to be won from wall gardening are indeed very many, 

 as is the case w ith several special branches of our art, such as water and bog gardening. 



Perhaps this book- may be consulted again by those who possess or would have a 

 wild garden with a fir wood. Here discrimination and thought may create perfectly delightful 

 resorts, informed with all the beauty and glorious colour of Nature itself, and strengthened 

 and enriched by the imperceptible hand of art. The pitfalls are many, but the successful 

 gardener w ill have his stretches of nodding Daffodils in one part of the copse, other places carpeted 

 with Primroses and Violets, or with Lily of the Valley, or again decked with Foxgloves and 

 Mulleins. What can surpass a woodland vista, its foreground brightened by these patches of 

 colour, carrying their influence into the green gloom of the conifers or sun-flecked shade of the 

 deciduous trees beyond. 



These thoughts may serve to sugrj;est how very rich and varied are the aspects and 

 possibilities of gardening. Concerning each and all of them much information w ill be found in 

 these pages. The orchard and fruit garden have been fully considered, and the various 

 requirements necessary for success in indoor ^ardeninu are all given here. The kitchen garden 

 receives the same attention. Greenhouse and hothouse plants, w ith the management of 

 houses, Orchids, flowers of all classes, and trees and shrubs, have their places in the book. 



Many hints will also be found here as to how the gardener shall surmount his difficulties, 

 and destroy the pests that invade his sanctuary. The besi methods of eradicating blight and 

 banishing insect pests are carefully indicated. In short, it is hoped that this Dictionary may be 

 found a sufficient guide in any difficulty or doubt, not less in regard to the cultivation of any 

 particular plant than to the general conditions of gardening, and such matters as the laying out 

 and management of gardens. 



WYCH ELMS BY HEDGEROW 



