8 BOOK OF THE COTTAGE GARDEN 



beautify the small garden ; there is no need to court 

 failure with half-hardy subjects or to enervate sturdy 

 wildings by unnecessary shelter and warmth. 



Provided only that it is of good form and colour, one 

 hardy plant, well grown, is worth a dozen rarities of 

 feeble habit and sickly constitution. Flowers raised as 

 curiosities or because there is a one in a hundred chance 

 that they may survive adverse circumstances, have no 

 place in the small garden. Rarely is it advisable to pay 

 the slightest heed to the untried *^ novelties," which to 

 many form the most attractive section of the nursery- 

 man's catalogue. Described in glowing terms, they 

 appear irresistible ; when grown, the few that do not 

 fail altogether, are frequently discovered to be inferior 

 in every way to the recognised types from which they 

 sprang. In large gardens space can be afforded to make 

 a trial of new varieties ; in those of small extent, this 

 can only be done by excluding old favourites of whose 

 value there is no element of uncertainty. 



I can well believe that many people, more particularly 

 those who have plants to sell, will condemn this spirit 

 of cautious conservatism as prejudicial to the best in- 

 terests of garden art. Their strictures, however, need 

 not concern us in the least. Too many books have been 

 written with the unmistakable purpose of pushing the 

 sale of new plants ; too few have urged the fact that 

 beauty most often results from the use of simple materials 

 simply employed. Money is, indeed, the least needed 

 factor to the realisation of a delightful garden, and for 

 this reason the oldest of all the arts offers possibilities 

 which in no way depend for their accomplishment upon 

 wealth or station. All true garden lovers are generous, 

 and it should be an easy matter, so far as hardy peren- 

 nials are concerned, to obtain an ample stock of new 

 plants by a system of exchange with one's neighbours. 

 In this way the cost of maintenance is reduced to a 



