328 LONDON PARKS © GARDENS 
ment if it really turns red once in a way in October, 
instead of shrivelling up to an inglorious end ! What 
grief is felt when the fuchsia, purchased as a fitting 
centre-piece to the formal geranium bed, loses its buds 
one by one before they expand ! These and many 
similar joys and sorrows are the portion of those who 
tend small gardens in London. How fascinating it is 
to look into back-gardens as the train passes over 
viaducts out of the heart of the town. Certainly the 
differences in their appearance show what skill and 
devotion can accomplish. Nothing but real love of 
the plants, and a tender solicitude for their welfare, can 
induce them to exist in the confined areas and stifling 
atmosphere of the average London garden. But even 
these inauspicious surroundings may be brightened by 
flowers. When those absolutely ignorant of the require¬ 
ments of plant life take to gardening in the country, 
they have Nature at hand to help them. The sunlight, 
air, and good soil supplement their deficiencies of know¬ 
ledge, and, though terribly handicapped by careless 
planting, unsuitable situations, want of water, and such 
drawbacks, the plants can struggle with success to main¬ 
tain their natural beauty. But let the ignorant try in 
town to grow plants, where all the conditions militate 
against them, instead of assisting, and the results are 
very different. For instance, many a small back-garden, 
or even window box, is planted year after year with no 
renewal of the soil. The crumbling mould, which is 
either caked hard or pours like dust from the hand, is 
completely exhausted, and the poor plants are starved. 
They should be given plenty of what in gardeners’ 
slang is called “ good stuff,” if they are to grow in such 
adverse conditions. A little of the money expended on 
