304 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 
Phyllocladus rhomboidalis, Azara microphylla, among the num¬ 
ber. At Carclew, Benthamias, the seeds of which were first 
sent home to England from Ceylon by Sir Anthony Buller, 
flourish ; some of the original ones still grow in the garden at 
Heligan, where they were first planted. Still more favourable 
is the climate of the Scilly Isles, and lately this has been taken 
advantage of for growing narcissi. Mr. Dorrien Smith started 
the culture, and during the last ten years of the century this 
commerce steadily increased, and thousands of cut flowers 
were sent to the London markets. 1 In the islands in February 
there are acres of narcissi in bloom, which are picked and sent 
off to London. Fields of many acres of Poet’s Narcissus were 
planted, and quantities of the polyanthus varieties are also 
grown. The daffodil was then coming prominently into 
notice, and each type was being enormously developed. 2 
In carrying out the idea of the wild garden, the spring 
garden was completely transformed. Instead of consisting 
only of a few tulips and hyacinths bedded out, it became a 
fairyland, with thousands of narcissi and many other bulbs, 
such as Scilia sibirica, Chionodoxa Lucilice , or Tulipa silvestris, 
naturalized and planted in masses on grass, in glades, or on 
the edges of lawns. These gave a brilliant effect before the 
summer flowers made their appearance. There is also another 
kind of spring garden which came into fashion about the same 
time, and was first most successfully carried out at Belvoir. 
Not only were the beds filled with “ Forget-me-nots,” Iris 
reticulata and Iris sibirica, Silenes, Violas, Wall-flowers, or 
Heuchera sanguinea, Aubretias, Cerastium tomentosum, and 
such-like, but many Primulas, Anemones, Gentians, Cyclamens, 
and various alpines were naturalized on a vast rock garden. 
No sooner had wild gardening, with all the possibilities it 
opened up for the increased cultivation of hardy plants, drawn 
a host of gardeners beneath its standard than a rival campaign 
was embarked on. 3 The bringing back of forsaken hardy 
1 “ Thirty-and-a-half tons of flowers, principally narcissi, or 3,258,000 
blooms in 4,849 boxes, reached Penzance from the Scilly Isles yester¬ 
day.”— Daily Telegraph , February 26, 1896. 
2 Ye Narcissus, a Daffodil Flower. By Barr, 1884. 
3 The Formal Garden (Bloomfield and Thomas, 1892), Garden Craft, 
Old and New (John Sedding, 189-). 
