68 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



planted in moderation, all is well ; it is their sole use that is aggravating, because a hundred 

 lovely flowers are thrust from the garden. 



The garden should be full of colour at all times, even in winter, when the leaves 

 of Saxifrage, Heuchera, and others are painted with rich hues, and the berries of many 

 a shrub glow against the brown bare branches. With the first coming of spring, flowers 

 welcome us in greater array, Snowdrops and a host of early flowers gladdening the garden 

 until the Tulips open their big crimson globes and the first Roses expand shyly in the sunshine. 



Onward the procession moves, until in rich autumn-tide the Starworts toss their 

 cool-tinted flowers in the September breezes, the Flame-flowers and Scarlet Lobelias are 

 glorious groups of colour, and the Tea Roses even daintier and sweeter than in the poetic 

 time of the queenly flower — the month of June, which is no longer true, Roses are with 

 us from June until the rains and frosts of winter bid them depart. 



Fair is the garden planted with the best perennials, perhaps in groups in the border, 

 or mixed with low evergreens or deciduous shrubs, trying always to get away from beaten 



THE ITALIAN GARDEN AT ASHRIDGE. 



tracks. Never copy your neighbour, or think the border is the only place for these gifts 

 from afar. One may take, as an illustration, the Starwort, or Michaelmas Daisy, which 

 is welcome in the border, it is true, if not bundled up like a sheaf of com ; but these 

 cool -tinted flowers are seen in a prettier aspect amongst shrubs, over which their graceful 

 stems are tossed in wild profusion. 



Another side of the question may be considered, too. The hardv flowers are happy 

 in quite small gardens, whether in the town or the free, pure air of the country. Nor 

 is much preparation of the soil required, unless it be composed of builder's rubbish which 

 would scarce support Daisies. Given reasonable attention, however, and the majority 

 of the hardy perennials described are vigorous almost anywhere, colouring each month of the 

 year, and making life happier by their constant presence. A mixed bordei or beds of hardy 

 flowers must be places for plants to blossom in succession, from the time of the Crocuses until the 

 Christmas Rose, and this is only accomplished by much enthusiastic work' and constant plantings 

 or replantings. A hardy garden demands time and knowledge of the flower world about us. 



