THE COTTAGE GARDEN 7 



several kinds are grouped in spreading patches, thereby 

 producing bold colour masses. An effective carpet is 

 usually provided by an unrestricted growth of mosses, 

 saxifrages, and other dwarf plants, which have been 

 encouraged to spread and seed themselves in every 

 direction. How seldom in large gardens do we notice 

 any attempt to clothe in similar fashion the bare patches 

 of earth which form so poor a setting to beds of standard 

 roses or flowering shrubs. Apart altogether from the 

 beauty of these verdant carpets, they directly benefit 

 the larger plants by shielding their roots from the effects 

 of sun and drying winds. And, too, they enable the 

 inclusion of hosts of charming little subjects which are 

 too diminutive for more prominent positions. 



In the Cottage Garden, the bedding-out" system re- 

 ceives no encouragement. It is true that lack of oppor- 

 tunity rather than actual prejudice is responsible for this, 

 but we are concerned not with motives but with results. 

 Even were the cottager possessed of the cumbrous 

 paraphernalia necessary to maintain regular supplies of 

 short-lived plants, it is certain that he would rebel at 

 the waste of labour and material involved in their con- 

 stant planting and replanting. The countryman has a 

 further prejudice against weaklings, either of the animal 

 or vegetable kingdom, and we find that his garden is 

 filled with hardy, robust plants which require no coddl- 

 ing and are able to shift for themselves. Since no 

 attempt is made to include unwilling aliens, the flowers 

 in the Cottage Garden are typical of the neighbourhood. 

 In Cornwall and the sheltered coombes of Devon, the 

 Fuchsia and Myrtle thrive winter-long in the gardens 

 near the sea; in Scotland, the Flame Nasturtium gar- 

 lands grey walls with ropes of scarlet. In every part 

 of the country, from highest north to furthest south, 

 there are shrubs and plants thoroughly acclimatised to 

 each particular locality. A tithe of these will suffice to 



