CHAPTER XIII 
MY HERBACEOUS GARDEN 
What an ugly name ! But would “ My 
Perennial Garden,” even if correct, sound any 
better, or “ My Hardy Plant Garden ” ? So I 
must just leave it. It was originally the 
kitchen garden, but as it is close to the 
house and bordering the drive, the vegetables 
have been banished and only the fruit-trees 
retained on high walls, many centuries old, 
which enclose the oblong garden, of half an 
acre, on three sides. The fourth has a low 
terrace, with a high yew hedge behind it, and 
tea roses and yellow jasmine are planted alter- 
nately against the wall ; while in the narrow 
border at its foot are Madonna lilies, their 
heads rising well above it, and their roots 
carpeted with Iceland poppies. 
The main walk which crosses the garden at 
the south end is paved with brick, and has 
solid posts at intervals along it on both sides, 
with clematis and roses on each, and a rope 
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