ii6 



ROYAL GARDENS 



Rose and many more. Thousands of Violas are planted to 

 clothe the ground among the Roses. Varieties are chosen 

 that do their duty well on a soil unkindly to this plant. 



Sweet-scented Stocks are given an extensive border to 

 themselves, over 2000 being planted of varieties of that 

 special strain grown in East Lothian. One of the most 

 beautiful of bedding plants is the Antirrhinum. So much 

 has been done to improve this plant that now every possible 

 shade of colour (except blue) is available. At Claremont 

 they are much used. Massed by the thousand, they form 

 one of the chief features of the bedding arrangements. 

 Pentstemons, too, are planted in huge borders. Lovely 

 groups of the much-esteemed Crimson Gem and Southgate 

 Gem are here. Pink colours are represented by a lovely 

 variety called Daydream, and White Giant is most imposing. 

 Other flowers of an annual or half-hardy nature — tall Lark- 

 spurs, Sweet Peas, Gladioli and Chrysanthemums find a home 

 here too. In the flower garden proper, more tender bedding 

 plants are used. There you will find tall Heliotrope, Ver- 

 benas, Calceolarias, Standard Fuchsias and a host of plants 

 that are adapted to this purpose, which do duty outside 

 for the summer months, and then are safely housed under 

 glass for the winter. 



The opinion may be expressed, however, that the future 

 will see the numbers of many of the above-mentioned plants 

 lessened in these gardens, as there is rapidly being got 

 together a remarkably varied and choice collection of 

 herbaceous plants. Several borders are already filled with 

 them, and although but recently planted they give a foretaste 

 of what they will become when firmly established. Borders 

 devoted to hardy plants are so often made too narrow, and 

 frequently the plants are grouped without regard to height, 

 time of flowering and space necessary to their full develop- 

 ment, that the hardy plant border (which ought to be the 

 glory of a garden) is sometimes a miserable spectacle offend- 

 ing the eye and detracting from the artistic appearance of 

 the whole. All these errors have been avoided here. Broad 



