CHAPTEE XII 



ITALIAN POT GAEDENS: A SUGGESTION 



A WELL-KNOWN French horticulturist, director of 

 many parks, once gave most flattering praise to 

 an English garden. He called it " m jar din 

 intime.^^ These three words sum up what most 

 of us wish our gardens to be. 



We bring to them, from other countries, plants 

 that recall pleasant memories. As we watch these 

 growing happily in our herbaceous borders, thoughts 

 come to us of those who gave them, of happy 

 meetings, and unforgotten scenes. In England 

 we make real friends of our gardens ; we confide 

 many secrets to their safe keeping. Owing to a 

 temperate climate, we have long in which to mark 

 the slow development of bud and blossom. The 

 time of flowering is late, and it remains all the 

 longer for our enjoyment. When spring flowers 

 are over, there are lovelier ones to look forward to. 

 We have not to combat the heat and drought 

 which so speedily bring summer beauty to an end 

 in Italian gardens. It is, no doubt, on account 



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