VII. 
ROCKERIES AND FERNS. 
Says a writer on flowers : “I would have, in a large 
flower garden, a corner or a belt, where nature and apparent 
neglect should reign throughout the season. I say ap¬ 
parent neglect, for, of course, noxious weeds must be ex¬ 
terminated everywhere. Yet in this unmolested ground 
should grow aquilegia, lychnis, hollyhock, aconite, del- 
phinum, dicentra, foxglove, lathyrus, cardinal-flower, peo¬ 
nies, phlox, campanula, yucca, filamentosa, sweet-briers also, 
and many other low bushes, if there were room enough. I 
would have the creepers there, too, such as vinca, money¬ 
worts, partridge-berry, ground-pine, and all hardy trailers, 
native or foreign, that will endure our climate. The lower 
plants of my lazy bed should be hellebore, trilliums, 
hepaticas, star of Bethlehem, hardiest of the asphodels. 
Clematis erecta should be there, also mullein-pink, daisies, 
gentian, alkanet, violets, and sedum, while mother-thyme, 
hyssop, and other hardy herbs should sun themselves on the 
borders of my natural garden / 5 
A very pretty idea where there is room to indulge i t, 
and it may be partly carried out in a rockery of moderate 
dimensions by those who have not space enough for this at¬ 
tractive scheme. A rockery, when placed in a proper posi¬ 
tion, is a lovely bit of cultivated wildness, a sort of pre¬ 
meditated happening , that adds much to the beauty of a 
rural residence. But a level plain of grass or the center of 
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