HYPERICUM CALYCINUM, FOR SHRUBBERIES, &c. 
61 
objects appropriate to these parts, that the taste of the manager is most aptly 
displayed. There is a medium to hit upon between a redundant puerile piling 
of frivolous and misplaced ornament, and an aspect betraying slovenliness and 
neglect. 
By carefully keeping in mind that those things which have hitherto sufficed 
are not always the best state of things that it is possible to produce by an attentive 
observation, encouraging inquiry after fresh means of improvement, and a cautious 
execution, a gradual advancement will be still going on, and the least interesting 
nook in time will be clothed with something to allure the eye and excite 
admiration. 
Perhaps there are few spots in pleasure-grounds generally, upon which these 
observations are more suited to bear, than the line where the ruggedness of the 
grove or plantation and the smoothness of the lawn meet together. A connecting 
link is often wanting. There needs something as an undergrowth to shed verdancy 
beneath the trees where grass will only grow partial^, and few other plants can 
exist. There needs something to lead the eye more gradually and imperceptibly 
from the one to the other. The nakedness of these places, moreover, is a defect 
which must have been observed by every one, since we rarely meet with a 
pleasure-ground that is entirely exempt from it. 
Some time ago the capacity which ivy possesses of flourishing beneath the 
shade and drip of trees, and its consequent adaptability as a carpeting for planta- 
tions instead of grass, was made the subject of comment in the pages of a former 
volume. Without seeking to detract from the merits of ivy for that purpose, we 
now bring another plant under review, which, from its commonness, must be 
almost as familiar to most of our readers — the Hypericum calycinum, or large 
flowering; St. John's Wort. 
— 
The main point which we here seek to enforce, is not so much its utility as a 
general covering, as was proposed, and has in some places been successfully adopted 
with ivy, but its applicability for planting in broad masses near the outskirts of 
plantations and shrubberies, and in the vicinity of the principal walks passing 
through them. It is by no means a novel proposition, but it is one deserving of a 
far more extensive adoption than it receives. We have seen it admirably 
exemplified in several instances, especially and on a large scale at the Deepdene, 
near Dorking. The plant rarely grows much above a foot high, and has a hand- 
some appearance, being furnished with ample evergreen foliage and large yellow 
flowers, which are copiously produced for the greater part of summer and autumn, 
and contribute a considerable amount of show. The density of a mass once planted 
will be continuously increased by the vast number of suckers, which are constantly 
pushing from the root. From this rapid and easy source of extension, there can 
be little trouble or expense incurred in obtaining a sufficient number of plants, and 
there is no risk of losing them with the most ordinary attention in planting. 
When they are intended to grow under trees, it is, however, advisable to plant in 
