Gardens of the Poets 
■i 1 7 
combe. Of it I never weary, and for it I am ever 
grateful. 
Shakespeare Gardens, or Shakespeare Borders, 
too, are laid out and set with every tree, shrub, and 
flower named in Shakespeare, and these are over 
two hundred in number. A distinguishing mark 
of the Shakespeare Border of Lady Warwick is the 
peculiar label set alongside each plant. This label 
is of pottery, greenish-brown in tint, shaped like a 
butterfly, bearing on its wings a quotation of a few 
words and the play reference relating to each special 
plant. Of course these words have been fired in 
and are thus permanent. Pretty as they are in 
themselves they must be disfiguring to the borders 
— as all labels are in a garden. 
In the garden at Hillside, near Albany, New 
York, grows a green and flourishing Shakespeare 
Border, gathered ten years ago by the mistress of 
the garden. I use the terms green and flourishing 
with exactness in this connection, for a great impres- 
sion made by this border is of its thriving health, 
and also of the predominance of green leafage of 
every variety, shape, manner of growth, and oddness 
of tint. In this latter respect it is infinitely more 
beautiful than the ordinary border, varying from 
silvery glaucous green through greens of yellow 
or brownish shade to the blue-black nrreens of some 
herbs ; and among these green leaves are many of 
sweet or pungent scent, and of medicinal qualities, 
such as are seldom grown to-day save in some such 
choice and chosen spot. There is less bloom in 
this Shakespeare Border than in our modern flower 
