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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4317201 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67874 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67874) diff --git a/old/67874-0.txt b/old/67874-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 61d91c5..0000000 --- a/old/67874-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5002 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Some English Gardens, by Gertrude -Jekyll - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Some English Gardens - -Author: Gertrude Jekyll - -Illustrator: George S. Elgood - -Release Date: April 19, 2022 [eBook #67874] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Cathy Maxam, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME ENGLISH GARDENS *** - - - - - - SOME ENGLISH GARDENS - - - - - [Illustration: PHLOX - - FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. GEORGE E. B. WREY] - - - - - SOME ENGLISH GARDENS - - AFTER DRAWINGS BY - GEORGE S. ELGOOD, R.I. - WITH NOTES BY - GERTRUDE JEKYLL - - - LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. - 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON - NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1904 - - - - -PREFACE - - -The publication of this collection of reproductions of water-colour -drawings would have been impossible without the willing co-operation of -the owners of the originals. Special acknowledgment is therefore due to -them for their kindness and courtesy, both in consenting to such -reproduction and in sparing the pictures from their walls. On pages xi. -and xii. is given a full list of the pictures, together with the names -of the owners to whom we are so greatly indebted. - -We have also had the valuable assistance of Mr. Marcus B. Huish, of The -Fine Art Society, who has taken the greatest interest in the work from -its inception. - - G. S. E. - - G. J. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - _Page_ - -Brockenhurst 1 -Hollyhocks at Blyborough 5 -Great Tangley Manor 8 -Bulwick Hall 11 -Bramham 15 -Melbourne 18 -Berkeley Castle 23 -Summer Flowers 26 -The Yew Alley, Rockingham 33 -Brympton 36 -Balcaskie 39 -Crathes Castle 42 -Kellie Castle 47 -Hardwick 52 -Montacute 55 -Ramscliffe 58 -Levens 63 -Campsey Ashe 67 -Cleeve Prior 70 -Condover 74 -Speke Hall 76 -Garden Roses 79 -Penshurst 82 -Brickwall 87 -Stone Hall, Easton 90 -The Deanery Garden, Rochester 93 -Compton Wynyates 96 -Palmerstown 99 -St. Anne’s, Clontarf 101 -Auchincruive 104 -Yew Arbour: Lyde 107 -Autumn Flowers 110 -Mynthurst 115 -Abbey Leix 118 -Michaelmas Daisies 121 -Arley 125 -Lady Coventry’s Needlework 129 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - _From Pictures in - the possession of_ _To face - page_ - - -Phlox Mr. George E. B. Wrey _Frontispiece_ -The Terrace, Brockenhurst Mr. G. N. Stevens 2 -Brockenhurst: The Garden Gate Miss Radcliffe 4 -Blyborough: Hollyhocks Mr. C. E. Freeling 6 -The Pergola, Great Tangley Mr. Wickham Flower 8 -Bulwick: Autumn Lord Henry Grosvenor 11 -Bulwick: The Gateway Lord Henry Grosvenor 12 -The Pool, Bramham Sir James Whitehead, Bart 16 -Melbourne Mr. W. V. R. Fane 18 -Melbourne: Amorini Mr. J. W. Ford 20 -The Lower Terrace, Berkeley Castle Mr. Albert Wright 24 -Orange Lilies and Larkspur Mr. George C Bompas 26 -White Lilies and Yellow Monkshood Mr. Herbert D. Turner 28 -Purple Campanula Miss Beatrice Hall 30 -The Yew Alley, Rockingham Miss Willmott 34 -The Gateway, Brympton Mr. Edwin Clephan 36 -The Apollo, Balcaskie Miss Bompas 40 -The Yew Walk, Crathes Mr. Charles P. Rowley 42 -Crathes Mr. George C. Bompas 44 -Crathes: Phlox Mrs. Croft 46 -Kellie Castle Mr. Arthur H. Longman 48 -The Forecourt, Hardwick Mr. Aston Webb 52 -Montacute: Sunflowers Mr. E. C. Austen Leigh 56 -Ramscliffe: Orange Lilies and Monkshood Mr. C. E. Freeling 58 -Ramscliffe: Larkspur Miss Kensit 60 -Levens Major Longfield 63 -Levens: Roses and Pinks Mrs. Archibald Parker 65 -The Yew Hedge, Campsey Ashe Mr. H. W. Search 68 -The Twelve Apostles, Cleeve Prior Sir Frederick Wigan 70 -Cleeve Prior: Sunflowers Mr. James Crofts Powell 72 -Condover: The Terrace Steps Miss Austen Leigh 74 -Speke Hall Mr. George S. Elgood 76 -“Viscountess Folkestone” Mr. R. Clarke Edwards 80 -“Gloire de Dijon,” Penshurst Sir Reginald Hanson, Bart. 82 -Penshurst: The Terrace Steps Mr. Frederick Greene 84 -Brickwall, Northiam Mr. R. A. Oswald 88 -Stone Hall, Easton: The Friendship Garden The Countess of Warwick 90 -The Deanery Garden, Rochester Mr. G. A. Tonge 94 -Compton Wynyates Mr. George S. Elgood 96 -China Roses and Lavender, Palmerstown Mrs. Kennedy-Erskine 99 -St. Anne’s, Clontarf Miss Mannering 102 -Auchincruive Mr. R. A. Oswald 104 -The Yew Arbour, Lyde Mr. George E. B. Wrey 107 -Phlox and Daisy Lady Mount-Stephen 112 -Mynthurst Miss Radcliffe 116 -Abbey-Leix Sir James Whitehead, Bart. 118 -Michaelmas Daisies, Munstead Wood Mr. T. Norton Longman 122 -The Alcove, Arley Mrs. Campbell 125 -The Rose Garden, Arley Mrs. Huth 126 -Lady Coventry’s Needlework Mrs. Appleton 129 - - - - -BROCKENHURST - - -The English gardens in which Mr. Elgood delights to paint are for the -most part those that have come to us through the influence of the -Italian Renaissance; those that in common speech we call gardens of -formal design. The remote forefathers of these gardens of Italy, now so -well known to travellers, were the old pleasure-grounds of Rome and the -neighbouring districts, built and planted some sixteen hundred years -ago. - -Though many relics of domestic architecture remain to remind us that -Britain was once a Roman colony, and though it is reasonable to suppose -that the conquerors brought their ways of gardening with them as well as -their ways of building, yet nothing remains in England of any Roman -gardening of any importance, and we may well conclude that our gardens -of formal design came to us from Italy, inspired by those of the -Renaissance, though often modified by French influence. - -Very little gardening, such as we now know it, was done in England -earlier than the sixteenth century. Before that, the houses of the -better class were places of defence; castles, closely encompassed with -wall or moat; the little cultivation within their narrow bounds being -only for food--none for the pleasure of garden beauty. - -But when the country settled down into a peaceful state, and men could -dwell in safety, the great houses that arose were no longer fortresses, -but beautiful homes both within and without, inclosing large garden -spaces, walled with brick or stone only for defence from wild animals, -and divided or encompassed with living hedges of yew or holly or -hornbeam, to break wild winds and to gather on their sunny sides the -life-giving rays that flowers love. - -So grew into life and shape some of the great gardens that still remain; -in the best of them, the old Italian traditions modified by gradual and -insensible evolution into what has become an English style. For it is -significant to observe that in some cases, where a classical model has -been too rigidly followed, or its principles too closely adhered to, -that the result is a thing that remains exotic--that will not assimilate -with the natural conditions of our climate and landscape. What is right -and fitting in Italy is not necessarily right in England. The general -principles may be imported, and may grow into something absolutely -right, but they cannot be compelled or coerced into fitness, any more -than we can take the myrtles and lentisks of the Mediterranean region -and expect them to grow on our middle-England hill-sides. This is so -much the case, with what one may call the temperament of a region and -climate, that even within the small geographical area of our islands, -the comparative suitability of the more distinctly Italian style may be -clearly perceived, for on our southern coasts it is much more possible -than in the much colder and bleaker midlands. - -Thus we find that one of the best of the rather nearly Italian gardens -is at Brockenhurst in the New Forest, not far from the warm waters of -the Solent. The garden, in its present state, was laid out by the late -Mr. John Morant, one of a long line of the same name owning this forest -property. He had absorbed the spirit of the pure Italian gardens, and -his fine taste knew how to bring it forth again, and place it with a -sure hand on English soil. - -It is none the less beautiful because it is a garden almost without -flowers, so important and satisfying are its permanent forms of living -green walls, with their own proper enrichment of ball and spire, bracket -and buttress, and so fine is the design of the actual masonry and -sculpture. - -The large rectangular pool, known as the Canal, bordered with a bold -kerb, has at its upper end a double stair-way; the retaining wall at the -head of the basin is cunningly wrought into buttress and niche. Every -niche has its appropriate sculpture and each buttress-pier its urn-like -finial. On the upper level is a circular fountain bordered by the same -kerb in lesser proportion, with stone vases on its circumference. The -broad walk on both levels is bounded by close walls of living - -[Illustration: THE TERRACE, BROCKENHURST - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. G. N. STEVENS] - -greenery; on the upper level swinging round in a half circle, in which -are cut arched niches. In each leafy niche is a bust of a Cæsar in -marble on a tall term-shaped pedestal. Orange trees in tubs stand by the -sides of the Canal. This is the most ornate portion of the garden, but -its whole extent is designed with equal care. There is a wide -bowling-green for quiet play; turf walks within walls of living green; -everywhere that feeling of repose and ease of mind and satisfaction that -comes of good balance and proportion. It shows the classical sentiment -thoroughly assimilated, and a judicious interpretation of it brought -forth in a form not only possible but eminently successful, as a garden -of Italy translated into the soil of one of our Southern Counties. - -Whether or not it is in itself the kind of gardening best suited for -England may be open to doubt, but at least it is the work of a man who -knew what he wanted and did it as well as it could possibly be done. -Throughout it bears evidence of the work of a master. There is no doubt, -no ambiguity as to what is intended. The strong will orders, the docile -stone and vegetation obey. It is full-dress gardening, stately, -princely, full of dignity; gardening that has the courtly sentiment. It -seems to demand that the actual working of it should be kept out of -sight. Whereas in a homely garden it is pleasant to see people at work, -and their tools and implements ready to their hands, here there must be -no visible intrusion of wheelbarrow or shirt-sleeved labour. - -Possibly the sentiment of a garden for state alone was the more -gratifying to its owner because of the near neighbourhood of miles upon -miles of wild, free forest; land of the same character being inclosed -within the property; the tall trees showing above the outer hedges and -playing to the lightest airs of wind in an almost strange contrast to -the inflexible green boundaries of the ordered garden. - -The danger that awaits such a garden, now just coming to its early -prime, is that the careful hand should be relaxed. It is an heritage -that carries with it much responsibility; moreover, it would be ruined -by the addition of any commonplace gardening. Winter and summer it is -nearly complete in itself; only in summer flowers show as brilliant -jewels in its marble vases and in its one restricted parterre of -box-edged beds. - -It is a place whose design must always dominate the personal wishes, -should they desire other expression, of the succeeding owners. The -borders of hardy and half-hardy plants, that in nine gardens out of ten -present the most obvious ways of enjoying the beauty of flowers, are -here out of place. In some rare cases it might not be impossible to -introduce some beautiful climbing plant or plant of other habit, that -would be in right harmony with the design, but it should only be -attempted by an artist who has such knowledge of, and sympathy with, -refined architecture as will be sure to guide him aright, and such a -consummate knowledge of plants as will at once present to his mind the -identity of the only possible plants that could so be used. Any mistaken -choice or introduction of unsuitable plants would grievously mar the -design and would introduce an element of jarring incongruity such as -might easily be debased into vulgarity. - -There is no reason why such other gardening may not be rightly done even -at Brockenhurst, but it should not encroach upon or be mixed up with an -Italian design. Its place would be in quite another portion of the -grounds. - -[Illustration: BROCKENHURST: THE GARDEN GATE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MISS RADCLIFFE] - - - - -HOLLYHOCKS AT BLYBOROUGH - - -The climate of North Lincolnshire is by no means one of the most -favourable of our islands, but the good gardener accepts the conditions -of the place, faces the obstacles, fights the difficulties, and -conquers. - -Here is a large walled garden, originally all kitchen garden; the length -equal to twice the breadth, divided in the middle to form two squares. -It is further subdivided in the usual manner with walks parallel to the -walls, some ten feet away from them, and other walks across and across -each square. The paths are box-edged and bordered on each side with fine -groups of hardy flowers, such as the Hollyhocks and other flowers in the -picture. - -The time is August, and these grand flowers are at their fullest bloom. -They are the best type of Hollyhock too, with the wide outer petal, and -the middle of the flower not too tightly packed. - -Hollyhocks have so long been favourite flowers--and, indeed, what would -our late summer and autumn gardens be without them?--that they are among -those that have received the special attention of raisers, and have -become what are known as florists’ flowers. But the florists’ notions do -not always make for the highest kind of beauty. They are apt to favour -forms that one cannot but think have for their aim, in many cases, an -ideal that is a false and unworthy one. In the case of the Hollyhock, -according to the florist’s standard of beauty and correct form, the wide -outer petal is not to be allowed; the flower must be very tight and very -round. Happily we need not all be florists of this narrow school, and we -are at liberty to try for the very highest and truest beauty in our -flowers, rather than for set rules and arbitrary points of such -extremely doubtful value. - -The loosely-folded inner petals of the loveliest Hollyhocks invite a -wonderful play and brilliancy of colour. Some of the colour is -transmitted through the half-transparency of the petal’s structure, some -is reflected from the neighbouring folds; the light striking back and -forth with infinitely beautiful trick and playful variation, so that -some inner regions of the heart of a rosy flower, obeying the mysterious -agencies of sunlight, texture and local colour, may tell upon the eye as -pure scarlet; while the wide outer petal, in itself generally rather -lighter in colour, with its slightly waved surface and gently frilled -edge, plays the game of give and take with light and tint in quite -other, but always delightful, ways. - -Then see how well the groups have been placed; the rosy group leading to -the fuller red, with a distant sulphur-coloured gathering at the far -end; its tall spires of bloom shooting up and telling well against the -distant tree masses above the wall. And how pleasantly the colour of the -rosy group is repeated in the Phlox in the opposite border. And what a -capital group that is, near the Hollyhocks of that fine summer flower, -the double Crown Daisy (_Chrysanthemum coronarium_), with the bright -glimpses of some more of it beyond. Then the Pansies and Erigerons give -a mellowing of grey-lilac that helps the brighter colours, and is not -overdone. - -The large fruit-tree has too spreading a shade to allow of much actual -bloom immediately beneath it, so that here is a patch of Butcher’s -Broom, a shade-loving plant. Beyond, out in the sunlight again, is the -fine herbaceous Clematis (_C. recta_), whose excellent qualities entitle -it to a much more frequent use in gardens. - -The flower-borders are so full and luxuriant that they completely hide -the vegetable quarters within, for the garden is still a kitchen garden -as to its main inner spaces. These masses of good flowers are the work -of the Misses Freeling; they are ardent gardeners, sparing themselves no -labour or trouble; to their care and fine perception of the best use of -flowers the beauty and interest of these fine borders are entirely due. -Indeed, this garden is a striking instance - -[Illustration: BLYBOROUGH: HOLLYHOCKS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. C. E. FREELING] - -of the extreme value of personal effort combined with knowledge and good -taste. - -These qualities may operate in different gardens in a hundred varying -ways, but where they exist there will be, in some form or other, a -delightful garden. Endless are the possibilities of beautiful -combinations of flowers; just as endless is their power of giving -happiness and the very purest of human delight. So also the special -interest of different gardens that are personally directed by owners of -knowledge and fine taste would seem to be endless too, for each will -impress upon it some visible issue of his own perception or discernment -of beauty. - -About the house and lawns are other beds and borders of herbaceous -flowers of good grouping and fine growth; conspicuous among them is that -excellent flower _Campanula pyramidalis_, splendidly grown. - -Though Blyborough is in a cold district, it has the advantage of lying -well sheltered below a sharply-rising ridge of higher land. - - - - -GREAT TANGLEY MANOR - - -Forty years ago, lying lost up a narrow lane that joined a track across -a wide green common, this ancient timber-built manor-house could -scarcely have been found but by some one who knew the country and its -by-ways well. Even when quite near, it had to be searched for, so much -was it hidden away behind ricks and farm-buildings; with the closer -overgrowth of old fruit trees, wild thorns and elders, and the tangled -wastes of vegetation that had invaded the outskirts of the neglected, or -at any rate very roughly-kept, garden of the farm-house, which purpose -it then served. - -What had been the moat could hardly be traced as a continuous -water-course; the banks were broken down and over-grown, water stood in -pools here and there; tall grass, tussocks of sedge and the rank weeds -that thrive in marshy places had it all to themselves. - -But the place was beautiful, for all the neglect and disorder, and to -the mind of a young girl that already harboured some appreciative -perception of the value of the fine old country buildings, and whose -home lay in a valley only three miles away, Tangley was one of the -places within an easy ride that could best minister to that vague -unreasoning delight, so gladly absorbed and so keenly enjoyed by an -eager and still almost childish imagination. For the mysteries of -romantic legend and old tale still clung about the place--stories of an -even more ancient dwelling than this one of the sixteenth century. - -There was always a ready welcome from the kindly farmer’s wife, and -complete freedom to roam about; the pony was accommodated in a cowstall, -and many happy summer hours were spent in the delightful - -[Illustration: THE PERGOLA, GREAT TANGLEY - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. WICKHAM FLOWER] - -wilderness, with its jewel of a beautifully-wrought timbered dwelling -that had already stood for three hundred years. - -In later days, when the whole of the Grantley property in the district -was sold, Great Tangley came into the market. Happily, it fell into the -best of hands, those of Mr. and Mrs. Wickham Flower, and could not have -been better dealt with in the way of necessary restoration and judicious -addition. The moat is now a clear moat again; and good modern gardening, -that joins hands so happily with such a beautiful old building, -surrounds it on all sides. There was no flower garden when the old place -was taken in hand; the only things worth preserving being some of the -old orchard trees within the moat to the west. A space in front of the -house, on its southward face, inclosed by loop-holed walls of -considerable thickness, was probably the ancient garden, and has now -returned to its former use. - -The modern garden extends over several acres to the east and south -beyond the moat. The moat is fed by a long-shaped pond near its -south-eastern angle. The water margin is now a paradise for -flower-lovers, with its masses of water Irises and many other beautiful -aquatic and sub-aquatic plants; while Water-Lilies, and, surprising to -many, great groups rising strongly from the water of the white Calla, -commonly called Arum Lily, give the pond a quite unusual interest. To -the left is an admirable bog-garden with many a good damp-loving plant, -and, best of all in their flowering time, some glorious clumps of the -Moccasin Flower (_Cypripedium spectabile_), largest, brightest, and most -beautiful of hardy orchids. - -Those who have had the luck to see this grand plant at Tangley, two feet -high and a mass of bloom, can understand the admiration of others who -have met with it in its North American home, and their description of -how surprisingly beautiful it is when seen rising, with its large rose -and white flowers, and fresh green pleated leaves, from the pools of -black peaty mud of the forest openings. But it seems scarcely possible -that it can be finer in its own home than it is in this good garden. - -Beyond the bog-garden, on drier ground, is a garden of heaths, and, -returning by the pathway on the other side of the pond, is the kitchen -garden, a strip of pleasure-ground being reserved between it and the -pond. Here is the subject of the picture. The pergola runs parallel with -the pond, which, with the house and inclosed garden, are to the -spectator’s right. To the left, before the vegetable quarters begin, is -a capital rock-garden of the best and simplest form--just one long dell, -whose sides are set with rocks of the local Bargate stone and large -sheets of creeping and rock-loving plants. Taller green growths of -shrubby character shut it off from other portions of the grounds. - -The picture speaks for itself. It tells of the right appreciation of the -use of the good autumn flowers, in masses large enough to show what the -flowers will do for us at their best, but not so large as to become -wearisome or monotonous. Roses, Vines and Ivies cover the pergola, -making a grateful shade in summer. Each open space to the right gives a -picture of water and water-plants with garden ground beyond, and, -looking a little forward, the picture is varied by the background of -roof-mass with a glimpse of the timbered gables of the old house. - -The new garden is growing mature. The Yews that stand like gate-towers -flanking the entrance of the green covered way, have grown to their -allotted height, doing their duty also as quiet background to the -autumnal flower-masses. In the border to the left are Michaelmas -Daisies, French Marigolds, and a lower growth of Stocks; to the right is -a dominating mass of the great white Pyrethrum, grouped with pink Japan -Anemone, Veronicas and yellow Snapdragon. Japan Anemones, both pink and -white, are things of uncertain growth in many gardens of drier soil, but -here, in the rich alluvial loam of a valley level, they attain their -fullest growth and beauty. - -[Illustration: BULWICK: AUTUMN - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF LORD HENRY GROSVENOR] - - - - -BULWICK HALL - - -Bulwick Hall, in Northamptonshire, the home of the Tryon family, but, -when the pictures were painted, in the occupation of Lord and Lady Henry -Grosvenor, is a roomy, comfortable stone building of the seventeenth -century. The long, low, rather plain-looking house of two stories only, -is entered in an original manner by a doorway in the middle of a stone -passage, at right angles to the building, and connecting it with a -garden house. The careful classical design and balustraded parapet of -the outer wall of this entrance, and the repetition of the same, only -with arched openings, to the garden side, scarcely prepare one for the -unadorned house-front; but the whole is full of a quiet, simple dignity -that is extremely restful and pleasing. Other surprises of the same -character await one in further portions of the garden. - -Passing straight through the entrance gate there is a quiet space of -grass; a level court with flagged paths, bounded on the north by the -house and on the east and west by the arcade and the wall of the kitchen -garden. The ground falls slightly southward, and the fourth side leads -down to the next level by grass slopes and a flight of curved steps -widening below. Trees and shrubs are against the continuing walls to -right and left, and beds and herbaceous borders are upon the grassy -space. The wide green walk, between long borders of hardy plants, -leading forward from the foot of the steps, reaches a flower-bordered -terrace wall, and passes through it by a stone landing to steps to right -and left on its further side. A few steps descend in twin flights to -other landings, from which a fresh flight on each side reaches the -lowest garden level, some nine feet below the last. The whole of this -progression, with its pleasant variety of surface treatment and means -of descent, is in one direct line from a garden door in the middle of -the house front. - -The lowest flight of steps, the subject of the first picture, has a -simple but excellent wrought-iron railing, of that refined character -common to the time of its making. It was draped, perhaps rather -over-draped when the picture was painted, with a glory of Virginia -Creeper in fullest gorgeousness of autumn colouring. This question of -the degree to which it is desirable to allow climbing plants to cover -architectural forms, is one that should be always carefully considered. -Bad architecture abounds throughout the country, and free-growing plants -often play an entirely beneficent part in concealing its mean or vulgar -or otherwise unsightly character. But where architectural design is good -and pure, as it is at Bulwick, care should be taken in order to prevent -its being unduly covered. Old brick chimney-stacks of great beauty are -often smothered with Ivy, and the same insidious native has obliterated -many a beautiful gate-pier and panelled wall. But the worst offender in -modern days has been the far-spreading Ampelopsis Veitchii, useful for -the covering of mean or featureless buildings, but grievously and -mischievously out of place when, for instance, ramping unchecked over -the old brickwork of Wolsey’s Palace at Hampton Court. Some may say that -it is easily pulled off; but this is not so, for it leaves behind, -tightly clinging to the old brick surface, the dried-up sucker and its -tentacle, desiccated to a consistency like iron wire. These are -impossible to detach without abrasion of surface, while, if left, they -show upon the brick as a scurfy eruption, as disfiguring to the -wall-face as are the scars of smallpox on a human countenance. - -The iron-railed steps in the picture come down upon a grassy space -rather near its end. Behind the spectator it stretches away for quite -four times the length seen in the picture. It is bounded on the side -opposite the steps by a long rectangular fish-pond. The whole length of -this is not seen, for the grass walk narrows and passes between old yew -hedges, one on the side of the pond, the other backed by some other -trees against the kitchen garden wall, which is a prolongation of the -terrace wall in the picture. - -The garden is still beautifully kept, but owes much of its wealth of - -[Illustration: BULWICK: THE GATEWAY - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF LORD HENRY GROSVENOR] - -hardy flowers to the planting of Lady Henry Grosvenor, whose fine taste -and great love of flowers made it in her day one of the best gardens of -hardy plants, and whose untimely death, in the very prime of life, was -almost as much deplored by the best of the horticultural amateurs who -only knew her by reputation, but were aware of her good work in -gardening, as by her wide circle of personal friends. - -She had a special love for the flag-leaved Irises, and used them with -very fine effect. The borders that show to right and left of the steps -had them in large groups, and were masses of bloom in June; other -plants, placed behind and between, succeeding them later. Lady Henry was -one of the first amateurs to perceive the value of planting in this -large way, and, as she had ample spaces to deal with, the effects she -produced were very fine, and must have been helpful in influencing -horticultural taste in a right direction. - -Another important portion of the garden at Bulwick is a long double -flower-border backed by holly hedges, that runs through the whole middle -length of the kitchen garden. It is in a straight line with the flagged -walk that passes westward across the green court next to the house, and -parallel with its garden front. The flagged path stops at the gate-piers -in the second picture, a grass path following upon the same line and -passing just behind the shaded seat. - -The holly hedges that back the borders are old and solid. Their top -line, shaped like a flat-pitched roof, is ornamented at intervals with -mushroom-shaped finials, each upon its stalk of holly stem. The grass -walk and double border pass right across the kitchen garden in the line -of its longest axis. At the furthest end there is another pair of the -same handsome gate-piers with a beautiful wrought-iron gate, leading -into the park. The park is handsomely timbered, and in early summer is -especially delightful from the great number of fine old hawthorns. - -In Lady Henry’s time several borders in the kitchen garden were made -bright with annuals and other flowers. Such borders are very commonly -used for reserve purposes, such as the provision of flowers for cutting, -with one main double border for ornament alone. But where gardens are -being laid out from the beginning, such a plan as this at Bulwick, of a -grass path with flower borders and a screening hedge at the back, -passing through a kitchen garden, is an excellent one, greatly enlarging -the length of view of the pleasure garden, while occupying only a -relatively small area. It is also well in planning a garden to provide a -reserve space for cutting alone, of beds four feet, and paths two feet -wide, and of any length suitable for the supply required. This has the -advantage of leaving the kitchen garden unencumbered with any -flower-gardening, and therefore more easy to work. - -Such a long-shaped garden is also capable of various ways of treatment -as to its edge, which need not necessarily be an unbroken line. The -length of the border in question is perhaps a little too great. It might -be better, while keeping the effect of a quiet line, looking from end to -end, to have swung the edge of the border back in a segment of a circle -to a little more than half its depth, every few yards, in such a -proportion as a plan to scale would show to be right; or to have treated -it in some one of the many possible ways of accentuation where the cross -paths occur that divide it into three lengths. The thinking out of these -details according to the conditions of the site, the combining of them -into designs that shall add to its beauty, and the actual working of -them, the mind meanwhile picturing the effect in advance--these are some -of the most interesting and enlivening of the many kinds of happiness -that a garden gives. - -Be it large or small there is always scope for inventive ability; either -for the bettering of something or for the casting of some detail into a -more desirable form. Every year brings some new need; in supplying it -fresh experience is gained, and with this an increasing power of -adapting simple means to such ends as may be easily devised to the -advancement of the garden’s beauty. - - - - -BRAMHAM - - -The gardens at Bramham in Yorkshire, laid out and built near the end of -the seventeenth century, are probably the best preserved in England or -the grounds that were designed at that time under French influence. -Wrest in Bedfordshire, and Melbourne in Derbyshire of which some -pictures will follow, are also gardens of purely French character. - -It is extremely interesting to compare these gardens with those of a -more distinctly Italian feeling. Many features they have in common; -architectural structure and ornament, close-clipped evergreen hedges -inclosing groves of free-growing trees; parterres, pools and fountains. -Yet the treatment was distinctly different, and, though not easy to -define in words, is at once recognised by the eye. - -For one thing the French school, shown in its extremest form by the -gardens of Versailles, dealt with much larger and more level spaces. The -gardens of Italian villas, whether of the Roman Empire or of the -Renaissance, were for the most part in hilly places; pleasant for summer -coolness. This naturally led to much building of balustraded terraces -and flights of steps, and of parterres whose width was limited to that -of the level that could conveniently be obtained. Whereas in France, and -in England especially, where the country house is the home for all the -year, the greater number of large places have land about them that is -more or less level and that can be taken in to any extent. - -At Bramham the changes of level are not considerable, but enough to -furnish the designer with motives for the details of his plan. The -house, of about the same date as the garden, was internally destroyed by -fire in the last century. The well-built stone walls still stand, but -the building has never been restored. The stables and kennels are still -in use, but the owner, Captain Lane-Fox, lives in another house on the -outskirts of the park. The design of the gardens has often been -attributed to Le Nôtre, and is undoubtedly the work of his school, but -there is nothing to prove that the great French master was ever in -England. - -The way to the house is through a large, well-timbered park. Handsome -gate-piers with stone-wrought armorial ornament lead into a forecourt -stretching wide to right and left. A double curved stairway ascends to -the main door. To the left of the house is an entrance to the garden -through a colonnade. Next to the garden front of the house, which faces -south-west, is a broad gravelled terrace. The ground rises away from the -house by a gently sloping lawn, but in the midmost space is a feature -that is frequent in the French gardening of the time, though unusual in -England: a long theatre-shaped extent of grass. There is a stone sundial -standing on two wide steps near the house, and a gradually heightened -retaining wall following the rise of the ground. Not more than two feet -high where it begins below, and there accentuated on either side by a -noble stone plinth and massive urn, the retaining wall, itself a -handsome object of bold masonry, follows a straight line for some -distance, and then swings round in a segmental curve to meet the equal -wall on the further side; thus inclosing a space of level sward. Midway -in the curve, where the wall is some twelve feet high, there appear to -have been niches in the masonry, possibly for fountains. - -The wide gravel walk next the house-front falls a little as it passes to -the left, divides in two and continues by an upward slope on either side -of a wall-fountain in a small inclosure formed by the retaining walls of -the rising paths. The path then passes all round the large rectangular -pool, one end of which forms the subject of the picture. This shows well -the graceful ease and, one may say, the courteous suavity, that is the -foremost character of this beautiful kind of French designing. The high -level of the water in the pool, so necessary for good effect, is a -detail that is often overlooked in English gardens. Nothing looks worse -than a height of bare wall in a pool or fountain basin, and nothing is -more commonly seen in our gardens. The low stone kerb bordering the pool -is broken at intervals with only slightly rising pedestals for - -[Illustration: THE POOL, BRAMHAM - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -SIR JAMES WHITEHEAD, BART.] - -flower vases. Tubs of Agapanthus stand on the projections by the side of -the piers that flank the small fountain basin, whose overflow falls into -the pool. - -All this portion of the garden has a background of yew hedges inclosing -large trees. From this pool the ground rises to another; also of -rectangular form, but with an arm to the right, in the line of the cross -axis, forming a T-shape. Between the two, on a path always rising by -occasional flights of steps, is a summer-house. The path swings round it -in a circle. To right and left are flower-beds and roses; outside these, -also on a curved line, are ranged a series of gracefully sculptured -_amorini_, bearing aloft vases of flowers. - -The path soon reaches the upper pool, again passing all round it. At the -point furthest to the right, at the end of the projecting arm, and -looking along the cross axis to where, beyond the pool, the ground again -rises, is a handsome wall fountain, with steps to right and left, -inclosed by panelled walls. All this garden of pool and fountain, easy -way of step and gravel, and ornament of flower and sculpture, is bounded -by the massive walls of yew, and all beyond is sheltering quietude of -ancient trees. From several points around the highest pool, as well as -from the rising lawns to right and left of the theatre, straight -grass-edged paths, bordered by clipped hornbeam, lead through the -heavily wooded ground. From distant points the main walks converge; and -here, in a circular green-walled court, stands a tall pedestal bearing a -handsome stone vase. The prospects down the alleys are variously ended; -some by pillared temples set in green niches, some by the open -park-landscape; some by further depths of woodland. It is all easy and -gracious, but full of dignity--courtly--palatial; bringing to mind the -stately bearing and refined courtesy of manner of our ancestors of two -centuries ago. It is good to know that some of these gardens and -disciplined woodlands still exist in our own land and in France; these -quiet _bosquets de verdure_ of those far-away days. Though the scale on -which they were planned is only suitable for the largest houses and for -wealthy owners who can command lavish employment of labour, yet we -cannot but admire the genius of those garden artists of France who -designed so boldly and yet so gracefully, and who have left us such -admirable records of their abounding ability. - - - - -MELBOURNE - - -The gardens of Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire, the property of Earl -Cowper, but occupied for the last five-and-twenty years by Mr. W. D. -Fane, though perhaps less well preserved than those of Bramham, still -show the design of Henry Wise in the early years of the eighteenth -century. There had formerly been an older garden. Wise’s plan shows how -completely the French ideas had been adopted in England, for here again -are the handsome pools and fountains, the garden thick-hedged with yew, -and the _bosquet_ with its straight paths, green-walled, leading to a -large fountain-centred circle in the thickest of the grove. - -The whole space occupied by the house and grounds is not of great -extent; it is irregular and even awkward in shape, and has roads on two -sides. - -The treatment is extremely ingenious; indeed, it is doubtful whether any -other plan that could have been devised would have made so much of the -space or could have so cleverly concealed the limits. - -The garden lies out forward of the house in a long parallelogram. Next -to the house-front is the usual wide gravel terrace, from which paths, -inclosing spaces of lawn, lead down to a lower level. The whole lawn, -with its accompanying paths, slopes downward; where a steeper slope -occurs above and below, the path becomes a flight of steps. - -The lower level is intersected by paths. As they converge, they swing -round the pedestal of the Flying Mercury that stands upon a circular -grass-plot. The main path soon reaches the edge of the handsome pool -known as the Great Water. It is four-sided, with a - -[Illustration: MELBOURNE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. W. V. R. FANE] - -further semi-circular bay. A wide grass verge and turf slope form the -edging. Broad walks pass all round, with pleasant views at various -points into the cool and shaded woodland alleys. Near the further angles -of the pool’s green court, the great yew hedge, which bounds the whole -garden, swings back into shallow segmental niches to take curved stone -seats. Just beyond, on the return angle, the view from the path, here -passing the right side of the pool, is ended by the lead figure of -Perseus, of heroic size, also standing in a niche cut in the yews. The -companion statue of Andromeda occupies the corresponding niche on the -other side. - -After passing the Mercury, the view across the pool is met by a curious -piece of wrought-iron work in the form of a high, dome-topped -summer-house; a masterpiece of Jean Tijou. It is entered by steps, and -leads, through the trees, to higher ground beyond. - -Right and left of the middle and upper portions of the garden the great -yew hedges are double; planted in parallel lines, with an open space -between. Scotch Firs, now very old and towering high aloft, give great -character to this part of the garden. In one place there are three -parallel hedges of yew, the two outermost forming the “Dark Arbour,” a -tunnel of yew a hundred yards in length, only broken near its lower end, -where a small fountain marks the crossing of a broad path. - -All the lower portion of the garden is surrounded by a dense grove of -trees, in which other tall Scotch Firs stand out conspicuously. Its most -extensive area is on the right side of the Great Water, where several -grassy paths, bounded by clipped hedges of yew and lime, radiate from a -large circular space where there is a wide, round basin and -fountain-jet. Looking along one of the pleasant green ways, other jets -are seen springing from further fountains where more paths cross. The -ends of some of the walks are finished with alcoves or arbours. One of -them, that runs diagonally from the right-hand side of the large pool, -crosses the great wood fountain, and passing on some distance further -ends at a magnificent lead urn on a massive pedestal. This is also the -terminal point of view of another of the longest of the green paths. - -The water that supplies the pools and fountains comes from a wild pond, -the home of many wild-fowl, that is on a higher level, outside the -grounds and beyond one of the roads that bounds them. A stream from the -pond meanders through the wooded ground, and is conducted by a culvert -to the large pool; the overflow passing out on the opposite side in the -same way. - -Important in the garden’s decoration are the unusual number of lead -statues and other accessories, of excellent design. The upper lawn has -two kneeling figures of negro or Indian type, bearing on their heads, -partly supported by their hands, circular tables with moulded edges that -carry an urn-finial. The central ornament of the next level is the -Flying Mercury, after John of Bologna. Referring to this example, -Messrs. Blomfield and Inigo Thomas tell us in “The Formal Garden in -England” that “lead statues very easily lose their centre of gravity.” -This is exemplified by the Mercury at Melbourne, which has already come -over to a degree which makes its evident want of balance distressing to -the eye of the beholder, and forebodes its eventual downfall. - -Lead as a material for such use in gardens is much more suitable to the -English climate than marble. It acquires a beautiful silvery colouring -with age, whereas marble becomes disfigured with blackish -weather-streaks. During the eighteenth century the art of lead casting -came to great perfection in England. Some good models came from Italy; -the original of the kneeling slave at Melbourne is considered to have -come from there. Others were brought from France. The inspiration, if -not the actual designs or moulds, of the many charming figures of -_amorini_ in these gardens must have been purely French. The pictures -show how they were used. They stand on pedestals at several of the -points of departure of the green glades. In fountain basins they form -jets; the little figure appearing to blow the water through a -conch-shell. They are also shown, sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs, -disputing, wrestling or carrying a cornucopia of flowers. One little -fellow, alone on his pedestal, is whittling his bow with a tool like a -wheelwright’s draw-knife. All are charming and graceful. They are -probably more beautiful now than of old, when they were painted and -sanded to look like stone. - -[Illustration: MELBOURNE: AMORINI - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. J. W. FORD] - -There were several lead foundries in London early in the eighteenth -century for the making of these garden ornaments. The foremost was that -of John Van Nost. Mr. Lethaby in his book on Leadwork tells us that this -Dutch sculptor came to England with King William III.; that his business -was taken in 1739 by Mr. John Cheere, who served his time with his -brother, Sir H. Cheere, who made several of the Abbey monuments. The -kneeling slave, bearing either a vase, as at Melbourne, or a sundial as -in the Temple Gardens in London, and in other pleasure grounds in -different parts of the country, was apparently a favourite subject. The -figure, not always from the same mould in the various examples, but -always showing good design, was evidently of Italian origin. Towards the -end of the century, designs for lead figures became much debased, and -such subjects as people sitting round a table, painted like life, could -not possibly have served any decorative purpose. The natural colour of -lead is so good that no painting can improve it. In Tudor days it was -often gilt, a much more permissible treatment. - -In the old days there was probably a parterre at Melbourne, now no -longer existing. The figures of kneeling slaves were possibly the centre -ornaments of its two divisions, on what is now the upper lawn. This -portion of the garden is rather liberally, and perhaps somewhat -injudiciously, planted with a mixture of conifers, put in probably -thirty to forty years ago, when the remains of good old garden designs -were not so reverently treated, nor their value so well understood, as -now. Some of this planting has even strayed to the banks of the Great -Water. The pleasure ground of Melbourne is a precious relic of the past, -and, even though the ill effects of the modern planting of various -conifers may be less generally conspicuous there than it is in many -places, yet it is distinctly an intrusion. The tall trees inclosed by -massive yew hedges, the pools and fountains, the statues and other -sculptured ornaments, all recall, with their special character of garden -treatment, the times and incidents that Watteau loved to paint. Such a -picture as his _Bosquet de Bacchus_, so well known by the engraving, -with its gaily-dressed groups of young men and maidens seated in the -grassy shade and making the music of their lutes and voices accompany -that of the fountains’ waters, might have been painted at Melbourne. -For here are the same wide, green-walled alleys, the pools, the -fountains and the ornamental details of the great gardens of courtly -France of two hundred years ago acclimatised on English soil; not in the -dreary vastness of Versailles, but tamed to our climate’s needs and on a -scale attuned to the more moderate dimensions of a reasonable human -dwelling. - - - - -BERKELEY CASTLE - - -This venerable pile, one of the oldest continuously-inhabited houses in -England, stands upon a knoll of rising ground at the southern end of the -tract of rich alluvial land known as the Vale of Berkeley, that -stretches away for ten miles or more north-eastward in the direction of -Gloucester. Within two miles to the west is the Severn, already a mile -across and rapidly widening to its estuary. On the side of the higher -ground the town creeps up to the shelter of the Castle and the grand old -church, on the lower is a level stretch of water-meadow. - -Seen from the meadows some half-mile away it looks like some great -fortress roughly hewn out of natural rock. Nature would seem to have -taken back to herself the masses of stone reared by man seven and a half -centuries ago. - -The giant walls and mighty buttresses look as if they had been carved by -wind and weather out of some solid rock-mass, rather than as if wrought -by human handiwork. But when, in the middle of the twelfth century, in -the earliest days of the reign of Henry Plantagenet, the castle was -built by Robert, son of Harding, he built it with outer walls ten to -fifteen feet thick, without definite plan as it would seem, but, as the -work went on, suiting the building to the shape of the hillock and to -the existing demands of defensive warfare. - -When the day is coming to its close, and the light becomes a little dim, -and thin mist-films rise level from the meadows, it might be an -enchanted castle; for in some tricks of evening light it cheats the eye -into the semblance of something ethereal--sublimate--without -substance--as if it were some passing mirage, built up for the moment -of towering masses of pearly vapour. - -So does an ancient building come back into sympathy with earth and -cloud. Its stones are carved and fretted by the wind and rain of -centuries; tiny mosses have grown in their cavities; the decay of these -has formed mould which has spread into every joint and fissure. Here -grasses and many kinds of wild plants have found a home, until, viewed -from near at hand, the mighty walls and their sustaining buttresses are -seen to be shaggy with vegetation. - -These immense buttresses on the meadow side come down to a walled -terrace; their foundations doubtless far below the visible base. The -terrace level is some twelve feet above the grassy space below. The -grass then slopes easily away for a distance of a few hundred feet to -the alluvial flat of the actual meadow-land. - -Large fig-trees grow at the foot of the wall, rising a few feet above -the parapet of the terrace, from which the fruit is conveniently -gathered. - -It is in the deep, well-sheltered bays between the feet of the giant -buttresses that the most interesting of the modern flower gardening at -Berkeley is done. - -White Lilies grow like weeds in the rich red loam, and there are fine -groups of many of the best hardy plants and shrubby things, gathered -together and well placed by the late Georgina Lady Fitzhardinge, a true -lover of good flowers and a woman of sound instinct and well-balanced -taste respecting things beautiful both indoors and out. - -The chief relic of the older gardening at Berkeley is the remains of the -yew hedge that inclosed the bowling-green on three sides; the fourth -side having for its boundary the high retaining wall that supports the -entrance road beyond the outer gate. The yews, still clipped into bold -rounded forms, may have formed a trim hedge in Tudor days, and the level -space of turf, which is reached from the terrace by a flight of downward -steps that passes under an arch of the old yews, lies cool and sheltered -from the westering sun by the stout bulwark of their ancient shade. - -The yew arch in the picture shows where the terrace level descends to -the bowling-green. The great buttresses of the main castle wall are -behind the spectator. A bowery Clematis is in full bloom over the steps - -[Illustration: THE LOWER TERRACE, BERKELEY CASTLE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. ALBERT WRIGHT] - -to the shorter terrace above, and near it, on the lower level, is one of -the great pear-trees that have been trained upon the wall, and that, -with others on the keep above, brighten up the grim old building in -spring-time. _Campanula pyramidalis_ has been sown in chinks on the -inner side of the low parapet, and the picture shows how handsomely they -have grown, supported only by the slight nutriment they could find among -the stones. But, like so many of the Bell-flowers, it delights in -growing between the stones of a wall. It should be remembered how well -this fine plant will succeed in such a place, as well as for general -garden use. It is so commonly grown as a pot-plant for autumn indoor -decoration that its other uses would seem to be generally overlooked. - - - - -SUMMER FLOWERS - - -The end of June and beginning of July--when the days are hot and long, -and the earth is warm, and our summer flowers are in fullest mass and -beauty--what a time of gladness it is, and of that full and thankful -delight that is the sure reward for the labour and careful -thoughtfulness of the last autumn and winter, and of the present earlier -year! - -The gardens where this reward comes in fullest measure are perhaps those -modest ones of small compass where the owner is the only gardener, at -any rate as far as the flowering plants are concerned; where he thinks -out good schemes of plant companionship; of suitable masses of form and -stature; of lovely colour-combination; where, after the day’s work, -comes the leisurely stroll, when every flower greets and is greeted as a -close friend, and all make willing offering of what they have of scent -and loveliness in grateful return for the past loving labour. - -This is the high tide time of the summer flowers. It may be a week or -two earlier or later according to the district, for our small islands -have climatic diversities such as can only be matched within the greater -part of the whole area of middle Europe, though inclining to a temperate -average. For the Myrtle of the Mediterranean is quite hardy in the South -and South-West, and Ivy and Gorse, neither of which is hardy in North -and Middle Germany, are, with but few exceptions, at home everywhere. -Given, therefore, a moderately good soil, fair shelter and a true love -of flowers, there will be such goodly masses as those shown in the -pictures. - -Advisedly is the word “true” lover of flowers used, for it is now -fashionable to like flowers, and much of it is pretence only. The test -is to ascertain whether the person professing devotion to a garden works -in - -[Illustration: ORANGE LILIES AND LARKSPUR - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. GEORGE C. BOMPAS] - -it personally, or in any way likes it well enough to take a great deal -of trouble about it. To those who know, the garden speaks of itself, for -it clearly reflects individual thought and influence; and it is in these -lesser gardens that, with rare and happy exceptions, the watchful care -and happy invention of the beneficent individuality stamps itself upon -the place. - -There is nothing more interesting to one of these ardent and honest -workers than to see the garden of another. Plants that had hitherto been -neglected or overlooked are seen used in ways that had never been -thought of, and here will be found new combinations of colour that had -never been attempted, and methods of use and treatment differing in some -manner to those that had been seen before. - -There is nothing like the true gardening for training the eye and mind -to the habit of close observation; that precious acquirement that -invests every country object both within and without the garden’s bounds -with a living interest, and that insensibly builds up that bulk of -mentally noted incident or circumstance that, taken in and garnered by -that wonderful storehouse the brain, seems there to sort itself, to -distribute, to arrange, to classify, to reduce into order, in such a way -as to increase the knowledge of something of which there was at first -only a mental glimpse; so to build up in orderly structure a -well-founded knowledge of many of those things of every-day out-door -life that adds so greatly to its present enjoyment and later usefulness. - -So it comes about that some of us gardeners, searching for ways of best -displaying our flowers, have observed that whereas it is best, as a -general rule, to mass the warm colours (reds and yellows) rather -together, so it is best to treat the blues with contrasts, either of -direct complementary colour, or at any rate with some kind of yellow, or -with clear white. So that whereas it would be less pleasing to put -scarlet flowers directly against bright blue, and whereas flowers of -purple colouring can be otherwise much more suitably treated, the -juxtaposition of the splendid blues of the perennial Larkspurs with the -rich colour of the orange Herring Lily (_Lilium croceum_) is a bold and -grand assortment of colour of the most satisfactory effect. - -This fine Lily is one of those easiest to grow in most gardens. The true -flower-lovers, as defined above, take the trouble to find out which are -the Lilies that will suit their particular grounds; for it is generally -understood that the soil and conditions of any one garden are not likely -to suit a large number of different kinds of these delightful plants. -Four or five successful kinds are about the average, and the owner is -lucky if the superb White Lily is among them. But Lilies are so -beautiful, so full of character, so important among other flowers or in -places almost by themselves, that, when it is known which are the right -ones to grow, those kinds should be well and rather largely used. - -The garden in which these fine groups were painted has a good loamy -soil, such as, with good gardening, grows most hardy flowers well, and -therefore the grand White Lily also thrives. A few of the Lilies like -peat, such as the great Auratum, and the two lovely pink ones, Krameri -and Rubellum. But the garden of strong loam should never be without the -White Lily, the Orange Lily, and the Tiger Lily, an autumn flower that -seems to accommodate itself to any soil. The Orange Lilies are grandly -grown by the Dutch nurserymen in many varieties, under the names -_bulbiferum_, _croceum_, and _davuricum_, and their price is so moderate -that it is no extravagance to buy them in fair quantity. - -Flowers of pure scarlet colour are so little common among hardy -perennials that it seems a pity that the brilliant _Lilium -chalcedonicum_ of Greece, Palestine, and Asia Minor, and its ally _L. -pomponium_, the Scarlet Martagon of Northern Italy, should be so seldom -seen in gardens. They are some of the most easily grown, and are not -dear to buy. Another Lily that should not be forgotten and is easy to -grow in strong soils is the old Purple Martagon; not a bright-coloured -flower, but so old a plant of English gardens that in some places it has -escaped into the woods. The white variety is very beautiful, the colour -an ivory white, and the flower of a waxy texture. They are the Imperial -Martagon, or Great Mountain Lily of the old writers; the scarlet -_pomponium_, of the same shaped flower, was their Martagon Pompony. The -name “pompony,” no doubt, came from the tightly rolled-back petals -giving the flower something of the look of the flattened melons of the -Cantaloupe kind, with their deep longitudinal furrows; the old name of -these being “Pompion.” Another name for this Lily was the Red Martagon -of Constantinople. It is so named by that charming old writer Parkinson, -who gives evidence of its - -[Illustration: WHITE LILIES AND YELLOW MONKSHOOD - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. HERBERT D. TURNER] - -popularity and former frequency in gardens in these words: “The Red -Martagon of Constantinople is become so common everywhere, and so well -known to all lovers of these delights, that I shal seem unto them to -lose time, to bestow many lines upon it; yet because it is so fair a -flower, and was at the first so highly esteemed, it deserveth his place -and commendations, howsoever increasing the plenty hath not made it -dainty.” - -One more of the Lilies, indispensable for loveliness, should be grown -wherever it is found possible. This is the Nankeen Lily (_L. -testaceum_). It is a flower as mysterious as it is beautiful. It is not -found wild, and is considered to be a hybrid between the White Lily and -the Scarlet Martagon. Whether it occurred naturally, or whether it was -the deliberate work of some unknown benefactor to horticulture, will now -never be known; we can only be thankful that by some happy agency we -have this Lily of mixed parentage, one of the most beautiful in -cultivation. The name Nankeen Lily nearly, but not exactly, describes -its colour, for a suspicion of pinkish warmth is added to the tender -buff-colour usually so named. - -Many other Lilies may be grown in different gardens, but the tenderer -kinds from Eastern Asia are not for the hardy flower-border, and the -vigorous American species have not yet been with us long enough to be -familiar as flowers of old English gardens. - -A July garden would not show its true character without some masses of -the stately blue perennial Larkspurs. No garden plant has been more -widely cultivated within the last fifty years, and our nurserymen have -produced a large range of beautiful varieties. They have, perhaps, gone -a little too far in some directions. The desire to produce something -that can be called a novelty often makes growers forget that what is -wanted is the thing that is most beautiful, rather than something merely -exceptionally abnormal, to be gaped at in wonderment for perhaps one -season, and above all for the purpose of being blazoned forth in the -trade list. The true points to look for in these grand flowers are pure -colour, whether light, medium or dark, fine stature and a well-filled -but not overcrowded spike. There are some pretty double flowers, where -the individual bloom loses its normal shape and becomes flattened, but -the single is the truer form. They are so easily raised from seed that -good varieties may be grown at home, when, if space may be allowed for a -line of seedlings in the trial-ground, it is pleasant to watch what they -will bring forth. Such a good old kind as the one named “Cantab” is a -capital seed-bearer, and will give many handsome plants. They must be -carefully observed at flowering time, and any of poor or weedy habit in -their bloom thrown away. Some will probably have interrupted spikes, -that is to say, the spike will have some flowers below and then a bare -interval, with more flowers above. This is a fault that should not be -tolerated. - -The Monkshoods (_Aconitum_) are related to the Larkspurs (_Delphinium_); -indeed, it is a common thing to hear them confused and the name of one -used for the other. It is easy to understand how this may be, for the -leaves are much alike in shape, and both genera bear hooded flowers on -tall spikes, mostly of blue and purple colours. For ordinary garden -knowledge it may be remembered that Monkshood has a smooth leaf and that -the colour is a purplish blue, the bluest of those commonly in -cultivation being the late-flowering _Aconitum japonicum_, and that the -true pure blues are those of the perennial Larkspurs, whose leaves are -downy. - -The great Delphiniums love a strong, rich loamy soil, rather damp than -dry, and plenty of nourishment. - -There is a handsome Monkshood with pale yellow flowers that is well used -in the garden of the White Lilies, and most happily in their near -companionship. It is _Aconitum Lycoctonum_; a plant of Austria and the -Tyrol. The widely-branched racemes of pale luminous bloom are thrown out -in a graceful manner, in pleasant contrast with the equally graceful but -quite different upright carriage of the White Lily. The handsome dark -green polished leaves of this fine Aconite are also of much value; -persisting after the bloom is over till quite into the late autumn. - -Many of the charming members of the Bell-flower family are fine things -in the flower-border. The best of all for general use is perhaps the -well-known _Campanula persicifolia_, with its slender upright stems and -its numbers of pretty bells, both blue and white. There are double - -[Illustration: PURPLE CAMPANULA - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS BEATRICE HALL] - -kinds, but the doubling, though in some cases it makes a good enough -flower, changes the true character so much that it is a Bell-flower no -longer; and we think that a Bell-flower should be a bell, and should -hang and swing, and not be made into a flattened flower set rather -tightly on an ungraceful, thickened stem. - -Another beautiful Campanula is _C. latifolia_, especially the -white-flowered form. It is not only a first-rate flower, but it gives -that pleasant impression of wholesome prosperity that is so good to see. -The tall, pointed spike of large milk-white bells is of fine form, and -the distinctly-toothed leaves are in themselves handsome. Like all the -Bell-flowers, the bloom is cut into six divisions--“lobes of the -corolla,” botanists call them. Each division is sharply pointed and -recurved or rolled back after the manner of many of the Lilies. This -fine Campanula is not only a good plant for the flower-border, but also -for half-shady places in quiet nooks where the garden joins woodland, in -the case of those fortunate gardens that have such a desirable -frontier-land; the sort of place where the instinct of the best kind of -gardener will prompt him to plant, or rather to sow, the white Foxglove, -and to plant the white French Willow (_Epilobium_). - -Nothing is more commonly seen in gardens than wide-spread neglected -patches of _Campanula grandis_. The picture shows it better grown. It -spreads quickly and in many gardens flowers only sparingly, because the -tufts should have been oftener divided. It is perhaps the most commonly -grown of all, and though, as the picture shows, it can be more worthily -used than is ordinarily done, it is by no means so pretty a plant as -others of its family. - -In good soils in our southern counties the tall and beautiful Chimney -Campanula (_C. pyramidalis_), commonly grown in pots for the -conservatory, should be largely used in the borders; it also loves a -place in a wall joint. It is a plant that we are so used to see in a pot -that we are apt to forget its great merit in the open ground. - -Of the smaller Bell-flowers, _C. carpatica_, both blue and white, is one -of the very best of garden plants; delightful from the moment when the -first tuft of leaves comes out of the ground in spring till its full -blooming time in middle summer. No plant is better for the front edge -of a border, especially where the edge is of stone; though it is just -tall enough to show up well over a stout box-edging. - -The biennial Canterbury Bells are well known and in every garden. Their -only disadvantage is that they flower in the early summer and then have -to be cleared away, leaving gaps that may be difficult to fill. The -careful gardener, foreseeing this, arranges so that their near -neighbours in the border shall be such as can be led or trained over to -take their places. It should not be forgotten that the Canterbury Bell -is an admirable rock or wall plant, where the size of a rock-wall admits -of anything so large. The wild plant from which it came has its home in -rocky clefts in Southern Italy. - - - - -ROCKINGHAM - - -In large gardens where ample space permits, and even in those of narrow -limits, nothing is more desirable than that there should be some places, -or one at least, of quiet greenery alone, without any flowers whatever. -In no other way can the brilliancy of flowers be so keenly enjoyed as by -pacing for a time in some cool green alley and then passing on to the -flowery places. It is partly the unconscious working out of an optical -law, the explanation of which in every-day language is that the eye, -being, as it were, saturated with the green colour, is the more ready to -receive the others, especially the reds. - -Even in quite a small garden it is often possible to arrange something -of the sort. In the case of a place that has just one double -flower-border and a seat or arbour at the end, it would be easy to do by -stopping the borders some ten feet away from the seat with hedges of yew -or hornbeam, and putting other seats to right and left; the whole space -being turfed. - -The seat was put at the end in order to give the whole view of the -border while resting; but, after walking leisurely along the flowers and -surveying their effect from all points, a few minutes’ rest on one of -the screened side seats would give repose to the eye and brain as well -as to the whole body, and afford a much better preparation for a further -enjoyment of the flowers. - -It was probably some such consideration that influenced the designers of -the many old gardens of England, where yew, the grand walling tree, was -so freely used. The first and obvious use was as a protection from wind -and a screen for privacy, then as a beautiful background, and lastly -perhaps for resting and refreshing the eye, and giving it renewed -appetite between its feasts of brilliant colouring and complex design. -These green yew-bordered alleys occur without end in the old gardens. -They were not always bowling-greens, though now often so called, but -rather secluded ambulatories; places either for solitary meditation and -refreshment of mind, or where friends would meet in pleasant converse, -or statesmen hold their discourse on weightier matters. Such a place of -cool green retreat is this straight alley of ancient yews. Almost better -it might have been if the path were green and grassy too--Nature herself -seems to have thought so, for she greens the gravel with mossy growths. -Perhaps this mossiness afflicts the gardener’s heart--let him take -comfort in knowing how much it consoles the artist. Though a garden is -for the most part the better for being kept trim, there are exceptional -cases such as this, where to a certain degree it is well to let natural -influences have their way. It is a matter respecting which it is -difficult to lay down a law; it is just one for nice judgment. Had the -path been freshly scratched up and rolled, and the verges trimmed to a -perfectly true line, it would not have commended itself to the artist as -a subject for a picture, but, as it is, it is just right. The mossy path -is in true relation for colour to the trees and grassy edges, and the -degree of infraction of the canons of orderliness stops short of an -appearance of actual neglect. - -Among the interesting features of the grounds at Rockingham is a -rose-garden, circular in form, bounded and protected by a yew hedge. -Four archways at equal points, cut in the hedge, with straight paths, -lead to a concentric path within which is a large round bed, with poles -and swinging garlands of free-growing Roses. The outer quarters have -smaller beds, some concentric, some parallel with the straight paths. -The space is large enough to give ample light and air to the Roses, -while the yew hedge affords that comforting shelter from boisterous -winds that all good Roses love. - -Close to the house a flight of steps leads to a flower garden on the -higher level. A sundial on steps stands in the midmost space, with beds -and clumps of bright flowers around. There is other good gardening at -Rockingham, and a curious “mount”; not of the usual circular - -[Illustration: THE YEW ALLEY, ROCKINGHAM - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS WILLMOTT] - -shape, but in straight terraces. But it is these grand old hedges of yew -that seem to cling most closely to the fabric and sentiment of the -ancient building--half house, half castle, whose windows have looked -upon them for hundreds of years, and whose inmates have ever paced -within their venerable shade. - - - - -BRYMPTON - - -Brympton d’Evercy in Somersetshire--not far from Montacute, the -residence of the Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane--is a house of mixed -architectural character of great interest. A large portion of the -earlier Tudor building now shows as the western (entrance) front, while, -facing southward, is the handsome façade of classical design, said to be -the work of Inigo Jones, but more probably that of a later pupil. The -balustraded wall flanking the entrance gates--the subject of the -picture--appears to be of the time of this important addition, for it is -better in design than the balustrade of the terrace, which was built in -the nineteenth century. - -But the terrace is of fine effect, with the great flight of steps midway -in its length that lead down to a wide unspoilt lawn. This again passes -to the fish-pond, then to parkland with undulating country beyond. - -The treatment of the ground is admirable. Fifty years ago the lawn would -probably have been cut up into flower-beds, a frivolity forbidden by the -dignified front. - -Gardening is always difficult, often best let alone, in many such cases. -When the architecture, especially architecture of the classical type, is -good and pure, it admits of no intrusion of other forms upon its -surfaces. It is complete in itself, and the gardener’s additions become -meddling encroachments. When any planting is allowable against houses of -this type--as in cases where they are less pure in style and have larger -wall-spaces--it should be of something of bold leafage, or large aspect -of one simple character; the strong-growing _Magnolia grandiflora_ as an -upright example, and _Wistaria_ as one of horizontal - -[Illustration: THE GATEWAY, BRYMPTON - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. EDWIN CLEPHAN] - -growth. There is some planting between the lower windows at Brympton, -but it is doubtful whether it would not have been better omitted. It is -a place more suitable (if on this front any gardening is desirable) for -the standing of Bays or some such trees, in tubs or boxes on the -terrace. - -There is sometimes a flower-border at the base of such a house; where -this occurs it is a common thing to see it left bare in winter and in -the early year dotted with bulbous plants and spring flowers; to be -followed in summer with bedding-plants. No such things look well or at -all in place directly against a building. The transition from the -permanent structure to the transient vegetation is too abrupt. At least -the planting should be of something more enduring and of a shrubby -character, and mostly evergreen. Such plants as _Berberis Aquifolium_, -Savin, Rosemary and Laurustinus would seem to be the most suitable, with -the large, persistent foliage of the Megaseas as undergrowth, Pyrus -japonica for early bloom, and perhaps some China Roses among the -Rosemary. - -But happily this house has been treated as to its environment with the -wisest restraint. No showy or pretentious gardening intrudes itself upon -the great charm of the place, which is that of quiet seclusion in a -beautiful but little-known part of the county. The place lies among -fields--just the House, the Church and the Rectory. There is no village -or public road. The house is approached by a long green forecourt -inclosed by walls. Between this and the kitchen garden is the quiet, -low, stone-roofed church, in a churchyard that occupies such another -parallelogram as the forecourt. The pathway to the church passes across -the forecourt into the restful churchyard with its moss-grown tombs and -bushes of old-fashioned Roses, and the grassy mounds that mark the last -resting-place of generations of long-forgotten country folk. - -The church has a bell-cote built upon the gable of its western wall of -remarkable and very happy form, stone-roofed like the rest. Among the -graves stands the base--three circular steps and a square plinth--of -what was once an ancient stone cross. The church seems to lie within the -intimate protection of the house, adding by its presence to the general -impression of repose and peaceful dignity. - -The picture shows the walled and balustraded entrance, probably -contemporary with the classical façade, wrought of the local Ham Hill -stone; a capital freestone for the working of architectural enrichment. -It is of a warm yellowish-brown colour; but grey and yellow lichens and -brown mosses have painted the surface after their own wayward but always -beautiful manner. A light cloud of _Clematis Flammula_ peeps over the -bushes through the balusters. Stonework so good as this can just bear -such a degree of clothing with graceful flowery growth; no doubt it is -watched and not allowed to hide too much with an excess of overgrowth. -Where garden architecture is beautiful in proportion and detail it is -not treating it fairly to smother it with vegetation. How many beautiful -old buildings are buried in Ivy or desecrated by the unchecked invasion -of Veitch’s Virginia Creeper! - - - - -BALCASKIE - - -Equidistant from Pittenweem and St. Monan’s, in Fifeshire, and a mile -from the sea, stands Balcaskie, the beautiful home of Sir Ralph -Anstruther. - -The park is entered from the north by a fine gateway with stone piers -bearing “jewelled” balls, dating from the later middle of the -seventeenth century. The entrance road is joined by two others from east -and west, all passing through a park of delightful character. The road -leads straight through a grassy forecourt walled on the three outer -sides by yew hedges, and reaches the door by a gravelled half-circle -formed by the projection on either side, of the curved walls of the -offices and stables. The house, of the middle seventeenth century, -though just too late to have been built as a fortress, retains much of -the character of the older Scottish castles, but adds to it the -increased comfort and commodiousness of its own time. There have been -considerable later additions and alterations, but much of the old still -remains, including some rooms with very interesting ceilings. - -The main entrance on the north leads straight through to a door to the -garden on the south. The garden occupies a space equal to about five -times the length of the house-front. The ground falls steeply, something -like fifty feet in all, and is boldly terraced into three levels. -Looking southward from the door and across the garden, the eye passes -down a great vista between trees in the park to the Firth of Forth, and -across it to the Bass Rock, some twelve miles away and near the further -shore. - -The upper garden level, reached from the house by a double flight of -descending steps, has a broad walk running the whole length, with an -excellently modelled lead statue at each end; to the west an Apollo, a -singularly graceful figure, and to the east a female statue, possibly a -Diana. The space in front of the house is divided into three portions; -the two outer compartments having hedges of yew from four to five feet -high. One of these incloses a bowling-green, the other a lawn with some -beds. The middle turfed space has a sundial and beds of flowers. Here is -also the remaining one of what was formerly a pair of fine cedars, -placed symmetrically to right and left. Adjoining the house and next to -the end of the broad walk where stands the Apollo, is the rose-garden, -which, with this graceful statue, forms the subject of the picture. The -rose-garden is of beds cut in the grass, containing not Roses only but -also other bright garden flowers. A female statue of more modern work -stands in the centre. - -The great terrace wall, eighteen feet high, that forms the retaining -wall of the upper portion of the garden, rises towards both ends to its -full height as a wall, but the middle space is lightened by being -treated with a handsome balustrade. At the extreme ends flights of steps -lead down to the next, the middle level. The first long flight reaches a -wide stone landing, the lower, shorter flight turning inwards at a right -angle. Great buttresses, projecting forward eight feet at the -ground-line, add much to the dignity and beauty of the wall. They are -roofed with stone, and each one carries the bust of a Roman emperor. -From the steps on each side come broad gravelled walks, leading by one -step down to a slightly sunk rectangular lawn, which occupies the middle -space. On each side of the paths are groups of flower-beds on a long -axial line that is parallel with the wall. They have a broad turf verge -and a nearly equal space of gravel next to their box-edges. Piers and -other important points have stone balls or flower-vases. Stone seats -stand upon the landings above the lowest flights or steps, against the -walls which bound the garden to right and left. Beyond these boundaries -are tall trees, their protecting masses giving exactly that comforting -screen that the eye and mind desire, and forming the best possible -background to the structure and garnishing of the beautiful garden. - -It is one of the best and most satisfying gardens in the British Isles; - -[Illustration: THE APOLLO, BALCASKIE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS BOMPAS] - -Italian in feeling, and yet happily wedding with the Scottish mansion of -two and a half centuries ago, and forming, with the house and park-land, -one of the most perfect examples of a country gentleman’s place. All of -it is pleasant and beautiful, home-like and humanly sympathetic; the -size is moderate--there is nothing oppressively grand. - -More than once already in these pages attention has been drawn to the -danger of letting good stone-work become overgrown with rank creepers. -At Balcaskie this is evidently carefully regulated. The wall-spaces -between the great buttresses, and the buttresses themselves, are -sufficiently clothed but never smothered with the wall-loving and -climbing plants. The right relation of masonry and vegetation is -carefully observed; each graces and dignifies the other; the balance is -perfect. - -The lowest level is given to the kitchen garden. It is not put out of -the way, but forms part of the whole scheme. It is reached by a single -flight of handsome balustraded stone steps. - -Balcaskie occurs as a place-name early in the thirteenth century. From -1350 to 1615 it was owned by a family named Strang, afterwards by the -Moncrieffs, till 1665. It is not known whether any portion of the -present house and garden belonged to these earlier dates, but it is -probable that the designer of both was Sir William Bruce, one of the -best architects of the time of Charles II., and an owner of Balcaskie -for twenty years. - - - - -CRATHES CASTLE - - -Crathes Castle in Kincardineshire presents one of the finest examples of -Scottish architecture of the sixteenth century. It is the seat of Sir -Robert Burnett of Leys, the eleventh baronet and descendant of the -founder. - -Profoundly impressive are these great northern buildings, rising -straight and tall out of the very earth. As to their lower walls, they -are grim, forbidding, almost fiercely repellent. There is an aspect of -something like ruthless cruelty in the very way they come out of the -ground, without base or plinth or any such amenity--built in the old -barbarous days of frequent raiding and fighting, and constant need of -protection from marauders; when a man’s house must needs be a strong -place of defence. - -This is the first impression. But the eye travelling upward sees the -frowning wall blossom out above into what has the semblance of a fairy -palace. It is like a straight, tall, rough-barked tree crowned with -fairest bloom and tenderest foliage. Turrets both round and square, as -if in obedience to the commanding wave of a magician’s wand, spring out -of the angles of the building and hang with marvellous grace of poise -over the abyss. There seems to be no actual plan, and yet there is -perfect harmony; the whole beautiful mass appears as if it had come into -being in some one far-away, wonderful, magical night! It is a sight full -of glamour and romantic impression--grim fortalice below, ethereal -fantasy aloft. Rough and rugged is the rock-like wall, standing dark and -dim in the evening gloom; intangible, opalescent are the mystic forms -above, in the tender warmth of the afterglow; cloud-coloured, faintly -rosy, with shadows pearly-blue. - -[Illustration: THE YEW WALK, CRATHES - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. CHARLES P. ROWLEY] - -Direct descendants of the old Norman keep, these Scottish castles, for -the most part, retain the four-sided tower, as to the main portion of -the structure. The walls need no buttresses, for they are of immense -thickness, and the vaulted masonry, usually of the simple barrel form, -that carries the floors of, at any rate, the lower stories, ties the -whole structure together. The angle turrets carried on bold corbels that -are so conspicuous a feature of these northern castles, broke away from -the Norman forms and became a distinct character of the Scottish work. -They were a helpful addition to the means of defence, and, as long as -they were built for use, added much to the beauty and dignity of the -structure. The only detail that shows a tendency to debasement in -Crathes is the quantity of useless cannon-shaped gargoyles, put for -ornament only, in places where they could not possibly do their -legitimate work of carrying off rain-water from the roof. - -There could have been no pleasure garden in the old days; but now these -ancient strongholds, mellowed by the centuries, seem grateful for the -added beauty of good gardening. The grand yew hedges may be of the -seventeenth century. They stand up solid and massive for ten feet or -more, with roof-shaped tops, and then rise again at intervals into great -blocks, bearing ornaments like circular steps crowned with a ball. The -ornament is simpler, a low block and ball only, in the first picture, -where they accentuate the arches that lead right and left into the two -divisions of the flower garden. This plainer form is perhaps more -suitable to this grand old place than the more elaborate, just because -it is simpler and more dignified. - -The flower garden, as it is to-day, is quite modern. The finest of the -hardy flowers are well grown in bold groups. Luxuriant are the masses of -Phlox and tall Pyrethrum, of towering Rudbeckia, of Bocconia, now in -seed-pod but scarcely less handsome than when in bloom; of the bold -yellow Tansy and Japan Anemones; all telling, by their size and vigour, -of a strong loamy soil. - -Many are the arches of cluster and other climbing Roses; at one point in -the kitchen garden coming near enough together to make a tunnel-like -effect. - -Wonderful is the colouring and diversity of texture!--the bright -flowers, the rich, dark velvet of the half-distant yews, the -weather-worn granite and rough-cast of the great building. - -If the flowers in the second and third pictures were in our southern -counties the time would be the end of August or at latest the middle of -September, but the seasons of the flowers in Scotland are much later, -and these would be October borders. - -The Castle stands upon a wide, level, grassy terrace, which is stopped -on the north-eastern side by the parapet of a retaining wall, broken by -a flight of steps down to the path that is bounded by the two hedges of -ancient yews shown in the first picture. These hedges divide the flower -garden into two equal parts on the lower level, for, from where the -Castle stands, the ground falls to the south and east. On each side of -the steps, just beneath the terrace wall, is a flower border. -Immediately on entering the double wall of yew there is an opening to -right and left--an arch cut in the living green--giving access to the -two square gardens, in both of which a path passes all round next the -yews. There is also a flower border on two sides. The middle space is -grass with flower beds; in the left-hand garden (coming from the Castle) -are bold masses of herbaceous plants in beds grouped round a fountain; -in the one on the right, for the most part, Roses and Lilies. - -To the south-east, and occupying the space next beyond the rose garden -and the end of the lawn adjoining the Castle, is the kitchen garden. The -main walks have flower borders. Where the two cross paths intersect is a -Mulberry tree with an encircling seat. The subjects of the second and -third pictures are within the kitchen garden. - -Many are the beautiful points of view from the kitchen garden, for there -the grand yew hedges show beyond the flowers; then, towering aloft, -comes the fairy castle, and then fine trees; for trees are all around, -closely approaching the garden’s boundaries. - - * * * * * - -The brilliancy of colour masses in these Scottish gardens is something -remarkable. Whether it is attributable to soil or climate one cannot -say; possibly the greater length of day, and therefore of daily -sunshine, of these northern summers, may account for it. Of the great -number of people who go North for the usual autumn shooting, those - -[Illustration: CRATHES - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. GEORGE C. BOMPAS] - -who love the summer flowers find their season doubled, for the kinds -they have left waning in the South are not yet in bloom in the more -northern latitude. The flowers of our July gardens, Delphiniums, -Achilleas, Coreopsis, Eryngiums, Geums, Lupines, Scarlet Lychnis, -Bergamot, early Phloxes, and many others, and the hosts of spring-sown -annuals, are just in beauty. Sweet Peas are of astounding size and -vigour. Strawberries are not yet over, and early Peas are coming in. The -Gooseberry season, that had begun in the earliest days of August with -the Early Sulphurs and had been about ten days in progress in the -Southern English gardens, is for a time interrupted, but resumes its -course in September in the North, where this much-neglected fruit comes -to unusual excellence. It is a hardy thing, and appears to thrive better -north of the Border than elsewhere. - -It is one of the wholesomest of fruits; its better sorts of truly -delicious flavour. It is a pleasure, to one who knows its merits, to -extol them. It is essentially a fruit for one who loves a garden, -because, for some reason difficult to define, it is less enjoyable when -brought to table in a dessert dish. It should be sought for in the -garden ground and eaten direct from the bush. Perhaps many people are -deterred by its spiny armature, and it is certain that, when, as is too -often the case, the bushes are in crowded rows and have been allowed to -grow to a large size, the berries are difficult to get at. - -But the true amateur of this capital autumn fruit has them in espalier -form, in a few short rows, with ample space--about six feet--between -each row. - -The plants may be had ready trained in espalier shape, but it is almost -as easy to train them from the usual bush form. The vigorous young -growth that will spring out every year is cut away at the sides in -middle summer; just a shoot or two of young wood being left, when the -bushes have grown to a fair size, to train in, to take the place of -older wood. The plants being restricted to the fewer branches that form -the flat espalier, more strength is thrown into the ones that remain, so -that the berries become larger; and, as plenty of light and sun can get -to the fruits, even the best kinds are sweeter and better flavoured than -when they are allowed to grow in dense bushes. - -Then when the kinds are ripe how pleasant it is to take a low seat and -sit at ease before each good sort in succession! The best and ripest -fruits can be seen at a glance and picked without trouble, in pleasant -contrast to the painful, prickly groping that goes on among the crowded -bushes. No one would ever regret planting such excellent sorts as Red -Champagne, Amber Yellow, Cheshire Lass, Jolly Painter, a large, -well-flavoured and little-known berry, and Red Warrington, a trusty late -kind. To these should be added two admirable Gooseberries lately brought -out by Messrs. Veitch, namely, Langley Green and Langley Gage, both fine -fruits of delicious flavour. - -If such a little special fruit space were planted in these large -Scottish gardens, and the merits of the kinds became known, the daily -invitation of the hostess, “Let us go to the gooseberry garden,” would -be gladly welcomed, and guests would also find themselves, at various -times of day, sauntering towards the gooseberry plot. - -How grandly the scarlet Tropæolum (_T. speciosum_) grows in these -northern gardens is well known; indeed, in many places it has become -almost a pest. It is much more difficult to grow in the South, where it -is often a failure; in any case, it insists on a northern or eastern -exposure. Where it does best in gardens in the English counties is in -deep, cool soil, thoroughly enriched. When well established, the running -roots ramble in all directions, fresh growths appearing many feet away -from the place where it was originally planted. It looks perhaps best -when running up the face of a yew hedge, when the bright scarlet bloom, -and leaves of clear-cut shape, are seen to great advantage, and many of -the free growths of the plant take the form of hanging garlands. - -[Illustration: CRATHES: PHLOX - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MRS. CROFT] - - - - - -KELLIE CASTLE - - -Kellie Castle in Fifeshire, very near Balcaskie, is another house of the -finest type of old Scottish architecture. The basement is vaulted in -solid masonry, the ground-floor rooms have a height of fourteen feet; -the old hall, now the drawing-room, is nearly fifty feet long. A row of -handsome stone dormers to an upper floor, light a set of bedrooms, -which, as well as the main rooms below, have coved plaster ceilings of -great beauty. - -There is no certain record of the date of the oldest part of the castle. -It is assigned to the fourteenth century, but may be older. The earliest -actual date found upon the building is 1573, and it is considered that -the mass of the castle, as we see it now, was completed by that date, -though another portion bears the date 1606. It belonged of old to the -Oliphants, a family that held it for two and a half centuries, when it -passed by sale to an Erskine, who, early in the seventeenth century, -became Earl of Kellie. In 1797, after the death of the seventh Earl, it -was abandoned by the family and soon showed signs of deterioration from -disuse. About thirty years later the Earldom of Kellie descended to the -Earl of Mar, and the family seat being elsewhere, Kellie was allowed to -go to ruin. - -In 1878 the ruined place was taken, to its salvation, on a long lease by -Mr. James Lorimer, whose widow is the present occupier. It has undergone -the most careful and reverent reparation. The broken roofs have been -made whole, the walls are again hung with tapestries, and the rooms -furnished with what might have been the original appointments. - -The castle stands at one corner of the old walled kitchen garden, a door -in the north front opening directly into it. The garden has no -architectural features. There are walks with high box edgings and -quantities of simple flowers. Everywhere is the delightful feeling that -there is about such a place when it is treated with such knowledge and -sympathy as have gone to the re-making of Kellie as a delightful human -habitation. For two sons of the house are artists of the finest -faculty--painter and architect--and they have done for this grand old -place what boundless wealth, in less able hands, could not have -accomplished. - -Close to the house on its western side is a little glen, and in it a -rookery. When strong winds blow in early spring the nests in the swaying -tree-tops come almost within hand reach of the turret windows of the -north-west tower. - -How the flowers grow in these northern gardens! Here they must needs -grow tall to be in scale with the high box edging. But Shirley Poppies, -when they are autumn sown, will rise to four feet, and the grand new -strains of tall Snapdragons will go five and even over six feet in -height. - -As the picture shows, this is just the garden for the larger -plants--single Hollyhocks in big free groups, and double Hollyhocks too, -if one can be sure of getting a good strain. For this is just the -difficulty. The strains admired by the old-fashioned florist, with the -individual flowers tight and round, are certainly not the best in the -garden. The beautiful double garden Hollyhock has a wide outer frill -like the corolla of the single flowers in the picture. Then the middle -part, where the doubling comes, should not be too double. The waved and -crumpled inner petals should be loosely enough arranged for the light to -get in and play about, so that in some of them it is reflected, and in -some transmitted. It is only in such flowers that one can see how rich -and bright it can be in the reds and roses, or how subtle and tender in -the whites and sulphurs and pale pinks. Other flowers beautiful in such -gardens are the taller growing of the Columbines, the feathery -herbaceous Spiræas, such as _S. Aruncus_, that displays its handsome -leaves, and waves its creamy plumes, on the banks of Alpine torrents, -and its brethren the lovely pale pink _venusta_, the bright rosy -_palmata_ and the cream-white _Ulmaria_, the - -[Illustration: KELLIE CASTLE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION - -MR. ARTHUR H. LONGMAN] - -garden form of the wild Meadow-sweet of our damp meadow-ditches. Then -the tall Bocconia, with its important bluish leaves and feathery -flower-beads, which shows in the picture in brownish seed-pod; and the -Thalictrums, pale yellow and purple, and Canterbury Bells, and Lilies -yellow and white, and the tall broad-leaved Bell-flowers. - -All these should be in these good gardens, besides the many kinds of -Scotch Briers, and big bushes of the old, almost forgotten garden Roses -of a hundred years ago, many of which are no longer to be found, except -now and then in these old gardens of Scotland. For here some gardens -seem to have escaped that murderously overwhelming wave of fashion for -tender bedding plants alone, that wrought such havoc throughout England -during three decades of the last century. - -Here, too, are Roses trained in various pretty simple ways. Our garden -Roses come from so many different wild plants, from all over the -temperate world, that there is hardly an end to the number of ways in -which they can be used. Some of them, like the Scotch Briers, grow in -close bushy masses; some have an upright habit; some like to rush up -trees and over hedges; others again will trail along the ground and even -run downhill. Some are tender and must have a warm wall; some will -endure severe cold; some will flower all the summer; others at one -season only. So it is that we find in various gardens, Roses grown in -many different ways. In one as small bushes in beds, or budded on -standards, in another as the covering of a pergola, or as fountain -roses, throwing up many stems which arch over naturally. Some of the -oldest garden Roses, such as _The Garland_, _Dundee Rambler_ and -_Bennett’s Seedling_ are the best for this kind of use. - -The Himalayan _R. polyantha_ will grow in this way into a huge bush, -sometimes as much from thirty to forty feet in diameter, and many of the -beautiful modern garden Roses that have _polyantha_ for a near ancestor, -will do well in the same way, though none of them attain so great a -size. Roses grown like this take a form with, roughly speaking, a -semi-circular outline, like an inverted basin. If they are wanted to -take a shape higher in proportion they must be trained through or over -some simple framework. This is called balloon-training. Some roses are -grown in this fashion at Kellie, the framework being a central post from -which hoops are hung one above the other. The Rose grows up inside the -framework and hangs out all over. If this kind of training is to be on a -larger scale, long half-hoops have their ends fixed in the ground, and -pass across and across one another at a central point, where they are -fixed to a strong post, thus forming ten or twelve ribs. Horizontal -wires, like lines of latitude upon a globe, pass all round them at even -intervals. Then Roses can be trained to any kind of trellis, either a -plain one to make a wall of roses or a shaped one, whose form they will -be guided to follow. Then again, there may be rose arches, single, -double or grouped; or in a straight succession over a path; or alternate -arches and garlands, a pretty plan where paths intersect; the four -arches kept a little way back from the point of intersection, with -garlands connecting them diagonally in plan. Then there are Roses, some -of the same that serve for several of these kinds of free treatment, for -making bowers and arbours. - -And there are endless possibilities for the beautiful treatment of Rose -gardens, though seldom does one see them well done. There are many who -think that a Rose garden must admit no other flowers but Roses. This may -be desirable in some cases, but the present writer holds a more elastic -view. Beds and clumps of Roses where no other flower is allowed, often -look very bare at the edges, and might with advantage be under-planted -with Pinks and Carnations, Pansies, London Pride, or even annuals. And -any Lilies of white and pink colouring such as _candidum_, -_longiflorum_, _Brownii_, _Krameri_, or _rubellum_ suit them well, also -many kinds of Clematis. The gardener may perhaps, object that the usual -cultivation of Roses, the winter mulch and subsequent digging in and the -frequent after-hoeing precludes the use of other plants; but all these -rules may be relaxed if the Rose garden is on a fairly good rose soil. -For the object is the showing of a space of garden ground made beautiful -by garden Roses--not merely the production of a limited number of blooms -of exhibition quality. - -The way the bushes of garden Roses grow and bloom in close companionship -with other strong-growing plants, at Kellie and in thousands of other -gardens, shows how amicably they live with their near neighbours; and -often by a happy accident, they tell us what plants will group -beautifully with them. - -The Roses that are best kept out of the Rose garden, are those -delightful ones of the end of June; the Damasks, and the Provence, the -sweet old Cabbage Rose of English gardens. These, and the Scotch Briers -of earlier June, bloom for one short season only. Of late years the -possibilities of beautiful Rose gardening have been largely increased by -the raising of quantities of beautiful Roses of the Hybrid Tea class -that bloom throughout the summer, and that, with the coming of autumn, -seem only to gain renewed life and strength. - - - - -HARDWICK - - -Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, one of the great houses of England, is, -with others of its approximate contemporaries of the later half of the -sixteenth century, such as Longleat, Wollaton, and Montacute, an example -of what was at the time of its erection an entirely new aspect of the -possibilities of domestic architecture. - -The country had settled down into a peaceful state. A house was no -longer a castle needing external defence. Hitherto the homes of England -had been either fortresses, or had needed the protection of moats and -walls. They had been poorly lighted; only the walls looking to an inner -court, or to a small walled garden could have fair-sized openings. No -spacious windows could look abroad upon open country, field or woodland. -But by this time such restriction was a thing of the past, and we see in -these great houses, and in Hardwick especially, immense window spaces in -the outer walls. The architects of the time, John Thorpe, the Smithsons -and others, ran riot with their great windows, as if revelling in their -exemption from the older bonds. The new freedom was so tempting that -they knew not how to restrain themselves, and it was only later, when it -was found that the amount of lighting was overmuch for convenience, that -the relation of degree of light to internal comfort came to be better -understood and more reasonably adjusted. - -The famous Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick), to whose -initiative this great house owes its origin, set an imperishable -memorial of her imperious arrogance upon the balustrading that crowns -the square tower-like projections at the angles and ends of the -building, where the - -[Illustration: THE FORECOURT: HARDWICK - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. ASTON WEBB] - -stone is wrought into lace-like fretwork of arabesque, whereof the chief -features are her coronet and the initials of her name. - -A spacious forecourt occupies the ground upon the western--the main -entrance front. It stretches the whole length of the house, and projects -as much forward; its outer sides being inclosed with a wall that bears -in constant succession an ornament of a _fleur-de-lys_ with tall -pyramidal top, a detail imported direct from Italy, from the Renaissance -gardens of earlier date. Such an ornament occurs at the Villa d’Este at -Tivoli, crowning a retaining wall. The entrance to the inclosed -forecourt is by a handsome stone gateway. This gateway forms the -background of the picture, which shows one of the well-planted flower -borders that abound at Hardwick, and that strike that lightsome and -cheerful note of human care and delight that is so welcome in this place -whose scale is rather too large, and somewhat coldly forbidding, in -relation to the more ordinary aspects of daily comfort. - -Indeed--for all the good planting--the long wall-backed flower border -facing south, whose wall is in part of its length that of the house -itself, looks as if, in relation to the great building towering above -it--its occupants were still too small, although they include flowering -plants seven to nine feet high, such as Gyneriums and the larger -herbaceous Spiræas. A well-directed effort has evidently been made to -have the planting on a scale with the lordly building, but the items -want to be larger still and the grouping yet bolder, to overcome the -dwarfing effect of the towering structure. In such a place the -Magnolias, both evergreen and deciduous, would have a fine effect, -though possibly they would hardly thrive in the midland climate. - -Within the forecourt, along the wall parallel to the house and furthest -from it, this need is not so apparent. In the subject of the picture, -the Honeysuckle, the magnificently grown purple Clematis upon the wall, -the Mulleins, Bocconia and Japan Anemones, are in due proportion; the -Tufted Pansies and Mignonette bringing their taller brethren happily -down to the grassy verge. Approaching the pathway from the right, -stretch some of the long loose growths of one of the two large Cedars -that are such prominent objects in the forecourt garden. - -The main open spaces of this garden repeat in flower beds on grass the -big E.S. of the self-asserting founder. It is not pretty gardening nor -particularly dignified. No doubt it is only a modern acquiescence in the -dominating tradition of the place. Even making allowance for, and -retaining this sentiment, a better design might have been made, -embodying these already too-often-repeated letters. Moreover, the -servile copying of the lettering in its stone form only serves to -illustrate the futility of reproducing a form of ornament designed for -one material in another of totally different nature. - -There is some excellent gardening in a long flower-border outside the -forecourt wall. Here the size of the house is no longer oppressive, and -it comes into proper scale a little way beyond the point where the broad -green ways, bounded by noble hedges of ancient yews, swing into a wide -circle as they cross, and show the bold niches cut in the rich green -foliage where leaden statues are so effectively placed. - -By the kindness of the owner, the Duke of Devonshire, Hardwick Hall, -illustrating as it does a distinct form of architectural expression with -much of historical interest, is open to the public. - - - - -MONTACUTE - - -Montacute in Somersetshire, built towards the end of the sixteenth -century by Sir Edward Phelips, is another of that surprising number of -important houses built on a symmetrical plan that arose during the reign -of Queen Elizabeth. - -As the house was then, so we see it now; unaltered, and only mellowed by -time. The gardens, too, are of the original design, including a -considerable amount of architectural stonework. - -The large entrance forecourt is inclosed by a high balustraded wall, -with important and finely-designed garden houses on its outer angles. -The length of the side walls is broken midway on each side by a small -circular pillared pavilion with a boldly projecting entablature, crowned -with an openwork canopy and a topmost ornament of two opposite and -joining rings of stone. - -The piers of the balustrade are surmounted by stone obelisks, and the -large paved landing, forming a shallow court at the top of the flight of -steps a hundred feet wide, that gives access to the house on this side -has tall pillars that now carry lamps, though they appear to have been -designed merely as a stately form of ornament. - -The forecourt has a wide expanse of gravel with a large fountain basin -in the middle. Next the wall there are flower-borders; then the wide -gravelled path, and, following this, a broad strip of turf with Irish -yews at regular intervals. The general severity of the planning is -pleasantly relieved by the bright flower-border, the subject of the -picture. To right and left are openings in the wall leading to other -garden spaces. The one of these to the left, just behind the spectator -as in the picture, leads by an upward flight of steps to one side of a -wide terrace walk, that encompasses on all four sides a large sunk -garden of formal design. This garden runs the whole length of the -forecourt and depth of the house, and has a width equal to some -two-thirds of its length. A large middle fountain-basin, with shaped -outline of angles and segments of circles, has a balustraded kerb with a -stone obelisk on every pier. In the centre is a handsome tazza in which -the water plays. Wide paths lead down flights of balustraded steps from -all four sides to the gravelled area within which the fountain stands. -The spaces between, and the banks rising to the level of the upper -terraces, are of turf. Rows of Irish yews stand ranged on both levels. -It is all extremely correct, stately--dare one say a trifle dull? -Opposite the forecourt the garden is bounded by a good yew hedge -protecting it from wind from the valley below. Midway in the length is -an opening where a low wall and seats give a welcome outlook. The same -yew hedge returns eastward to the south-east angle of the house; the -garden’s opposite boundary being a low wall with a sunk fence outside, -giving a view into the park. - -There is an entrance from the garden to the house on its southern side -by a flight of balustraded steps, and niches with seats are on either -side of the door. - -Wonderful are these great stone houses of the early English -Renaissance--wonderful in their bold grasp and sudden assertion of the -new possibilities of domestic architecture! For it may be repeated that -it was only of late that a man’s house had ceased to be a place of -defence, and that he might venture to have windows looking abroad all -round, and yet feel perfectly safe without even an inclosing moat. - -In the present day it is somewhat difficult to account for the -designer’s attitude of mind when deciding on such a lavish employment of -the obelisk-shaped finials. One can only regard it as the outcome of the -taste or fashion of the day, when he borrowed straight from the Italians -everything except their marvellous discernment. One accepts the many -obelisks at Montacute as showing the reflection of Italian influence on -the Tudor mind; to-day and new, they would be inadmissible. The modern -mind, with the vast quantity of material at hand, and the easy access to -all that has been said and done on the subject, should - -[Illustration: MONTACUTE: SUNFLOWERS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. E. C. AUSTEN LEIGH] - -accept nothing but the best and purest in this as in any other branch of -fine art. - -There is one other possible way of accounting for the prevalence of -these all-pervading obelisks. The name of the place is taken from a -conical wooded hill (_mons acutus_). The same play on a word, a -favourite fashion of Elizabethan times, and a custom in heraldry from a -remoter antiquity, is seen in the shield of the ancient Montacute -family, where the three sharp peaks denote that the surname had the same -origin. The connexion of this name with the acute peak or obelisk form -would therefore the more readily commend itself to the Elizabethan mind. - -The house has never gone into other hands, the present owner, Mr. W. R. -Phelips, being the descendant of the founder. - - - - -RAMSCLIFFE - - -It would seem to be a law that the purest and truest human pleasure in a -garden is attained by means whose ratio is exactly inverse to the scale -or degree of the garden’s magnificence. The design, for instance, of a -Versailles impresses one with a sense of ostentatious consciousness of -magnitude; out of scale with living men and women; whose lives could -only be adapted to it, as we know they were, by an existence full of -artificial restraints and discomforts; the painful and arbitrarily -imposed conditions of a tyrannical and galling etiquette. - -So we think also of our greatest gardens, such as Chatsworth. It is -visited by a large number of people who go to see it as a large -expensive place to gape at, but surely not for the truest love of a -garden. So it is with many a large place; the size and grandeur of the -garden may suit the great house as a design; it may be imposing and -costly, it may be beautifully kept, and yet it may lack all the -qualities that are needed for simple pleasure and refreshment. It is not -till we come to some old garden of moderate size that has always been -cherished and has never been radically altered, that the true message of -the garden can be received and read; and it is from thence downward in -the scale of grandeur that we find those gardens that are the happiest -and best of all for true delight and close companionship; the simple -borders of hardy flowers, planted and tended with constant watchfulness -and loving care by the owner’s own hands. - -Such a garden is this of Mr. Elgood’s; in a midland county, and on a -strong soil that throws up good hardy plants in vigorous luxuriance. -Here grow the great Orange Lilies--the Herring Lilies of - -[Illustration: RAMSCLIFFE: ORANGE LILIES & MONKSHOOD - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. C. E. FREELING] - -the Dutch, because they bloom at the time of the herring harvest--six -and seven feet high, and with them the Monkshood, with its tall spikes -of hooded bloom. In poorer soils or with worse culture these fine -flowers are of much lower growth, the Monkshood often only half the -height, with its deeply-cut leaves yellowing before their time with the -weakness of too-early maturity. The pleasure with which one sees this -fine old garden flower is, however, always a little lessened by the -knowledge of the dangerously poisonous nature of the whole plant, and -especially of the root. It is the deadly Aconite of pharmacy. Another of -the same family is grouped with it; the yellow Aconite of the Austrian -mountains, with branched heads of sulphur-coloured bloom and singularly -handsome leaves--large, dark green, glistening and persistently -enduring--for, long after the bloom is past, they are beautiful in the -border. - -How well an artist knows the value of grey-leaved plants, and their use -in pictorial gardening in the way of giving colour-value by close -companionship, to tender pinks and lilacs, and, above all, to whites! A -patch of white bloom is often too hard and sudden and inharmonious to -satisfy the trained eye, but led up to and softened and sweetened by -masses of neighbouring tender grey it takes its proper place and comes -to its right strength in the well-ordered scheme. Lavender, -Lavender-cotton (_Santolina_), Catmint, Pinks and Carnations, and the -Woolly Woundwort (_Stachys_) with some other plants of hoary foliage, do -this good work. In this garden the Woundwort, there known by its old -Midland name of “Our Saviour’s Blanket,” throws up its grey-pink heads -of bloom from a thick carpet of rather large leaves, silvery soft with -their thick coating of long white down. Here a groundwork of it leads to -the group of white Peach-leaved Bell-flower on the right and to the tall -white Gnaphalium, a plant of kindred woolliness, on the left, while the -precious grey quality runs through the left-hand flower-group by means -of the downy-coated pods of the earlier-blooming Lupins, purposely left -among the later flowers for this and for their handsome form. - -How finely the Orange Lilies tell against the background of the holly -hedge, at the path-end cut into an arbour, may well be seen in the -picture, and how kindly and gracefully the Greengage Plum-tree bends -over and plays its appointed part. - -Such a flower border makes many a picture in the hands of a -garden-artist. His knowledge of the plants, their colours, seasons, -habits and stature, enables him to use them as he uses the colours on -his palette. - -How grandly the tall Delphiniums grow in this strong soil. A little of -the colour has been lost owing to technical difficulties of -reproduction, for the blue is purer and stronger in effect both in the -original picture and in nature than is here shown. They are grouped, as -blue flowers need, with contrasts of yellow and orange; with yellow -Daisies and the feathery Meadow-rue (_Thalictrum_), and the tall yellow -Aconite and nearly white Campanulas, woolly Stachys and purple -Bell-flowers beyond. Only one small patch of brighter colour, the -scarlet of Lychnis chalcedonica, is allowed here. On the other side is -the loose-growing and always pictorial white Mallow (_Sidalcea -candida_), taking some weeks to produce its crop of flowers that, like -Foxgloves and most of the flowers of the tall-spiked habit of growth, -begin to bloom below, following upward till they finish at the top. - -Some sort of garden knowledge is so generally professed in these days, -and so much more gardening of the better kind is being attempted, that -people are gradually learning the advantage of planting in good groups -of one thing at a time. The older way of putting one each of the same -plant at regular intervals along a border--like buttons on a -waistcoat--is now no longer tolerated, but a great deal has yet to be -learnt. Even planting in bold groups, however good the plants, will be -ineffective if not absolutely unfortunate, if relationships of colouring -are not understood. The safest plan is to plant in harmonies more or -less graduated as to the warm colours, such as full yellow with orange -and scarlet, and to plant blues with contrasts of yellows and any white -flowers. Then delightful effects may be obtained with masses of grey -foliage, such as Lavender, Lavender-cotton, and Stachys, and white Pink, -with flowers that have colourings of tender pink, white, lilac and -purple. To acquire a colour eye is an education in itself, founded on -the needful natural aptitude, a gift that is denied to some people even -if they are not actually colour-blind. But it is a precious possession -where it occurs, and all the better - -[Illustration: RAMSCLIFFE: LARKSPUR - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MISS KENSIT] - -when it has been so well trained that the eye is enabled to appreciate -the utmost refinements of colour-values, and when this education has -been carried to the point necessary for the artist, of justly estimating -the colour _as it appears to be_. This is the most difficult thing to -learn; to see colour as it is, is quite easy; any one not colour-blind -can do this; but to see it as it appears to be needs to be learnt, for -upon this acquired proficiency depends the power of the artist to -interpret the colours of objects and to represent them in their right -relation to each other. - -There is another good double flower-border in this pleasant garden. In -the sunny month of August the fine Summer Daisies (_Chrysanthemum -maximum_), Phloxes and Lavender are in beauty, and some bloom remains -upon the climbing Roses. The Box-edging, stout and strong, can withstand -the temporary encroachments of some of the border flowers, for in such a -garden, rule is relaxed whenever such latitude tends to beauty. Here and -there, where the little edging shrub showed signs of unusual vigour, it -has been allowed to grow up on the understanding that it shall submit to -the shears, which clip it into rounded ball-shapes of two sizes, one -upon another, like loaves of bread. - -A garden like this, of moderate size, and needing no troublesome -accessories of glasshouses, or even frames, and very little outside -labour, is probably the very happiest possession of its kind. As the -seasons succeed each other new pictures of flower beauty are revealed in -constant succession. After the day’s work in the best of the daylight is -over, its owner turns to it for pleasant labour or any such tending as -it may need. Every group of plants meets him with a friendly face, for -each one was planted by his own hands. His watchful eye observes where -anything is amiss and the needful aid is immediately given. - -In a great garden this vigilant personal care of plants as individuals -is impossible. However able a man the head gardener may be, or however -much he may love and wish to cherish the flowers under his care, his -duties and responsibilities are too many and too onerous to admit of his -being able to enjoy this intimate fellowship; but in the humbler garden -the close relationship of man and flowers, with all its beneficent and -salutary serviceableness to both, seems to be exactly adjusted. - -Such a garden it is that fulfils its highest purpose; that giving of -the pleasure--the rich reward of the loving toil and care that have -gone to its making; every plant or group in it doing its appointed work -in its due season--that giving of “sweet solace” according to the -well-fitting wording of our far-away ancestors. - -And when the day’s work is done, and the light just begins to fail, no -one knows better than the artist that then is the best moment in the -garden--when the colours acquire a wonderful richness of “subdued -splendour” such as is unmatched throughout the lighter hours of the long -summer day. Then it is that the flowers of delicate texture that have -grown faint in the full heat, raise their heads and rejoice; that the -tall evening Primrose opens its pale wide petals and gives off its faint -perfume; that the little lilac cross-flowers of the night-scented Stock -open out and show their modest prettiness and pour forth their -enchanting fragrance. This early evening hour is indeed the best of all; -the hour of loveliest sight, of sweetest scent, of best earthly rest and -fullest refreshment of body and spirit. - -[Illustration: LEVENS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MAJOR LONGFIELD] - - - - -LEVENS - - -There is perhaps no garden in England that has been so often described -or so much discussed as that at Levens in Westmorland, the home of -Captain Jocelyn Bagot. - -It was laid out near the beginning of the eighteenth century by a French -gardener named Beaumont. There is nothing about it of the French manner, -as we know it, for it is more in the Dutch style of the time, and has -become in appearance completely English; according perfectly with the -beautiful old house, and growing with it into a complete harmony of -mellow age, whose sentiment is one of perfect unison both within and -without. - -Forward of the house-front, in a space divided by intersecting paths -into six main compartments, is the garden. Flower-borders, box-edged on -both sides, form bordering ornaments all round these divisions. The -inner spaces are of turf. At the angles and at equal points along the -borders are strange figures cut in yew and box. Some are like turned -chessmen; some might be taken for adaptations of human figures, for one -can trace a hat-covered head--one of them wears a crown--shoulders and -arms and a spreading petticoat. Some of the yews, and these mostly in -the more open spaces of grass or walk, rise four-square as solid blocks, -with rounded roof and stemless mushroom finial. These have for the most -part arched recesses, forming arbours. One of the tallest, standing -clear on its little green, is differently shaped, being round in plan -above and the stems bared all round below, with an encircling seat. - -No doubt many of the yews have taken forms other than those that were -originally designed; the variety of shape would be otherwise too -daring; but these recklessly defiant escapes from rule only add to the -charm of the place, presenting a fresh surprise at every turn. The play -of light and variety of colour of the green surfaces of the clipped -evergreens is a delight to the trained colour-eye. Sometimes in shadow, -cold, almost blue, reflecting the sky, with a sunlit edge of surprising -brilliancy of golden-green--often all bright gold-green when the young -shoots are coming, or when the sunlight catches the surface in one of -its many wonderful ways. For the trees, clipped in so many diversities -of form, offer numberless planes and facets and angles to the light, -whose play upon them is infinitely varied. Then the beholder, passing on -and looking back, sees the whole thing coloured and lighted anew. This -quantity of Yew and Box clipped into an endless variety of fantastic -forms has often been criticised as childish. Would that all gardens were -childish in so happy a way! Is not the joy and perfectly innocent -delight that the true lover of flowers feels in a good garden in itself -akin to childishness, and is not a fine old English garden such as this, -with its numberless incidents that stir and gratify the imagination, and -its abundance of sweet and beautiful flowers, just the one that can give -that happiness in the greatest degree? Does not the oldest of our -legends, so closely bound up with our youngest apprehension of religious -teaching, tell us of the earliest of our race of whom we have any record -or even tradition, living happily in a garden in a state of childish -innocence? Why should a garden not be childish?--perhaps when it truly -deserves such a term it is the highest praise it could possibly have! - -However this may be the fact remains that those who own this garden of -many wonders, and watch and tend it with unceasing love and reverence, -and others who have had the happiness of working in it for many days -together, find it a place that never wearies, but only continues day by -day to disclose new beauties and new delights. Doubtless it is a garden -that cannot be fairly judged from a hasty glance or a few hours’ visit. -Like many of the places and things that we call inanimate--though to one -who knows and loves a garden nothing is more vitally living--such a -place has its moods and can frown upon an unsympathetic beholder. - -The garden is filled with many Roses and well-grown hardy plants; - -[Illustration: LEVENS: ROSES AND PINKS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MRS. ARCHIBALD PARKER] - -those especially of tall stature making a fine effect. The Rose garden -has White Pinks in its outer beds. Immediately beyond the garden’s -bounds is wild ground of a beautiful character. The river Kent, a -rock-strewn stream with steep wooded banks, flows within fifty yards of -the house. The contrast is a great and a delightful one. Wild parkland -and untamed river without; and within the walls ordered restraint; then -again, the quiet of the wide bowling-green, with its dark clipped -hedges, and beyond it a long, tree-shaded walk. - -Precious, indeed, are the few remaining gardens that have anything of -the character of this wonderful one of Levens; gardens that above all -others show somewhat of the actual feeling and temperament of our -ancestors. They show personal discrimination combining happily with -common-sense needs; walls and masses of yew and box to make shelter from -the violence of wind, and yet to admit the welcome sunlight; so to -provide the best conditions in the inner spaces for the growing of -lovely flowers. Then the shaping of some of the yews into strange forms, -shows perhaps the whimsical humour of some one of a line of owners, -preserved, with careful painstaking, by his descendants. - -A garden many generations old may thus be a reflection of the minds of -several of such possessors--men who have not only thankfully paced its -green spaces and delighted in its flowery joys, but who have held it in -that close and friendly fellowship whose outcome is sure to be some -living and lasting addition either to its comfort, its interest, or its -beauty. The original design may have become in some degree lost, but -unless the doings of the several owners have been in the way of -destruction or radical alteration, or something of obvious folly or bad -taste, the garden will have gained in a remarkable degree that quality -of human interest that is not easy to define but that is clearly -perceptible, not only to a trained critic but to any one who has -knowledge of its most vital needs and sympathy with its worthiest -expression. This precious utterance is not confined to this or to any -one special kind of gardening, but may pervade and illuminate almost any -one of the many ways in which men find their pleasure and delight in -ordering the sheltered seclusion of their home grounds, and enjoying the -varied beauty of tree and bush and flower. - -It is only in gardens of the most rigidly formal type, such as are full -of architectural form and detail and admit of no alteration of the -original plan, that personal influence can least be exercised. This is -no doubt the reason why such gardens, correctly beautiful though they -may be, are those that give in smallest measure that wonderful sense of -the purest and most innocent happiness, that of all earthly enjoyments -seems to be the most directly God-given. - -Yet, even in such gardens, it is not impossible that some impress of the -personal influence may be beneficently given, but the range of operation -is extremely limited, the greatest knowledge and ability are needed, -with the sure action of the keenest and most restrained judgment. - - - - -CAMPSEY ASHE - - -In Eastern Suffolk, within a few miles of the sea, is this, the country -home of the Hon. William Lowther. - -The house, replacing an older one that occupied the same site, is of -brick and stone, built in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. A -moat, inclosing an unusually large area, and formerly entirely -encompassing the house and garden, is now partly filled up; but one long -arm remains, running the greater part of the length of the house and -garden; a shorter length bounding the inclosed garden on the opposite -side. The longer length of moat approaches the house closely on its -eastern face, and then forms the boundary of a large and -beautifully-kept square lawn, with fine old cedars and other trees. -Following this southward is a double walled garden, with the main paths, -especially those of the nearer division, bordered with flowers. Beyond -these again is the portion of the garden that forms the subject of the -picture--a small parterre of box-edged beds with a row of old clipped -yews beyond. This leads westward to a grove of trees, with a statue also -girt with trees standing in an oval in the midmost space. - -The garden has beautiful incidents in abundance, but is somewhat -bewildering. Traces of the older gardening constantly appear; but their -original cohesion has been lost. The moat, always an important feature, -ends suddenly at four points. Garden-houses and gazebos, that usually -come at salient points with determinate effect, seem to have strayed -into their places. Sections of the park seem to have broken loose and -lost themselves in the garden. The garden is not the less charming in -detail, but is impossible to gather together or hold in a clear mental -grasp, from the absence of general plan. - -Besides the old clipped yews in the picture, others, apparently of the -same age, inclose an oval bowling-green. In form they are as if they had -been at first cut as a thick hedge with a roof-like sloping top. From -this, at fairly regular intervals, spring great rounded masses, that, -with the varying vigour of the individual trees and the continual -clipping without reference to a fixed design, have asserted themselves -after their own fashion. Though symmetry has been lost, the place has -gained in pictorial value. Four ways lead in; the larger bosses guarding -the entrances. - -So it is throughout this charming but puzzling garden. Ever a glimpse of -some delightful old-world incident, and then the baffled effort to fit -together the disjointed members of what must once have been a definite -design. - -The portion of the garden that is simplest and clearest is a broad walk -opposite the house, on the further side of the moat, and raised some ten -feet above it; backed by an old yew hedge some twenty feet high, of -irregular outline. Just opposite the middle of the house the line of the -hedge is interrupted to give a view into the park, with a vista between -groups of fine elms; but the hedge stretches away southward the whole -length of the long arm of the moat and the walled gardens. At regular -intervals along the old hedge are ranged, on column-shaped pedestals, -busts that came from an Italian villa. About half way along steps lead -down to the moat, where there is a ferry-punt propelled by an endless -rope, such as is commonly used in the fenlands. At the end of the long -walk is a curious seat with a high carved back, that looks as if it had -once formed part of an old ship or state barge, in the bygone days of -two hundred years ago, when a fine style of bold and free wood-carving -was lavishly used about their raised poops and stern-galleries. - -Towards the end of the second division of the walled garden is an old -orangery or large garden house, that probably was in connexion with the -scheme of the yew hedges. It has the usual piercing with large lights -but no top-light. The original purpose of these buildings was the -housing of orange and other tender trees in tubs, and the fact of its -presence might possibly throw some light on the mystery of the garden’s -former planning. - -[Illustration: THE YEW HEDGE, CAMPSEY ASHE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. H. W. SEARCH] - -Good hardy flowers are everywhere in abundance. Specially beautiful in -the later summer is a grand pink Hollyhock of strong free habit, with -the flowers of that best of all shapes--with wide, frilled outer petals -and centres not too tightly packed. - -It would be interesting work for some one with a knowledge of the garden -design of the past three centuries in England to try to reconstruct the -original plan of some one time. Though on the ground the various -remaining portions of the older work cannot be pieced together, yet, if -these were put on paper to proper scale, it might be possible to come to -some general conclusions as to the way in which the garden was -originally, and again perhaps subsequently, laid out. Some of the -remaining portions of the older work of quite different dates may now -seem to be of the same age, but the expert would probably be able to -discriminate. The result of such a study would be worth having even if -actual reconstruction were not contemplated. - - - - -CLEEVE PRIOR - - -Near a quiet village in Warwickshire, and in close relation to its -accompanying farm buildings, is this charming old manor house. It is not -upon a main road, but stands back in its own quiet place on rising -ground above the Avon. Everything about it is interesting and quite -unspoilt. The wooden hand-gate, with its acorn-topped posts, that stands -upon two semi-circular steps may not have been of the pattern of the -original gate--it has an eighteenth-century look--but it is just right -now. It leads into a half dark, half light, double arcade of splendid -old clipped yews. Looking from the gate they seem to be tall walls of -yew to right and left, showing the projecting porch of the house at the -end; but, passing along, there are seen to be openings between every two -trees, each of which gives a charming picture of the lawns and simple -flower beds to right and left. The path is paved with stone flags; the -garden is bounded with a low wall of the local oolite limestone that -rock-plants love. A few thin-topped old fruit-trees, their stems clothed -with ivy, are another link between the past and present, and the -somewhat pathetic evidence of their having long passed their prime and -being on the downward path, is in striking contrast with the robust -vigour of the ancient yews, already some centuries old, and looking as -if they must endure for ever. - -Eight yews stand on either side--sixteen in all. They are known as the -twelve Apostles and the four Evangelists. The names may have belonged to -them from the time of their planting, for the whole place belonged in -old days to Evesham Abbey, and is pervaded with monastic memory and -tradition. This may also account for the excellence of the - -[Illustration: THE TWELVE APOSTLES, CLEEVE PRIOR - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -SIR FREDERICK WIGAN] - -buildings, for the old monks were grand constructors, and their -structures were not only solid but always beautiful. - -One of the older of these at Cleeve Prior is a large circular dovecote -of stone masonry with tiled roof and small tiled cupola. Such buildings -were not unfrequent in the old days, and many of them remain. Sometimes -they are round in plan, sometimes four-, sometimes eight-sided. -Occasionally there is a central post inside, set on pivots to revolve -easily, with lateral arms carrying a ladder that reaches nearly to the -walls, so that any one of the many pigeon-holes can be reached. - -To the left of the Apostles’ Garden, as you stand facing the house, a -little gate leads into the vegetable garden. It has narrow grass paths -bordered with old-fashioned flowers. A further gate leads into the -orchard. Behind the house is the home close with some fine trees; on two -other sides are the farm buildings, yard and rickyard. - -How grandly the flowers grow in these old manor and farm gardens! How -finely the great masses of bloom compose, and how beautifully they -harmonise with the grey of the limestone wall and the wonderful colour -of the old tiled roof; both of them weather and lichen-stained; each -tile a picture in itself of grey and orange and tenderest pink. - -The yews have got over their paler green colour of the early summer when -the young shoots are put forth, and have settled into the deep green -dress that they will wear till next May. For the time is September; -wheat harvesting is going on and the autumn flowers are in full vigour. -There are Dahlias, the great annual Sunflowers and the tall autumn -Daisy; Lavender and Michaelmas Daisies, with sweet herbs for the -kitchen, just as it should be in such a garden. - -Some of these old pot-herbs are beautiful things deserving a place in -any flower garden. Sage--for instance--a half shrubby plant with -handsome grey leaf and whorled spikes of purple flowers; a good plant -both for winter and summer, for the leaves are persistent and the plant -well clothed throughout the year. Hyssop is another such handsome thing, -of the same family, with a quantity of purple bloom in the autumn, when -it is a great favourite with the butterflies and bumble bees. This is -one of the plants that was used as an edging plant in gardens in Tudor -days, as we read in Parkinson’s “Paradisus,” where Lavender-cotton, -Marjoram, Savoury and Thyme are also named as among the plants used for -the same purpose. Rue, with its neat bluish-green foliage, is also a -capital plant for the garden where this colour of leafage is desired. -Fennel, with its finely-divided leaves and handsome yellow flower, is a -good border plant, though rarely so used, and blooms in the late autumn. -Lavender and Rosemary are both so familiar as flower-garden plants that -we forget that they can also be used as neat edgings, if from the time -they are young plants they are kept clipped. Borage has a handsome blue -flower, as good as its relation the larger _Anchusa_. Tansy, best known -in gardens by the handsome _Achillea Eupatorium_, was an old inmate of -the herb garden. Sweet Cicely (_Myrrhis odorata_) has beautiful foliage, -pale green and fern-like, with a good umbel of white bloom, and is a -most desirable plant to group with and among early blooming flowers. And -we all know what a good garden flower is the common Pot Marigold. - -The old farm buildings at Cleeve Prior are scarcely less beautiful than -the manor-house itself, and are remarkable for the timber erections, -open at the sides but with tiled roofs, that give sheltered access, by -outside stairways, to the lofts. - -Throughout England the older farmhouses and buildings are full of -interest, not only to architects, but to many who are in sympathy with -good and simple construction, and have taken the pleasant trouble to -learn enough about it to understand how and why the buildings were -reared. And in these restless days of hurry and strain and close -competition in trades, and bad, cheap work, it is good to pass a quiet -hour in wandering about among structures set up four or even five -centuries ago by these grand building monks. The present writer had just -such a pleasure not long ago in the South of England, where a large -group of monastic farm buildings stands within sound of the wash of the -sea. They are on sloping ground, inclosing three sides of a square; a -wall, backed with trees, forming the fourth side. On the upper level is -a great barn; a much greater, the tithe barn, being opposite it on the -lower. Buildings containing stables, cattle-sheds and piggeries connect -the two. Between these and the wall opposite is a spacious yard; across -the middle is a raised causeway dividing the yard into two levels. - -[Illustration: CLEEVE PRIOR: SUNFLOWERS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. JAMES CROFTS POWELL] - -The barns are of grand masonry. Some of the stones, next above the -plinth--a feature that adds so much to the dignity of the building, and -by its additional width, to its solidity--measure as much as four feet -six inches in length by twenty inches in height. In every fifth course -is a row of triangular holes for ventilation, such as every brick or -stone-built barn must have. They are cleverly arranged as to the detail -of the manner of their building, and though only intended for use have a -distinctly ornamental value. Where the walls rise at the gable ends they -are corbelled out at the eaves and carried up some two feet above the -line of the rafters, finishing in a wrought stone capping, thus stopping -the thatch. For the buildings are, and always have been, thatched with -straw, the ground around being good corn-land, a rich calcareous loam. - -There is a delightful sense of restfulness about these fine solid -buildings, built for the plainest needs of the community of the material -nearest to hand, in the simply right and therefore most beautiful way. -With no intentional ornament, they have the beauty of sound, strong -structure and unconsciously right proportion. There is also a -satisfaction in the plain evidence of delight in good craftsmanship, and -in the unsparing use of both labour and material. - - - - -CONDOVER - - -Condover Hall near Shrewsbury is a stately house of important size and -aspect--one of the many great houses that were reared in the latter half -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Its general character gives the -impression of severity rather than suavity, though the straight groups -of chimneys have handsome heads, and the severe character is mitigated -on the southern front by an arcade in the middle space of the ground -floor. The same stern treatment pervades the garden masonry. No -mouldings soften the edges of the terrace steps; parapets and retaining -walls, with the exception of the balustrade of the main terrace, are -without ornament of light and shade; plainly weathered copings being -their only finish. Only here and there, a pier that carries a large -Italian flower-pot has a little more ornament of rather massive bracket -form. - -The garden spaces are large and largely treated, as befits the place and -its environment of park-land amply furnished with grand masses of -tree-growth. On the southern side of the house, where the ground falls -away, are two green flats and slopes, leading to a lower walk parallel -with their length and with the terrace above. The steps in the picture -are the top flight of a succession leading to these lower levels. The -lower and narrower grassy space has a row of clipped yews of a rounded -cone-shape. The upper level has a design of the same, but of different -patterns. - -The balustrade in the picture is old, probably of the same date as the -house; much of the other stonework is modern. The circular seat on a -raised platform, with its stone-edged flower-beds, has a very happy -effect, and its yew-hedge backing joins well into the older yews that - -[Illustration: CONDOVER: THE TERRACE STEPS - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS AUSTEN LEIGH] - -overlap the parapet of the steps; their colour contrasting distinctly -with that of the more distant Ilex, a magnificent example of a tree that -deserves more general use in English gardens. The parterre above the -steps and on a level with the house has box hedges, after the Italian -manner, three feet high and two feet wide. These, with some of the yew -hedges, were planted a hundred years ago, though much of the garden, -with its ornaments of fine Italian flower-pots, was the work of the -former owner, the late Mr. Reginald Cholmondeley, a man of powerful -personality and fine taste. - -The most important part of the garden lies to the west of the house, -where there is a double garden of stiff pattern with high box borders -and clipped evergreens. At a right angle to this, the spectator, -standing at some distance westward, and looking back towards the east -and straight with the space between the pair of gardens of angular -design, sees a broad space flanked on either side by a row of handsome -upright yews. The ground between is a flower garden of large -diamond-shaped beds in two sizes, with cleverly-arranged green edgings. -But now that the large Irish yews have grown to their early maturity, -dominating the garden and insisting on their own strong parallel lines, -it is open to question whether it would not have been better to have had -a wide, clear middle space of green straight down the length, with the -flowers in shapely, ordered masses to right and left. The close -succession of large beds gives the impression of impediments to -comfortable progress. - -It was wise to leave the Irish yews unclipped. Though the common English -yew is the tree that is of all others the most docile to the discipline -of training and shearing, the upright growing variety will have none of -it. In some fine English gardens they are clipped, always with -disastrous effect. They will only take one form: that of an ugly swollen -bottle, or lamp-chimney with a straight top. Their own form is quite -symmetrical enough for use in any large design. - - - - -SPEKE HALL - - -There are, alas! but few now remaining of the timber buildings of the -sixteenth century that are either so important in size or so -well-preserved as this beautiful old Lancashire house. - -They were built at a time when the country had settled down into a -peaceable state; when houses need no longer be walled and loopholed -against the probable raids of enemies; when their windows might be of -ample size and might look abroad without fear. Many of them, however, -were still moated, for a moat was of use not only for defence but as a -convenient fish-pond, and as a bar to the depredations of wolves, foxes -and rabbits. - -The advance of civilisation also brought with it a greater desire for -home comforts, and the genius of the country, unspoilt, unfettered, -undiluted by that mass of half-digested knowledge of many styles that -has led astray so many of the builders of modern days, by a natural -instinct cast these dwellings into forms that we now seek out and study -in the effort to regain our lost innocence, and that in many cases we -are glad to adopt anew as models of what is most desirable for comfort -and for the happy enjoyment of our homes. - -Still, in these days we cannot build such houses anew without a -suspicion of strain or affectation. When they were reared, oak was the -building material most readily to be obtained, and carpenters’ work, -already well developed in the construction of roofs, now given free -scope in outer walls as well, seemed to revel in the new liberty, and -oak-framed houses grew up into beautiful form and ornament in such a way -as has never been surpassed in this country. - -[Illustration: SPEKE HALL - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. GEORGE S. ELGOOD] - -It was satisfying and beautiful because every bit of ornamental detail -grew out of the necessary structure. The plainer framing of cottage and -farmhouse became enriched in the manor-house into a wealth of moulding -and carving and other kinds of decoration. External panel ornament -gained a rich quality by the repetition of symmetrical form, while the -overhanging of the successive stories and the indentations between -projecting wings and porches threw the various faces of the building -into interesting masses of light and shade. Then, in delightful and -restful contrast to the “busy” wall-spaces, are the roofs, with their -long quiet lines of ridge and their covering of tile or stone, painted -by the ages with the loveliest tinting of moss and lichen. - -Within, these fine old wooden houses show the good English oak as -worthily treated as without. For the whole structure is of wood from end -to end, built as soundly and strongly as were the old wooden ships. The -inner walls, where they were not panelled with oak, were hung with -tapestry. Ceilings of the best rooms were wrought with plaster ornament; -lesser rooms showed the beams and often the thick joists that fitted -into them and upheld the floor above. Where, as was usual, there was a -long gallery in the topmost floor, its ceiling would show a tracery of -oak with plaster filling, partly following the line of the roof. The -whole structure, blossoming out in its more important parts into -beautiful decorative enrichment, showed the worker’s delight in his -craft, and his mastery of mind and hand in conceiving and carrying out -the possibilities offered by what was then the most usual building -material of the country. - -Such another house as Speke is Moreton Old Hall in Cheshire, but the -latter is still more richly decorated, with carved strings, some of -which were painted, and wood and plaster panels of great elaboration, -and lead-quarried windows of large size and beautiful design. - -The destruction of large numbers of these timber buildings in the -eighteenth century can never be sufficiently deplored. There was a time -when the fashion for buildings of classical form was spreading over -England, when they were considered barbarous relics of a bygone age, and -when the delightful gardens that had grown up around them were alike -condemned and in many cases destroyed. - -There is not a large garden at Speke, but just enough of simple groups -of flowers to grace the beautiful timber front. The picture shows that -the gardening is just right for the place; not asserting itself overmuch -but doing its own part with a restful, quiet charm that has a right -relation to the lovely old dwelling. - - - - -GARDEN ROSES - - -Those who follow the developments of taste in modern gardening, cannot -fail to perceive how great has been the recent increase in the numbers -of Roses that are for true beauty in the garden. - -It is only some of the elders among those who take a true and lively -interest in their gardens who know what a scarcity of good things there -was thirty years ago, or even twenty, compared with what we have now to -choose from. Still, of the Roses commonly known as garden Roses, there -were even then China Roses, Damask, Cabbage and Moss, Sweetbriars and -Cinnamon Roses, and the free-growing Ayrshires, which are even now among -the most indispensable. - -But the wave of indifferent taste in gardening that had flooded all -England with the desire for summer bedding plants, to the almost entire -exclusion of the worthier occupants of gardens, had for a time pushed -aside the older garden Roses. For whereas in the earlier half of the -nineteenth century these good old Roses were much planted and worthily -used, with the coming of the fashion for the tender bedding plants they -fell into general disuse; and, with the accompanying neglect of many a -good hardy border plant, left our gardens very much the poorer, and, -except for special spring bedding, bare of flowers for all the earlier -part of the year. - -Now we have learnt the better ways, and have come to see that good -gardening is based on something more stable and trustworthy than any -passing freak of fashion. And though the foolish imp fashion will always -pounce upon something to tease and worry over, and to set up on a -temporary pedestal only to be pulled down again before long, so also it -assails and would make its own for a time, some one or other point of -garden practice. Just now it is the pergola and the Japanese garden; and -truly wonderful are the absurdities committed in the name of both. - -But the sober, thoughtful gardener smiles within himself and lets the -freaks of fashion pass by. If he has some level place where a straight -covered way of summer greenery would lead pleasantly from one quite -definite point to another, and if he feels quite sure that his -garden-scheme and its environment will be the better for it, and if he -can afford to build a sensible structure, with solid piers and heavy oak -beams, he will do well to have a pergola. If he has travelled in Japan, -and lived there for some time and acquired the language, and has deeply -studied the mental attitude of the people with regard to their gardens, -and imbibed the traditional lore so closely bound up with their -horticultural practice, and is also a practical gardener in -England--then let him make a Japanese garden, if he will _and can_; but -he will be the wiser man if he lets it alone. Even with all the -knowledge indicated, and, indeed, because of its acquirement, he -probably would not attempt it. When a Japanese garden merely means a -space of pleasure-ground where plants, natives of Japan, are grown in a -manner suitable for an English garden, there is but little danger of -going wrong, but such danger is considerable when an attempt is made to -garden in the Japanese manner. - -This is a wide digression from the subject of garden Roses, and yet -excusable in that it can scarcely be too often urged that any attempt to -practise anything in horticulture for no better reason than because it -is the fashion, can only lead to debasement and can only achieve -futility. - -Now that there are large numbers of people who truly love their gardens, -and who show evidence of it by giving them much care and thought and -loving labour, the old garden Roses have been sought for and have been -restored to their former place of high favour. And our best nurserymen -have not been slow to see what would be acceptable in well-cared-for -gardens throughout the length and breadth of the land; so that the last -few years have seen an extraordinary activity in the production of good -Roses for garden effect. The free-growing _Rosa polyantha_ of the -Himalayas has been employed as a seed or pollen-bearing parent, and from -it have been developed first the well-known Crimson - -[Illustration: “VISCOUNTESS FOLKESTONE” - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. R. CLARKE EDWARDS] - -Rambler, and later a number of less showy but much more refined flowers -of just the right kind for free use in garden decoration. - -Valuable hybrids have also been raised from the Tea Roses, one of the -best known of them being _Viscountess Folkestone_, the subject of the -picture; a grand Rose for grouping in beds or clumps, and one that -yields its large, loose, blush-white flowers abundantly and for a long -season. This merit of an extended blooming season runs through the -greater number of the now long list of varieties of the beautiful hybrid -Teas. - -Some of the new seedling Tea Roses have nearly single flowers, and are -none the less beautiful, as those wise folk well know who grow -_Corallina_ and the lovely white _Irish Beauty_, and its free-blooming -companion _Irish Glory_. These also are plants that will succeed, as -will most of the hybrid Teas, in some poor hot soils where most Roses -fail. - -Then for rambling over banks we have _Rosa wichuraiana_ and its -descendants; among these the charming _Dorothy Perkins_, good for any -free use. - -Those who garden on the strong, rich loams that Roses love will find -that many of the so-called show Roses are grand things as garden Roses -also; indeed, for purely horticultural purposes there is no need of any -such distinction. The way is for a number of Roses to be grown on trial, -and for a keen watch to be kept on their ways. It will soon be seen -which are those that are happiest in any particular garden, and how, -having regard to their colour and way of growth, they may best be used -for beauty and delight. - -In the garden where the picture was painted, _Viscountess Folkestone_ -has an undergrowth of Love-in-a-mist, that comes up year after year, and -with its quiet grey-blue colouring makes a charming companionship with -the faint blush of the Roses. - - - - -PENSHURST - - -The gardens that adorn the ancient home of the Sidneys are, as to the -actual planting of what we see to-day, with repairs to the house and -some necessary additions to fit it for modern needs, the work of the -late Lord de L’Isle with the architect George Devey, begun about fifty -years ago. It was a time when there was not much good work done in -gardening, but both were men of fine taste and ability, and the -reparation and alteration needed for the house, and the new planting and -partly new designing of the garden could not have been in better hands. - -The aspect and sentiment of the garden, now that it has grown into -shape--its lines closely following, as far as it went, the old -design--are in perfect accordance with the whole feeling of the place, -so that there seems to be no break in continuity from the time of the -original planting some centuries ago. Such as it is to-day, such one -feels sure it was in the old days--in parts line for line and path for -path, but throughout, just such a garden as to general form, aspect, and -above all, sentiment, as it must have been in the days of old. For when -it was first planted the conditions that would have to be considered -were always the same; requirement of shelter from prevailing winds; -questions relating to various portions, as to whether it would be -desirable to welcome the sunlight for the flowers’ delight, or to shut -it out for human enjoyment of summer coolness--all such grounds of -motive were, just as now, deliberated by the men of old days, whose -decisions, actuated by sympathy with both house and ground, would bring -forth a result whose character would be the same, whether thought out -and planned to-day or four centuries ago. - -So it is that we find the old work at Penshurst confirmed and renewed, - -[Illustration: “GLOIRE DE DIJON,” PENSHURST - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -SIR REGINALD HANSON BART.] - -and new work added of a like kind, such as will make use of the wider -modern range of garden plants, while it retains the dignity and grandeur -of the fine old place. - -The house stands on a wide space of grass terrace commanding the garden. -On a lower level is a large quadrangular parterre, with cross paths. In -each of its square angles is a sunk garden with a five-foot-wide verge -of turf and a bordering stone kerb forming a step. The beds within, -filled with good hardy plants, have bold box edgings eighteen inches -high and a foot thick, that not only set off the bright masses of -flowers within, but have in themselves an air of solidity and importance -that befits the large scale of the place. They represent in their own -position and on their lesser scale somewhat of the same character as the -massive yew hedges, twelve feet high and six feet through, that do their -own work in other parts of the garden. - -These grand yew hedges and solid box borders have responded well to good -planting and tending, for the late Lord de L’Isle knew his work and did -it thoroughly. Not only was the ground well prepared, but for several -years after planting the young trees were provided with a surface -dressing that prevented evaporation and provided nutriment. This was -carefully attended to, not only in the case of the yews but of the box -edgings also. - -The cross-walks of the parterre do not meet in the middle, but sweep -round a circular fountain basin, in the centre of which stands a statue -of what may be a young Hercules, brought from Italy by Lord de L’Isle. -The slender grace of the figure might at first suggest a youthful -Bacchus, but the identity in such a statue is easily established by -looking for one or other of the characteristic attributes of Hercules; -these usually are the lion’s skin, the upright-growing hair on the -forehead, the poplar wreath or the battered, flattened ears. But the -statue stands too far from the walk to be exactly identified. - -That the nearer portions of the garden are on the same lines as the -older planting is shown by an engraving in Harris’s “Kent,” where the -parterre is, now as then, bounded by terraces on two of its sides, the -house side and that of the adjoining churchyard, to which access is -gained by a beautiful gabled gateway of brick and stone, the work of -Tudor times. - -The old churchyard has its own beauty, while the church and a fine group -of elms are seen from the garden above the wall, and take their own -beneficent place in the garden landscape. - -The rectangular fountain, which, with its surrounding yew hedges, and -the grass walks also inclosed by thick yew hedges, divides the two -portions of the kitchen garden, are also parts of the old design, added -to by the late owner. The yew hedges beyond the fountain pool have been -set back to allow width enough for a handsome flower-border on either -side. Water Lilies grow in the pool and the flower-borders display their -beauties beyond, while the fruit trees of the kitchen garden show above -the thick green hedges as flowering masses in spring, and in later -summer, as the taller perennials of the border rise to their full -height, as a thin copse of fruit and leafage. The turf walk and -flower-border swing outward to suit the greater width of another -fountain-basin at the end. This has straight sides running the way of -the main path, and a segmental front. Instead of the usual rising kerb, -there are two shallow stone steps, the upper one even with the grass, -the lower half way between that and the water-level. Except that it is -less of a protection than something of the parapet kind, this is a most -desirable means of near access to the water; welcome to the eye in all -ways and allowing the water-surface to be seen from a distance. It is -pleasantly noticeable in this pool that the water-level rises to the -proper place. Nothing is more frequent or more unsightly than a deep -pool or basin with straight sides and only a little water in the bottom. -If the height of the water is necessarily fluctuating it is a good plan -to build the tank in a succession of such steps; they are pleasant to -see both above and under water, and in the case of an accident to a -straying child, danger is reduced to the smallest point. - -The picture shows one of the flights of steps from one level to another. -To the left two handsome gate-piers and a fine wrought-iron gate lead to -a quiet green meadow. Near by and just across it is the Medway, with -wooded banks and groups of fine trees. The old wall is beautiful from -the meadow side; its coping a garden of wild flowers. Above it is seen -the clipped yew hedge with its series of rising ornaments, rounded in -the direction of the axis of the hedge, but flat on - -[Illustration: THE TERRACE STEPS, PENSHURST - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. FREDERICK GREENE] - -its two faces. This is seen in the picture on the upper level, above the -steps to the left. - -Herbaceous plants are grandly grown throughout this beautiful garden. -Specially noticeable are the fine taste and knowledge of garden effect -with which they have been used. There are not flowers everywhere, but -between the flowery portions of the garden are quiet green spaces that -rest and refresh the eye, and that give both eye and brain the best -possible preparation for a further display and enjoyment of their -beauty. - -Such an example the picture shows. On either side is a border with -masses of strong-growing hardy plants--pale Monkshood, Evening Primrose, -Sweet-William, Pink Mallow--then, above the steps, only the restful turf -underfoot, and to right and left the quiet walls of yew; at the end a -group of great elms. At the foot of the steps, passing away to the -right, is another double flower-border, passing again by a turn to the -right into the quiet green walk leading to the large fountain basin. - -Many a good climbing Rose, with other rambling and clambering plants, -find their homes on the terraces. A _Gloire de Dijon_ or one of its -class--_Madame Bérard_ or _Bouquet d’Or_, perhaps; either of these the -equal of the other for such garden use--rises from below the parapet of -one of the flights of steps and comes forward in happiest fellowship -with a leaden vase of fine design; the dark background of Irish Yew -making the best possible ground for both Rose and urn. - -In olden days these lead ornaments were commonly painted and gilt, but -the revived taste for all that is best in gardening rightly considers -such treatment to be a desecration of a surface which with age acquires -a beautiful grey colouring and a delightful quality of colour-texture. -The painting of lead would seem to be a relic of the many toy-like -artifices in gardening that were prevalent in Tudor times. All these are -rejected in the best modern practice, though all the old ways that made -for true garden beauty and permanent growth and value have been -retained. - -A clever way of utilising the stronger growing Clematises, including the -large purple Jackmanii, is here practised. They are swung -garland-fashion between a row of Apple-trees that borders one of the -walks. Hops are used in the same way. It was perhaps a remembrance of -Italy, where Vines are trained to swing between the Mulberries. - -The beautiful pale yellow Carnation, named _Pride of Penshurst_, was -raised in this good garden, where everything tells of the truest -sympathy with all that is best in English horticulture. Not the least -among the soothing and satisfying influences of the pleasure-grounds of -Penshurst, is the entire absence of the specimen conifer, that, with its -wearisome repetition of single examples of young firs and pines, has -brought such a displeasing element of restless confusion into so many -pleasure-grounds. - - - - -BRICKWALL - - -East Sussex is rich in beautiful houses of Tudor times; many precious -relics remaining of those days and of the Jacobean reigns, of important -manor-house, fine farm building and labourer’s cottage. These were the -times when English oak, some of the best of which grew in the Sussex -forests, was the main building material. The walls were framed of oak, -and the same wood provided beams, joists and rafters, boards for the -floors, panelling, doors, window-mullions and furniture. In those days -the wood was not cut up with the steam-saw, but was split with the axe -and wedge. The carpentry of the roofs was magnificent; there was no -sparing of stuff or of labour. Much of it that has not been exposed to -the weather, such as these roof-framings, is as sound to-day as when it -was put together, with its honest tenons and mortises and fastenings of -stout oak pins. In most cases the old oak has become extraordinarily -hard and of a dark colour right through. - -Brickwall, the beautiful home of the Frewens, near Northiam, is a -delightful example, both as to house and garden, of these old places of -the truest English type. A stately gateway, and a short road across a -spacious green forecourt bounded by large trees, leads straight to the -entrance in the wide north-eastern timbered front. The other side of the -house, in closely intimate relation to the garden, has a homely charm of -a most satisfying kind. - -The wide bricked path next the house, so typical of Sussex, speaks of -the strong, cool soil. The ground rises just beyond, and again further -away in the distance. The garden is divided into two nearly equal -portions by the double flower-border, backed by pyramidal clipped yews, -that forms the subject of the picture, and is enfiladed by the middle -windows of the house. In the left hand division is a long rectangular -pool with rather steep-angled sides of grass, looking a little -dangerous. There is a reason here for the water being a good way below -the level of the lawn, for this is much above that of the ground floor -of the house; still it is a matter of doubt whether it would not have -been better to have had a flagged or bricked path some four feet wide, -not much above the water-level, with steps rising on two sides to the -lawn, and dry walling, allowing of some delightful planting, from the -path to the lawn level. - -On the two outer sides of the garden, parallel with the middle walk, are -raised terraces, reached by steps at the ends of the bricked path. These -have walls on their outer sides, and towards the garden, yew hedges kept -low so that it is easy to see over. These low hedges run into a much -higher and older one that connects them towards the upper end of the -garden. - -The clipped yews which give the garden its character are for the most -part of one pattern, a tall three-sided pyramid, only varied by some -tall cones. One cannot help observing how desirable it is in gardens of -this kind that the form of the clipped yews should for the most part -keep to one shape, or at any rate one general pattern, just as the -architecture, whatever its character or ornament, within some kind of -limit remains faithful to the dominant idea. - -The picture shows a double flower-border in August dress; good groups of -the best hardy plants combining happily with some of the pyramids of -yew. To the right is the fine summer Daisy (_Chrysanthemum maximum_), -with the lilac Erigeron and the spiky blue-purple balls of the Globe -Thistle, the tall double Rudbeckia Golden Glow, Lavender, Poppies and -Phlox. To the left, Phloxes and the tall Evening Primrose, the great -garden Tansy (_Achillea Eupatorium_), seed-heads of the Delphiniums that -bloomed a month ago, White Mallow, and the grand red-ringed -Sweet-William called Holborn Glory. Everything speaks of good -cultivation on a rich loamy soil, for those fine yews want plenty of -nutriment themselves, and would also be apt to rob their less robust -neighbours. But then the good gardener knows how to provide for this. - -There is always an opportunity for beautiful treatment, when, as in - -[Illustration: BRICKWALL, NORTHIAM - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. R. A. OSWALD] - -this case, the garden ground ascends from the house. The garden is laid -out to view, almost as a picture hangs on a wall, in the very best -position for the convenience of the spectator; and there is nothing that -gives a greater sense of dignity, with something of a poetical mystery, -than separate flights of steps ascending one after another in plane -after plane--as they do in that magnificent example, Canterbury -Cathedral. It matters not whether the steps are under a roof or not--the -impression received is the same. And there is much beauty in the steps -themselves being long and wide and shallow. Looking uphill we see the -steps; looking downhill they are lost. It is not the foot only that -rests upon the step, it is the eye also, and that is why any handsome -steps with finely-moulded edges are so pleasant to see. The overhanging -edge may have arisen from utility, in that, where a step must be narrow -it gives more space for the foot; but in the wide step it affords still -more satisfaction, giving a good shadow under the moulded edge, and -accentuating the long level lines that are so welcome to the eye. - - - - -STONE HALL, EASTON - -THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN - - -It was a pleasant thought, that of the lover of good flowers and firm -friend of many good people, who first had the idea of combining the two -sentiments into a garden of enduring beauty. - -Such a garden has been made at Easton by the Countess of Warwick. The -site of the Friendship Garden has been happily chosen, close to the -remains of an ancient house called Stone Hall, which now serves Lady -Warwick as a garden-house and library of garden books. - -The flower-plots are arranged in a series of concentric circles; the -plants are the gifts of friends. The name of each plant and that of the -giver are recorded on an imperishable majolica plaque. Many well-known -givers’ names are here, from that of the very highest in the land -downward. The plants themselves comprise many of the best and -handsomest. - -The picture shows the garden as it is about the middle of September; the -time of the great White Pyrethrum, the perennial Sunflowers and the -earliest of the Michaelmas Daisies. The bush of Lavender is blooming -late, its normal flowering time is a month earlier. But Lavender, -especially when some of the first bloom is cut, will often go on -flowering, as later-formed shoots come to blooming strength. Let us hope -that the giver is not shortlived like the gift, for Lavender bushes, -after a few years of strong life, soon wear out. Already this one is -showing signs of age, and it would be well to set a few cuttings in -spring or autumn, or, still better, to layer it by one of the lower -branches, in order to renew - -[Illustration: STONE HALL, EASTON: THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK] - -the life of the plant when the strength of the present bush comes to an -end. - -Such a garden, full of so keen a personal interest, sets one thinking. -What will become of it fifty or a hundred years hence? The flowers, with -due diligence of division, and replanting and enriching of the soil, -will live for ever. The name-plates, with care and protection from -breakage, will also live. But what will these names be one or two -generations hence? Will the plants all be there? And what of the -Friendships? They are something belonging intimately to the lives of -those now living. What record of them will endure; or enduring, be of -use or comfort to those who come after? - -Then one thinks and wonders--what hand, perhaps quite a humble -one--planted the old apple-tree that has its stem now girdled by a -rustic seat. Its days are perhaps already numbered; the top is thin and -open, the foliage is spare; it seems to be beyond fruit-bearing age, and -as if it had scarcely strength to draw up the circulating sap. - -And then, for all the carefulness given to the making of the garden and -its tender memories of human kindness in giving and receiving, the plant -that dominates the whole, and gives evidence of the oldest occupation -from times past, and promises the greatest attainment of age in days to -come, is the Ivy on the old Stone Hall. Probably it was never planted at -all--came by itself, as we carelessly say--or planted, as we may more -thoughtfully and worthily say, by the hand of God, and now doing its -part of sheltering and fostering the Garden of Friendship. Should not -the Ivy also have its heart-shaped plate and its most grateful and -reverent inscription, as a noble plant, the gift of the kindest Friend -of all, who first created a garden for the sustenance and delight of man -and put into his heart that love of beautiful flowers that has always -endured as one of the chiefest and quite the purest of his human -pleasures? - -There is a rose-garden beyond the bank of shrubs to the left, where each -Rose, on one of the permanent labels, here shaped after the pattern of a -Tudor Rose, has a quotation from the poets. Here are, among others, the -older roses of our gardens, the Damask and the Rose of Provence, the -Cinnamon and the Musk Rose, the bushy Briers and the taller Eglantine -that we now call Sweetbrier. - -Close at hand there is also a Shakespeare Garden, designed to show what -were the garden-flowers commonly in use in his time. Here we may again -find Rosemary--that sweetly aromatic shrub, so old a favourite in -English gardens. Its long-enduring scent made it the emblem of constancy -and friendship. And here should be Rue, also classed by Shakespeare -among “nose-herbs,” and the sweet-leaved Eglantine, and Lads-Love, Balm -and Gilliflowers (our Carnations), a few kinds of Lilies, Musk and -Damask Roses, Violets, Peonies, and many others of our oldest garden -favourites. - - - - -THE DEANERY GARDEN, ROCHESTER - - -Those who know the Dean of Rochester,[A] either personally or by -reputation, will know that where he dwells there will be a beautiful -garden. His fame as a rosarian has gone throughout the length and -breadth of Britain, and far beyond, and his practical activity in -spreading and fostering a love of Roses must have been the means of -gladdening many a heart, and may be reckoned as by no means the least -among the many beneficent influences of his long and distinguished -ministry. - -[A] These lines were in print before the lamented death of Dean Hole. - -A few days’ visit to Dean Hole’s own home at Caunton Manor, near Newark, -will ever remain among the writer’s pleasantest memories. It must have -been five and twenty years ago, and it was June, the time of Roses. To -one whose home was on a poor sandy soil it was almost a new sight to see -the best of Roses, splendidly grown and revelling in a good loam. Not -that the credit was mainly due to the nature of the garden ground, for, -as the Dean (then Canon Hole) points out in his delightful “Book about -Roses,” the soil had to be made to suit his favourite flower. In this, -or some one of his books, he feelingly describes how many of the -visitors to his garden, seeing the splendid vigour of his Roses, at once -ascribed it to the excellence of his soil. “Of course,” they said, “your -flowers are magnificent, but then, you see, you have got such a soil for -Roses.” “I should think I had got a soil for Roses,” was the reply, -“didn’t I mix it all myself and take it there in a barrow?” I quote from -memory, but this is the sense of this excellent lesson. The writer’s own -experience is exactly the same. Of the quantities of garden visitors -who have come--their number has had to be stringently limited of -late--not one in twenty will believe that one loves a garden well enough -to take a great deal of trouble about it. - -In fact, it is only this unceasing labour and care and watchfulness; the -due preparation according to knowledge and local experience; the looking -out for signal of distress or for the time for extra nourishment, water, -shelter or support, that produces the garden that satisfies any one with -somewhat of the better garden knowledge; a knowledge that does not make -for showy parterres or for any necessarily costly complications; rather, -indeed, for all that is simplest, but that produces something that is -apparent at once to the eye, and sympathetic to the mind, of the true -garden-lover. - -It must have been a painful parting from the well-loved Roses and the -many other beauties of the Caunton garden, when the new duties of -honourable advancement called Canon Hole from the old home to the -Deanery of Rochester; from the pure air of Nottinghamshire to that of a -town, with the added reek of neighbouring lime and cement works. But -even here good gardening has overcome all difficulties, and though, when -the air was more than usually loaded with the foul gases given off by -these industries, the Dean would remark, with a flash of his -characteristic humour, that Rochester was “a beautiful place--to get -away from,” yet the Deanery garden is now full of Roses and quantities -of other good garden flowers, all grandly grown and in the best of -health. Roses are in fact rampant. A rough trellis, simply made of split -oak after the manner of the hurdles used for folding sheep in the -Midlands, but about six feet high, stands at the back of the main double -flower-border. Rambling Roses and others of free-growing habit are -loosely trained to this, their great heads of bloom hanging out every -way with fine effect; each Rose is given freedom to show its own way of -beauty, while the trellis gives enough support and guides the general -line of the great hedge of Roses. - -The Dean is not alone among the flowers, for Mrs. Hole is also one of -the best of gardeners. - -The picture shows a portion of a double flower-border where a curving -path connects two others that are at different angles. In the - -[Illustration: THE DEANERY GARDEN, ROCHESTER - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. G. A. TONGE] - -distance, rising to a height of a hundred feet, is the grand old Norman -keep; the rare Deptford Pink (_Dianthus Armeria_) grows in its masonry. -The ancient city wall is one of the garden’s boundaries. Another old -wall, that is within the garden, has been made the home of many a good -rock-plant. On the left, in the picture, are masses of Poppies, Roses -and White Lilies, with Alströmeria, Love-in-a-Mist, and Larkspurs, both -annual and perennial; the background is of the soft, feathery foliage of -Asparagus. The Roses are of all shapes; single and double; show Roses -and garden Roses; standards, bushes and free-growing ramblers. On the -right are more Larkspurs, Irises in seed-pod, Lavender, and some -splendidly-grown Lilium szovitsianum, one of the grandest of Lilies, -and, where it can be grown like this, one of the finest things that can -be seen in a garden. Its tender lemon colouring has suffered in the -reproduction, which makes it somewhat too heavy. - -The upper part of a greenhouse shows in the picture. It is sometimes -impossible to keep such a structure out of sight, but one like this, of -the plainest possible kind, is the least unsightly of its class. It is -just an honest thing, for the needs of the garden and for a part of its -owner’s pleasure. The fatal thing is when an attempt is made to render -greenhouses ornamental, by the addition of fretted cast-iron ridges and -fidgety finials. These ill-placed futilities only serve to draw -attention to something which, by its nature, cannot possibly be made an -ornament in a garden, while it is comparatively harmless if let alone, -and especially if the wood-work is not painted white but a neutral grey. -In all these matters of garden structures; seats, arbours and so forth, -it is much best in a simple garden to keep to what is of modest and -quiet utility. In the case of a large place, which presents distinct -architectural features, it is another matter; for there such details as -these come within the province of the architect. - - - - -COMPTON WYNYATES - - -In the very foremost rank among the large houses still remaining that -were built in Tudor times is the Warwickshire home of the Marquess of -Northampton. The walls are of brick, wide-jointed after the old custom, -with quoins, doorways, and window-frames of freestone, wrought into rich -and beautiful detail in the heads of the bays and the grand old doorway, -whose upper ornament is a large panel bearing the sculptured arms of -King Henry VIII. - -Formerly the house was entirely surrounded by a moat, which approached -it closely on all sides but one, where a small garden was inclosed. Now, -on the three sides next the building, grass lawns take its place. On all -sides but one, hilly ground rises almost immediately; in steep slopes -for the most part, beautifully wooded with grand elms. - -To the north is the small garden still inclosed by the moat. Straight -along it is a broad grass walk with flower borders on both sides, -leading to a thatched summer-house that looks out upon the moat. Lesser -paths lead across and around among vegetables and old fruit-trees. At -one corner is a venerable Mulberry. - -The space within the quadrangle of the building is turfed and has -cross-paths paved with stone flags. Bushes of hardy Fuchsia mark their -outer angles of intersection. At the foot of the walls hardy Ferns are -in luxuriance, and nothing could better suit the place. There are a few -climbing Roses, but they are not overdone; the beautiful building is -sufficiently graced, but not smothered, by vegetation. So it is -throughout the place both within and without; house and garden show a -loving - -[Illustration: COMPTON WYNYATES - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. GEORGE S. ELGOOD] - -reverence for the grand old heritage and that sound taste and knowledge -that create and maintain well and wisely. - -From the portions of the site of the old moat that are now grass, a turf -slope rises to a height of about eight feet. On the upper level is a -gravel walk, and beyond it a yew hedge about four feet high, with -ornaments of peacocks cut in it at the principal openings, and of ball -and such-like forms at other apertures. This is on the level of the main -parterre. A wide gravel path divides the garden into two equal portions, -swinging round in the middle space to give place to a circular -grass-plot with a sundial. - -This beautiful place offers so few details that can be adversely -criticised that these few are the more noticeable. The sundial has a -handsome shaft, but should stand upon a much wider step. The -introduction of pyramid fruit-trees at concentric points, both here and -in other parts of the design, is an experiment of doubtful value, that -will probably never add to the pictorial value of the design. The garden -critic may also venture to suggest that the pergola, which is well -placed at the eastern end of the parterre, deserves better piers than -its posts of fir. Here would be the place for some simple use of -specially made bricks, such as a pier hexagonal in plan built of bricks -of two shapes, diamond and triangle, two inches thick, with a wide -mortar joint. Each course would take two bricks of each shape, and their -disposition, alternating with each succeeding course, would secure an -admirable bond. - -The great parterre has main divisions of grass paths twelve feet wide, -each subdivision--four on each side of the cross-walk and sundial--of -eight three-sided beds disposed Union-Jack-wise, with bordering beds -stopped by a clipped Box-bush at each end. Narrow grass walks are -between the beds. The borders are roomy enough to accommodate some of -the largest of the good hardy flowers, for the garden is given to these, -not to “bedding stuff.” Here are some of the tall perennial Sunflowers, -eight feet high; the great autumn Daisy (_Pyrethrum uliginosum_); bushes -of Lavender with Pentstemons growing through them--a capital -combination, doing away with the need of staking the Pentstemons; the -last of the Phloxes; for the time of the picture, which was painted in -this part of the garden, is September. - -This bold use of autumnal border flowers invites the exercise of -invention and ingenuity; for instance, August is the main time for the -flowering of Lavender, and, though a thinner crop succeeds the heavier -normal yield, yet the bushes then look thin of bloom. Clematises, -purple, lilac and white, can be planted among them, and can easily be -guided, by an occasional touch with the hand, to run over the Lavender -bushes. The same capital autumn flowers should be planted with the -handsome white Everlasting Pea. The Pea is supported by stout branching -spray and does its own good work in July. When the bloom is over it is -cut off, and the Clematis, which has been growing by its side with a -support of rather slighter spray, is drawn close to the foliage of the -Pea and spreads over it. - -The working out of such simple problems is one of the many joys of the -good gardener; and every year, with its increased experience, brings -with it a greater readiness in the invention of such happy -combinations. - -[Illustration: CHINA ROSES AND LAVENDER, PALMERSTOWN - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MRS. KENNEDY-ERSKINE] - - - - -PALMERSTOWN - - -The Earl of Mayo’s residence in County Kildare, Ireland, lies a few -miles distant from the small market town of Naas. The house is of -classical design, built within the nineteenth century. Around it is -extensive park-land that is pleasantly undulating, and is well furnished -with handsome trees both grouped and standing singly. In the lower level -is a large pool with Water-lilies, and natural banks fringed with reeds -and the other handsome sub-aquatic vegetation that occurs wild in such -places. - -There was an older house at Palmerstown in former days, whose large -walled kitchen garden remains. It is a lengthy parallelogram, divided in -the middle into two portions, each nearly a square, by a fine old yew -hedge with arches cut in it for the two walks that pass through. The -paths are broad, and some width on each side has been planted as a -flower border, giving ample space for the good cultivation and enjoyment -of all the best of the hardy flowers, so willing to show their full -growth and beauty in the soft genial climate of the sister island. - -It is a place that shows at once the happy effect of wise and sure -direction, for Lady Mayo is an accomplished gardener, and the inclosure -abounds with evidences of fine taste and thoughtful intention. One -length of border is given to Lavender and China Rose, always a -delightful and most harmonious mixture. There is a length of some twenty -yards of this pleasant combination--the picture shows one end--with a -few groups of taller plants, such as Bocconia, behind. Fruit-trees, -trained as espaliers, form the back of the border, or sometimes there is -a hedge of Sweet Pea. Vegetables occupy the middle portions of the -quarters. The flower-bordered paths pass across and across the middle -space, with others about ten feet within the walls and parallel with -them. Quite in the middle the path passes round a fountain basin, and -there are four arches on which Roses and Clematis are trained. - -Such flower borders give ample opportunity for the practising of good -gardening. The task is the easier in that only one of the pairs of -borders can be seen at a glance, and a definite scheme of colour -progression can easily be arranged. Such schemes are well worth thinking -out. The writer’s own experience favours a plan in which the borders -begin with tender colourings of pale blue, white and pale yellow, with -bluish foliage, passing on to the stronger yellows. These lead to -orange, scarlet and strong blood-reds. The scale of colouring then -returns gradually to the pale and cool colours. - -It is by such simple means that the richest effects of colour are -obtained, whether in a continuous border or in clump-shaped masses. A -separate space of flower-border may also be well treated by the use of -an even more restricted scheme of colouring. Purple and lilac flowers, -with others of pink and white only, and foliage of grey and silvery -quality, the darkest being such as that of Rosemary and Echinops, make a -charming flower-picture, with a degree of pictorial value that any one -who had not seen it worked out would scarcely think possible. - -The right choice of treatment depends in great measure on the -environment. When this, as at Palmerstown, consists of old walls and a -grand hedge of venerable yews, a suitable frame is ready for the display -of almost any kind of garden-picture. - -The yews are ten feet high and six feet through. Over a seat one of them -is cut into the form of a peacock. To the left of the green archway in -the Lavender picture, the yew takes the form of the heraldic wild-cat, -the Mayo crest. Outside the garden is a yew walk of untrimmed trees; -they show in the picture to the right, over the wall. Here, in the heat -of summer, the coolness and dim light are not only in themselves restful -and delightful, but, after passing along the bright borders, where eye -and brain become satiated with the brilliancy of light and colour, the -cool retreat is doubly welcome, preparing them afresh for further -appreciation of the flower-borders. - - - - -ST. ANNE’S, CLONTARF - - -There is perhaps no place within the British islands so strongly -reminiscent of Italy as St. Anne’s, in County Dublin, one of the Irish -seats of Lord Ardilaun. This impression is first received from the -number and fine growth of the grand Ilexes, which abound by the sides of -the approaches and in the park-land near the house. For there are Ilexes -in groups, in groves, in avenues--all revelling in the mild Irish air -and nearness to the sea. - -The general impression of the place, as of something in Italy, is -further deepened by the house of classical design and of palatial -aspect, both within and without, that has that sympathetic sumptuousness -that is so charming a character of the best design and ornamentation of -the Italian Renaissance. For in general when in England we are palatial, -we are somewhat cold, and even forbidding. We stand aloof and endure our -greatness, and behave as well as we are able under the slightly -embarrassing restrictions. But in Italy, as at St. Anne’s, things may be -largely beautiful and even grandiose, and yet all smiling and easily -gracious and humanly comforting. - -As it is in the house, so also is it in the garden; the same sentiment -prevails, although the garden shows no effort in its details to assume -an Italian character. But apparent everywhere is the remarkable genius -of Lady Ardilaun--a queen among gardeners. A thorough knowledge of -plants and the finest of taste; a firm grasp and a broad view, that -remind one of the great style of the artists of the School of -Venice--these are the acquirements and cultivated aptitudes that make a -consummate gardener. - -The grounds themselves were not originally of any special beauty. All -the present success of the place is due to good treatment. Adjoining the -house, at the northern end of its eastern face, is a winter garden. -Looking from the end of this eastward, is a sight that carries the mind -directly to Southern Europe; an avenue of fine Ilexes, and, at the end, -a blue sea that might well be the Mediterranean. Passing to the left, -before the Ilexes begin, is a walk leading into a walled inclosure of -about two acres. Next the wall all round is a flower-border; then there -is a space of grass, then a middle group of four square figures, each -bordered on three sides by a grand yew hedge that is clipped into an -outline of enriched scallops like the edge of a silver _Mentieth_; a -series of forms consisting of a raised half-circle, then a horizontal -shoulder, and then a hollow equal to the raised member. - -The genial climate admits of the use of many plants that generally need -either winter housing or some special contrivance to ensure well-being. -Thus there are great clumps of the blue African Lily (_Agapanthus_); and -Iris Susiana blooms by the hundred, treated apparently as an ordinary -border plant. - -The picture shows a portion of a double flower-border in another square -walled garden, formerly a kitchen garden, and only comparatively lately -converted into pleasure-ground. Yews planted in a wide half-circle form -a back-ground to the bright flowers and to a statue on a pedestal. The -intended effect is not yet finished, for the trellis at the back of the -borders is hardly covered with its rambling Roses, which will complete -the picture by adding the needed height that will bring it into proper -relation with the tall yews. There is a cleverly invented edging which -gives added dignity as well as regularity, and obviates the usual -falling over of some of the contents of the border on to the path; an -incident that is quite in character in a garden of smaller proportion, -but would here be out of place. A narrow box edging, just a trim line of -green, has within it a good width of the foliage of Cerastium. The -bloom, of course, was over by the middle of June, but the close carpet -of downy white leaf remains as a grey-white edging throughout the summer -and autumn. - -Though this border shows bold masses of flowers, it scarcely gives an - -[Illustration: ST. ANNE’S, CLONTARF - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS MANNERING] - -idea of the general scale of grand effect that follows the carrying out -of the design and intention of its accomplished mistress. For here -things are done largely and yet without obtrusive ostentation. They seem -just right in scale. For instance, in the house are some great columns; -huge monoliths of green Galway marble. It is only when details are -examined that it is perceived how splendid they are, and only when the -master tells the story, that the difficulty of transporting them from -the West of Ireland can be appreciated. For they were quarried in one -piece, and bridges broke under their immense weight. At one point in -their journey they sank into a bog, and their rescue, and indeed their -whole journey and final setting up at its end, entailed a series of -engineering feats of no small difficulty. - - - - -AUCHINCRUIVE - - -The mild climate of south-western Scotland is most advantageous for -gardening. Hydrangeas and Myrtles flourish, Fuchsias grow into bushes -eight to ten feet high. Mr. Oswald’s garden lies upon the river Ayr, a -few miles distant from the town of Ayr. The house stands boldly on a -crag just above the river, which makes its music below, tumbling over -rocky shelves and rippling over shingle-bedded shallows. For nearly a -mile the garden follows the river bank, in free fashion as befits the -place. Trees are in plenty and of fine growth, both on the garden side -and the opposite river shore. Here and there an opening in the trees on -the further shore shows the distant country. The garden occupies a large -space; the grouping of the shrubs and trees taking a wilder character in -the portions furthest away from the house, so that, mingling at last -with native growth, garden gradually dies away into wild. Large -undulating lawns give a sense of space and freedom and easy access. - -That close, fine turf of the gardens of Britain is a thing so familiar -to the eye that we scarcely think what a wonderful thing it really is. -When we consider our flower and kitchen gardens, and remember how much -labour of renewal they need--renewal not only of the plants themselves, -but of the soil, in the way of manurial and other dressings; and when we -consider all the digging and delving, raking and hoeing that must be -done as ground preparation, constantly repeated; and then when we think -again of an ancient lawn of turf, perhaps three hundred years old, that, -except for moving and rolling, has, for all those long years, taken care -of itself; it seems, indeed, that the little closely interwoven plants -of grass are things of wonderful endurance and longevity. The mowing - -[Illustration: AUCHINCRUIVE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. R. A. OSWALD] - -prevents their blooming, so that they form but few fresh plants from -seed. Imperceptibly the dying of the older plants is going on, and the -hungry root-fibres of their younger neighbours are feeding on the -decaying particles washed into the earth. - -But whether lawns could exist at all without the beneficent work of the -earthworms is very doubtful. Every one has seen the little heaps of -worm-castings upon grass, but it remained for Darwin, after his own long -experiment and exhaustive observation, partly based upon and -comprehending the conclusions of other naturalists, to tell us how -largely the fertility of our surface soil is due to the unceasing work -of these small creatures. Worms swallow large quantities of earth and -decaying leaves, and Darwin’s observations led him “to conclude that all -the vegetable mould over the whole country has passed many times -through, and will again pass many times through the intestinal canals of -worms.” This, indeed, is the only way in which it is possible for a -person with any knowledge of the needs of plant-life, to conceive the -possibility of any one closely-packed crop occupying the same space of -ground for hundreds of years. The soil, as it passes, little by little, -through the bodies of the worms, undergoes certain chemical changes -which fit it afresh for its ever-renewed work of plant-sustenance. - -There are some who, viewing the castings as an eyesore on their lawns, -cast about for means of destroying the worms. This is unwise policy, and -would soon lead to the impoverishment of the grass. The castings, when -dry, are easily broken down by the roller or the birch-broom, and the -grass receives the beneficent top-dressing that assures its well-being -and healthy continuance. - -The only part of the garden at Auchincruive that is obedient to -rectangular form, is the kitchen garden and the ground about it. The -kitchen garden lies some way back from the house and river, and, with -its greenhouses, is for the most part hidden by two long old yew hedges -which run in the direction of the river. One of these appears in the -picture, with its outer ornament of bright border of autumn flowers. -Here are Tritomas, Gypsophila in mist-like clouds, tall Evening Primrose -and Campanula pyramidalis, both purple and white, with many other good -hardy flowers. - -The red-leaved tree illustrates a question which often arises in the -writer’s mind as to whether trees and shrubs of this coloured foliage, -such as Prunus Pissardi and Copper Beech and Copper Hazel are not of -doubtful value in the general garden landscape. Trees of the darkest -green, as this very picture shows by its dark upright yews, are always -of value, but the red-leaved tree, though in the present case it has -been tenderly treated by the artist, is apt to catch the eye as a -violent and discordant patch among green foliage. Especially is this the -case with the darker form of copper beech, which, in autumn, takes a -dull, solid, heavy kind of colour, especially when seen from a little -distance, that is often a disfiguring blot in an otherwise beautiful -landscape. - -The same criticism may occasionally apply to trees of conspicuous golden -foliage, but errors in planting these, though often made, may easily be -avoided by suitable grouping and association with white and yellow -flowers. Indeed it would be delightful to work out a whole golden -garden. - -[Illustration: THE YEW ARBOUR, LYDE - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. GEORGE E. B. WREY] - - - - -YEW ARBOUR: LYDE - - -It is not in large gardens only that hardy flowers are to be seen in -perfection. Often the humblest wayside cottage may show such a picture -of plant-beauty as will put to shame the best that can be seen at the -neighbouring squire’s. And where labouring folk have a liking for -clipped yews, their natural good taste and ingenuity often turns them -into better forms than are seen among the examples of more pretentious -topiary work. - -The cottager has the undoubted advantage that, as his tree is usually an -isolated one, he can see by its natural way of growth the kind of figure -it suggests for his clipping; whereas the gardener in the large place -usually has to follow a fixed design. So it is that one may see in a -cottage garden such a handsome example as the yew in the picture. - -The lower part of the tree is nearly square in plan, with a niche cut -out for a narrow seat. There is space enough between the top of this and -the underside of the great mushroom-shaped canopy, to allow the upper -surface of the square base to be green and healthy. The great rounded -top proudly carries its handsome crest, that is already a good ornament -and will improve year by year. The garden is raised above the road and -only separated from it by a wall which is low on the garden side and -deeper to the road. It passes by the side of the yew, so that the -occupier of the seat commands a view of the road and all that goes along -it, and can exchange greetings and gossip with those who pass by. - -The cottagers of the neighbourhood--it is in Herefordshire, about four -miles from Hereford--have a special fancy for these clipped yews; many -examples may be met with in an afternoon’s walk. Not very far from this -is a capital peacock excellently rendered in conventional fashion. It -stands well above a high pedestal, one side of which is hollowed out for -a little seat. - -One may well understand what a pride and pleasure and amusing interest -these clipped trees are to the cottage folk; how after each year’s -clipping they would discuss and criticise the result and note the -progress of the growth towards the hoped-for form. A pile of cheeses is -a favourite pattern, sometimes on a square base, with the topmost -ornament cut into a spire or even a crown. - -The English peasant has a love for ornament that always strives to find -some kind of expression. In many parts the thatcher makes a kind of -basket ornament on the top of his rick; and the pattern of crossed -laths, pegged down with the hazel “spars” that finishes the thatched -cottage roof near the eaves, is of true artistic value. The carter loves -to dress his horses for town or market, and a fine team, with worsted -ribbons in mane and headstall, and quantities of gleaming -highly-polished brasses, is indeed a pleasant sight upon the country -high road. - -Now, alas! when cheap rubbish, misnamed ornamental, floods village shops -and finds its way into the cottages, the cottager’s taste, which was -always true and good as long as it depended on its own prompting and -instinct, and could only deal with the simplest materials, is rapidly -becoming bewildered and debased. All the more, therefore, let us value -and cherish these ornaments of the older traditions; the bright little -gardens and the much-prized clipped yew. - -A usual feature of these cottage yews is that the seat is for one person -alone. The labourer sits in his little retreat enjoying his evening pipe -after his day’s work, while the wife puts the children to bed and gets -the supper. Probably he has been harvesting all day, and his strong -frame is tired, with that feeling of almost pleasant fatigue that comes -to a wholesome body after a good day’s work well done; and when the -hardly-earned rest is thoroughly enjoyed. So he sits quite quiet, with -one eye on the possible interests of his outer world, the road, and the -other on the beauty of his flower-border. And what a pretty double -border it is, with its grand mass of pink Japan Anemone and -well-flowered clump of Goldilocks (one of the few yellow-bloomed -Michaelmas Daisies), looking at its near relation in purple over the -way. - -A graceful little Plum-tree shoots up through the flowers; its long free -shoots of tender green seem to laugh at the rigid surface of the clipped -yew beyond. Don’t be too confident about your freedom, little Plum; it -is more than likely that you will be severely pruned next winter. But -you need not mind, for if you lose one kind of beauty, you will gain -others; the pure white bloom of spring-time, and the autumn burden of -purple fruit; and be both handsome and useful, like your neighbour the -old yew. - - - - -AUTUMN FLOWERS - - -How stout and strong and full of well-being they are--the autumn flowers -of our English gardens! Hollyhocks, Tritomas, Sunflowers, Phloxes, among -many others, and lastly, Michaelmas Daisies. The flowers of the early -year are lowly things, though none the less lovable; Primroses, Double -Daisies, Anemones, small Irises, and all the beautiful host of small -Squill and Snow-Glory and little early Daffodils. Then come the taller -Daffodils and Wallflowers, Tulips, and the old garden Peonies and the -lovely Tree Peonies. Then the true early summer flowers. - -If you notice, as the seasons progress, the average of the flowering -plants advances in stature. By June this average has risen again, with -the Sea Hollies and Flag Irises, the Chinese Peonies and the earlier -Roses. And now there are some quite tall things. Mulleins seven and -eight feet high, some of them from last year’s seed, but the greater -number from the seed-shedding of the year before; the great white-leaved -Mullein (_Verboscum olympicum_), taking four years to come to flowering -strength. But what a flower it is, when it is at last thrown up! What a -glorious candelabrum of branching bloom! Perhaps there is no other hardy -plant whose bulk of bloom on a single stem fills so large a space. And -what a grand effect it has when it is rightly planted; when its great -sulphur spire shows, half or wholly shaded, against the dusk of a wood -edge or in some sheltered bay, where garden is insensibly melting into -woodland. This is the place for these grand plants (for their flowers -flag in hot sunshine), in company with white Foxglove and the tall -yellow Evening Primrose, another tender bloom that is shy of sunlight. -Four o’clock of a June morning is the time to see these fine things at -their best, when the birds are waking up, and but for them the world is -still, and the Cluster-Roses are opening their buds. No one can know the -whole beauty of a Cluster-Rose who has not seen it when the summer day -is quite young; when the buds of such a rose as the Garland have just -burst open and the sun has not yet bleached their wonderful tints of -shell-pink and tenderest shell-yellow into their only a little less -beautiful colouring of full midday. - -By July there are still more of our tall garden flowers; the stately -Delphiniums, seven, eight, and nine feet high; tall white Lilies; the -tall yellow Meadow-Rues, Hollyhocks, and Sweet Peas in plenty. - -By August we are in autumn; and it is the month of the tall Phloxes. -There are some who dislike the sweet, faint and yet strong scent of -these flowers; to me it is one of the delights of the flower year. - -No garden flower has been more improved of late years; a whole new range -of excellent and brilliant colouring has been developed. I can remember -when the only Phloxes were a white and a poor Lilac; the individual -flowers were small and starry and set rather widely apart. They were -straggly-looking things, though always with the welcome sweet scent. -Nowadays we all know the beauty of these fine flowers; the large size of -the massive heads and of the individual blooms; the pure whites, the -good Lilacs and Pinks, and that most desirable range of salmon-rose -colourings, of which one of the first that made a lively stir in the -world of horticulture was the one called _Lothair_. In its own colouring -of tender salmon-rose it is still one of the best. Careful seed-saving -among the brighter flowers of this colouring led to the tints tending -towards scarlet, among which _Etna_ was a distinct advance, to be -followed, a year or two later, by the all-conquering _Coquelicot_. Some -florists have also pushed this docile flower into a range of colouring -which is highly distasteful to the trained colour-eye of the educated -amateur; a series of rank purples and virulent magentas; but these can -be avoided. What is now most wanted, and seems to be coming, is a range -of tender, rather light Pinks, that shall have no trace of the rank -quality that seems so unwilling to leave the Phloxes of this colouring. - -Garden Phloxes were originally hybrids of two or three North American -species; for garden purposes they are divided into two groups, the -earlier, blooming in July, much shorter in stature and more bushy, being -known as the _suffruticosa_ group, the later, taller kinds being classed -as the _decussata_. They are a little shy of direct sunlight, though -they can bear it in strong soils where the roots are always cool. They -like plenty of food and moisture; in poor, dry, sandy soils they fail -absolutely, and even if watered and carefully watched, look miserable -objects. - -But where Phloxes do well, and this is in most good garden ground, they -are the glory of the August flower-border. - - * * * * * - -In the teaching and practice of good gardening the fact can never be too -persistently urged nor too trustfully accepted, that the best effects -are accomplished by the simplest means. The garden artist or artist -gardener is for ever searching for these simple pictures; generally the -happy combination of some two kinds of flowers that bloom at the same -time, and that make either kindly harmonies or becoming contrasts. - -In trying to work out beautiful garden effects, besides those purposely -arranged, it sometimes happens that some little accident--such as the -dropping of a seed, that has grown and bloomed where it was not -sown--may suggest some delightful combination unexpected and unthought -of. At another time some small spot of colour may be observed that will -give the idea of the use of this colour in some larger treatment. - -It is just this self-education that is needed for the higher and more -thoughtful gardening, whose outcome is the simply conceived and -beautiful pictures, whether they are pictures painted with the brush on -paper or canvas, or with living plants in the open ground. In both cases -it needs alike the training of the eye to observe, of the brain to note, -and of the hand to work out the interpretation. - -The garden artist--by which is to be understood the true lover of good -flowers, who has taken the trouble to learn their ways and wants and -moods, and to know it all so surely that he can plant with the assured -belief that the plants he sets will do as he intends, just as the -painter can - -[Illustration: PHLOX AND DAISY - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF LADY MOUNT-STEPHEN] - -compel and command the colours on his palette--plants with an unerring -hand and awaits the sure result. - -When one says “the simplest means,” it does not always mean the easiest. -Many people begin their gardening by thinking that the making and -maintaining of a handsome and well-filled flower-border is quite an easy -matter. In fact, it is one of the most difficult problems in the whole -range of horticultural practice--wild gardening perhaps excepted. To -achieve anything beyond the ordinary commonplace mixture, that is -without plan or forethought, and that glares with the usual faults of -bad colour-combinations and yawning, empty gaps, needs years of -observation and a considerable knowledge of plants and their ways as -individuals. - -For border plants to be at their best must receive special consideration -as to their many and different wants. We have to remember that they are -gathered together in our gardens from all the temperate regions of the -world, and from every kind of soil and situation. From the sub-arctic -regions of Siberia to the very edges of the Sahara; from the cool and -ever-moist flanks of the Alps to the sun-dried coasts of the -Mediterranean; from the Cape, from the great mountain ranges of India; -from the cool and temperate Northern States of America--the home of the -species from which our garden Phloxes are derived; from the sultry -slopes of Chili and Peru, where the Alströmerias thrust their roots deep -down into the earth searching for the precious moisture. - -So it is that as our garden flowers come to us from many climes and many -soils, we have to bear in mind the nature of their places of origin the -better to be prepared to give them suitable treatment. We have to know, -for instance, which are the few plants that will endure drought and a -poor, hot soil; for the greater number abhor it; and yet such places -occur in some gardens and have to be provided with what is suitable. -Then we have to know which are those that will only come to their best -in a rich loam, and that the Phloxes are among these, and the Roses; and -which are the plants and shrubs that must have lime, or at least must -have it if they are to do their very best. Such are the Clematises and -many of the lovely little alpines; while to some other plants, many of -the alpines that grow on the granite, and nearly all the Rhododendrons, -lime is absolute poison; for, entering the system and being drawn up -into the circulation, it clogs and bursts their tiny veins; the leaves -turn yellow, the plant dies, or only survives in a miserably crippled -state. - -An experienced gardener, if he were blindfolded, and his eyes uncovered -in an unknown garden whose growths left no soil visible, could tell its -nature by merely seeing the plants and observing their relative -well-being, just as, passing by rail or road through an unfamiliar -district, he would know by the identity and growth of the wild plants -and trees what was the nature of the soil beneath them. - -The picture, then, showing autumn Phloxes grandly grown, tells of good -gardening and of a strong, rich loamy soil. This is also proved by the -height of the Daisies (_Chrysanthemum maximum_). But the lesson the -picture so pleasantly teaches is above all to know the merit of one -simple thing well done. Two charming little stone figures of _amorini_ -stand up on their plinths among the flowers; the boy figure holds a -bird’s nest, his girl companion a shell. They are of a pattern not -unfrequent in English gardens, and delightfully in sympathy with our -truest home flowers. The quiet background of evergreen hedge admirably -suits both figures and flowers. - -It is all quite simple--just exactly right. Daisies--always the -children’s flowers, and, with them, another of wide-eyed innocence, of -dainty scent, of tender colouring. Quite simple and just right; but -then--it is in the artist’s own garden. - - - - -MYNTHURST - - -At the time the picture was painted, Mynthurst was in the occupation of -Mrs. Wilson, to the work of whose niece, Miss Radcliffe, the garden owes -much of its charm. - -It lies in the pleasant district between Reigate and Dorking, on a -southward sloping hill-side. The house is a modern one of Tudor -character, standing on a terrace that has a retaining wall and steps to -a lower level. The garden lies open to the south and south-westerly -gales, the prevalent winds of the district, but it is partly sheltered -by the walls of the kitchen garden, and by a yew hedge which runs -parallel with one of the walls; the space so inclosed making a sheltered -place for the rose garden. Here Roses rise in ranks one above the other, -and have a delightful and most suitable carpet of Love-in-a-mist. This -pretty annual, so welcome in almost any region of the garden, is -especially pretty with Roses of tender colouring; whites, pale yellows, -and pale pinks. A picture elsewhere shows it combined with Rose -_Viscountess Folkestone_. - -Beyond the rose garden, a path leads away at a right angle between the -orchard and the kitchen-garden wall. Here is the subject of the picture. -A broad border runs against the wall, as long as the length of the -kitchen garden. A border so wide is difficult to manage unless it has a -small blind alley at the back rather near the wall, to give access to -what is on the wall and to the taller plants in the back of the border. -But here it is arranged in another way. The front edge of the border is -not continuous, but has little paths at intervals cutting across it and -reaching nearly to the wall. This method of obtaining easy access also -has its merits, though it involves a large amount of edging. Mynthurst -has a strong soil, an advantage not always to be had in this district, -so that Roses can be well grown, and some of the Lilies. Here the Tiger -Lily, that fine autumn flower, does finely. It is one of the Lilies that -is puzzling, or as we call it, capricious, which only means that we -gardeners are ignorant and do not understand its vagaries. For in some -other heavy soils it refuses to grow, and in some light ones it -luxuriates; but it is so good a plant that it should be tried in every -garden. - -It is a pretty plan to have the orchard in connexion with the -flower-borders; though from the point of view of good gardening the -wisdom is doubtful of having clumps of flowers round the trunks of the -fruit-trees. Shallow-rooted annuals for a season or two may do no harm, -but the disturbance of the ground needful for constant cultivation, with -the inevitable consequence of worry and irritation of the fruit-trees’ -roots, can hardly fail to be harmful, though the effect meanwhile is -certainly pretty. The evil may not show at once, but is likely to -follow. - -One does not often see so strong a Canterbury Bell in the autumn as the -one in the picture. It must have been a weak or belated plant of last -year that made strong growth in early summer. Sometimes one sees such a -plant that had remained in the kitchen-garden reserve bed; left there -because it was weaker than the ones taken for planting out in autumn. It -is not generally known that these capital plants will bear potting when -they are almost in bloom, so that when a few are so left, they can be -used as highly decorative room plants, and have the advantage of lasting -much longer than when in the open border, exposed to the sun. One defect -these good plants have, which is the way the dying flowers suddenly turn -brown. Instead of merely fading and falling, and so decently veiling -their decadence, the brown flowers hang on and are very unsightly. It is -only, however, a challenge to the vigilance of the careful gardener; -they must be visited in the morning garden-round and the dead flowers -removed. It is like the care needed to arrest the depredations of the -mullein caterpillar. It is no use wondering whether it will come, or -hoping it will not appear; _it always comes_ where there are mulleins, -about the second week of June. When the first tiny enemy is seen, any -mulleins there may be should be visited twice a day. - -[Illustration: MYNTHURST - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MISS RADCLIFFE] - -In the front of the picture, just under the red rose, is a patch of -_Mimulus_, one of the larger variations of the brilliant little _M. -cardinalis_. All the kinds like a cool, strong soil; they are really bog -plants, and revel in moisture. The old Sweet Musk, so favourite a plant -in cottage windows, likes a half-shady place at the foot of a cool wall. -Many a dull, sunless yard might be brightened by this sweet and pretty -plant. The Welsh Poppy, with its bright pale-green leaves and good -yellow bloom, is also excellent for the same use, but is best sown in -place from a just-ripened pod. - - - - -ABBEY LEIX - - -In a picturesque, but little-known district in Queen’s County, Ireland, -lies Abbey Leix, the residence of Lord de Vesci. It is a land of -vigorous tree-growth and general richness of vegetation. Hedge-rows show -an abundance of well-grown ash timber, and the park is full of fine -oaks, a thing that is rare in Ireland, and that makes it more like -English parkland of the best character. This impression is accentuated -in spring-time when the oaks are carpeted with the blue of wild -Hyacinths, and when the broad woodland rides are also rivers of the same -Blue-bells. - -In this favoured land the common Laurel is a beautiful tree, thirty feet -high; the mildness of the winter climate allowing it to grow unchecked. -Only those who have seen it in tree form in the best climates of our -islands, or in Southern Europe, know the true nature of the Laurel’s -growth, or the poetry and mystery of its moods and aspects. The long -grey limbs shoot upward and bend and arch in a manner almost fantastic. -Sometimes a stem will incline downwards and run along the ground, -followed by another. In the evening half-light they might be giant -silver-scaled serpents, writhing and twisting and then springing aloft -and becoming lost to sight in the dim masses of the crowning foliage. -Seen thus one can hardly reconcile its identity with that of the poor, -tamed, often-clipped bush of every garden. The Laurel is so docile, so -easily coerced to the making of a quickly-grown hedge or useful screen, -that its better qualities as an unmutilated tree in a mild district are -usually lost sight of. - -The house at Abbey Leix is a stone building of classical design of the -middle of the eighteenth century. On the northern front is the entrance - -[Illustration: ABBEY-LEIX - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -SIR JAMES WHITEHEAD, BART.] - -forecourt; on the southern, the garden. Here, next the house, is a wide -terrace, bounded on the outer side by the parapet of a retaining wall, -and next the building, by a running _guilloche_ of box-edged beds filled -with low-growing plants. The terrace has a semi-circular ending, near -the eastern wall of the house, formed of an evergreen hedge, with a -wooden seat following the same line, and a sundial at the radial point. -At the other end, the terrace ends in a flight of downward steps leading -to large green spaces, with fine trees and flowering shrubs, and -eventually to the walled gardens. Straight across the terrace from the -house is the parterre, whose centre ornament is an unusually -well-proportioned fountain of the same date as the house. It is circular -in plan, with a wide lower basin and two graduated superimposed tazzas. -From this, four cross-paths radiate; the quarters are filled mainly with -half-hardy flowers such as Gladiolus; the design being accentuated at -several points by the upright growing Florence Court Yews. The parterre -is inclosed by a low wall, backed by a clipped evergreen hedge; on the -wall stand at intervals graceful stone figures of _amorini_, identical -in character with those shown in the picture of Phlox and Daisy, and -apparently designed by the same hand. - -The steps at the western end of the terrace are wide and handsome, and -are also ornamented with sculptured _amorini_. The path leads onward, at -first directly forward, but a little later in a curved line through a -region of lawn and stream, with trees and groups of flowering shrubs. -Here and there, on the grass by itself, is one of the free-growing -Roses, rightly left without any support, and showing the natural -fountain-like growth that so well displays the beauty of many of the -Roses of the old Ayrshire class and of some of the more modern ramblers. -The path passes one end of an avenue of large trees, and, after a while, -turning to the left, reaches the kitchen gardens, consisting of several -walled inclosures. One of these, of which one wall is occupied by -vineries, has been made into a flower garden, where hardy flowers, -grandly grown, are in the wide borders next the wall. A portion of such -borders, in an adjoining compartment of the garden, forms the subject of -the picture. - -The inner space is divided into two squares, one having as a centre a -rustic summer-house almost hidden by climbing plants; from this -radiating grass paths pass between beds of flowers. The outer borders in -the next walled compartment are ten feet wide, and are finely filled -with all the best summer plants, perennial, annual and biennial. The -fine pale yellow _Anthemis tinctoria_ is here grown in the way this good -plant deserves, and its many companions, Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, Japan -Anemones, Phloxes and Lavender; annual Chrysanthemums, Gladiolus, -Carnations, Tritomas, and all such good things, are cleverly and -worthily used, and, with the graceful arches of free Roses and white -Everlasting Pea, make delightful garden pictures in all directions. - -The garden of Abbey Leix is one of those places that so pleasantly shows -the well-directed intention of one who is in close sympathy with garden -beauty; for everywhere it reflects the fine horticultural taste and -knowledge of Lady de Vesci, who made the garden what it is. - - - - -MICHAELMAS DAISIES - - -Early in September, when the autumn flowers are at their finest, some of -the Starworts are in bloom. Even in August they have already begun, with -the beautiful low-growing _Aster acris_, one of the brightest of flowers -of lilac or pale purple colouring. From the time this pretty plant is in -bloom to near the end of October, and even later, there is a constant -succession of these welcome Michaelmas Daisies. The number of kinds good -for garden use is now so great that the growers’ plant lists are only -bewildering, and those who do not know their Daisies should see them in -some good nursery or private garden and make their own notes. As in the -case of Phloxes, the improvement in the garden kinds is of recent years, -for I can remember the time when it was a rare thing to see in a garden -any other Michaelmas Daisy than a very poor form of _Novi-Belgii_, a -plant of such mean quality that, if it came up as a seedling in our -gardens to-day, it would be sent at once to the rubbish heap. - -When the learner begins to acquire a Daisy-eye he will see what a large -proportion of the garden kinds are related to this same _Novi-Belgii_, -the Starwort of New England. The greater number of the garden varieties -are derived from North American species, but they hybridise so freely -that it is now impossible to group the garden plants with any degree of -botanical accuracy. But the amateur may well be content with a generally -useful garden classification, and he will probably learn to know his -_Novi-Belgii_ first. Then he will come to those _Novi-Belgii_ that are -from the species _lævis_, rather wider and brighter green of leaf and -only half the height. Then, once known, he cannot mistake _Novæ-Angliæ_, -with its hairy and slightly viscid stem and foliage, and strong smell, -and its two distinct colourings--rich purples and reddish pinks. Then -again, if he observes his plants in early summer, he can never mistake -the heart-shaped root-leaves of _cordifolius_ for any other. This is one -of the most beautiful of the mid-season Starworts, with its myriads of -small flowers gracefully disposed on the large spreading panicles. Of -this the best known and most useful are _A. cordifolius elegans_ and a -paler-coloured and most dainty variety called _Diana_. - -Once seen he can never forget the low-growing early _A. acris_ or the -good garden varieties of _A. Amellus_, both from European species. -Several other kinds, both tall and short, early and late, will be added -to those named, but these may be taken as perhaps the best to begin -with. - -Where space can be given, it is well to set apart a separate border for -these fine plants alone. This is done in the garden where Mr. Elgood -found his subject. Here the Starworts occupy a double border about eight -feet wide and eighty feet long. They are carefully but not conspicuously -staked with stiff, branching spray cut out the winter before from oaks -and chestnuts that had been felled. The spray is put in towards the end -of June, when the Asters are making strong growth. The borders are -planted and regulated with the two-fold aim of both form and colour -beauty. In some places rather tall kinds come forward; in the case of -some of the most graceful, such as _cordifolius Diana_, the growths -being rather separated to show the pretty form of the individual branch. -In others it was thought that their best use was as a flowery mass. Each -kind is treated at the time of staking according to its own character, -and so as best to display its natural form and most obvious use. Like -all the best flower gardening it is the painting of a picture with -living plants, but, unlike painting, it is done when the palette is -empty of its colours. Still the good garden-planter who has intimate -acquaintance and keen sympathy with his plants, can plant by knowledge -and faith; by knowledge in his certainty of recollection of the habit -and stature and colour of his plants; by faith in that he knows that if -he does his part well the growing thing will be docile to his sure -guidance. - -In these borders of Michaelmas Daisies one other flowering plant is - -[Illustration: MICHAELMAS DAISIES, MUNSTEAD WOOD - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MR. T. NORTON LONGMAN] - -admitted, and well deserves its place, namely, that fine white Daisy -_Pyrethrum uliginosum_, otherwise _Chrysanthemum serotinum_. There can -be no doubt that it is a daisy flower and that it blooms at Michaelmas; -facts that alone would give it a right to a place among the Michaelmas -Daisies. But it has all the more claim to its place among them in that -it is the handsomest of the large white Daisies, and, though there are -white kinds and varieties of the perennial Asters, not one of them can -approach it for size or pictorial effect. There is also the still taller -_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_ or _Leucanthemum lacustre_, but this is a -plant that has an element of coarseness, and unless the spaces are -large, and the Asters are thrown up to an unusual size by a strong and -rich soil, it looks heavy and out of proportion. - -Towards the front of the main portions of the Aster borders are rather -bold, but quite informal edgings of grey-leaved plants such as white -Pink, Stachys and Lavender-cotton; in places only a few inches wide, as -where the rich purple, gold-eyed _Aster Amellus_ comes to within a few -inches of the path, in the white Pink’s region, or again, where the -grey, bushy masses of Lavender-cotton run in a yard deep among the -Daisies. - -About fifteen sorts are used in this double border; very early and very -late ones are excluded, so as to have a good display from the third week -of September for a month onward. They are mostly in rather large groups -of one kind together. - -There is a more than usual pleasure in such a Daisy garden, kept apart -and by itself; because the time of its best beauty is just the time when -the rest of the garden is looking tired and overworn--evidently dying -for the year. Some trees are already becoming bare of leaves; the tall -sunflowers look bedraggled; Dahlias have been pinched by frost and -battered by autumn gales, and it is impossible to keep up any pretence -of well-being in the borders of other hardy flowers. - -Then with the eye full of the warm colouring of dying vegetation and the -few remaining blooms of perennial Helianthus and half-hardy marigolds of -the fading borders, to pass through some screening evergreens to the -fresh, clean, lively colouring of the lilac, purple and white Daisies, -is like a sudden change from decrepit age to the brightness of youth, -from the gloom of late autumn to the joy of full springtide. - -Another excellent way of growing the perennial Asters is among shrubs, -and preferably among Rhododendrons, whose rich green forms a fine -background for their tender grace, and whose stiff branches give them -the support they need. - -[Illustration: THE ALCOVE, ARLEY - -FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF - -MRS. CAMPBELL] - - - - -ARLEY - - -Throughout the length and breadth of England it would be hard to find -borders of hardy flowers handsomer or in any way better done than those -at Arley in Cheshire. The house, an old one, was much enlarged by the -late Mr. R. E. Egerton-Warburton, and the making of the gardens, now -come to their young maturity, was the happy work of many years of his -life. Here we see the spirit of the old Italian gardening, in no way -slavishly imitated, but wholesomely assimilated and sanely interpreted -to fit the needs of the best kind of English garden of the formal type, -as to its general plan and structure. It is easy to see in the picture -how happily mated are formality and freedom; the former in the garden’s -comfortable walls of living greenery with their own appropriate -ornaments, and the latter in the grandly grown borders of hardy flowers. - -The subject of the picture is the main feature in the garden plan. A -path some fifteen feet wide, with grassy verges of ample width, and deep -borders of hardy flowers. What is shown is about one fourth of the whole -length. At the back of the right-hand border is the high old wall of the -kitchen garden; on the left, as grand a wall of yew, ten feet high and -five feet thick, its straight line pleasantly broken and varied by -shaped buttresses of clipped yew, whose forms take that distinct light -and shade, and strong variations of solidity of green colouring, that -make the surfaces of our clipped English yew so valuable a ground-work -for masses of brilliant flowers. - -The same yew buttresses are against the wall on the right, placed -symmetrically with the ones opposite. Near the end, as shown in the -picture, the last pair of buttresses come forward the whole width of -the border, each buttress ending in an important shaped finial to the -front. Between these and the well-designed alcove in stone masonry that -so satisfactorily ends the walk, is a space of turf, leading on the -left, through an arch cut in the ten-foot-high yew hedge, to the -bowling-green. Nothing can make a more effective shelter than such grand -yew hedges; the solid wall itself is scarcely better. Even on the -roughest days, with a storm of wind of destructive power outside, the -space within is calm and sheltered, and the flowers escape that cruel -battering from fierce blasts that add so much to the difficulty of -gardening in exposed places. But the planting and thus providing this -much-needed shelter is just good gardening, and when, in addition, it is -done to a design of happy invention and true proportion, with just such -refinements of detail and ornament as are suited to the garden’s calibre -and the owner’s endowment, then, with the addition of splendid masses of -good flowers grandly grown, do we find gardening at its best. - -The time of year of this picture is in or near the second week of July, -when the White Lily is at its finest, and the Orange Lily is in bloom, -with the Blue Delphinium and many another good garden flower. One can -see how all the best garden flowers are utilised here. There is the -White Sidalcea at the front of the border, one of the many plants of the -Mallow family that are so important in our borders; for our grand -Hollyhocks are Mallows too. This White Sidalcea has much the same value -as the large White Snapdragon, one good variety of which, the precursor -of the many good large kinds now grown, was the only one of its kind at -the time the picture was painted. Of late their numbers have greatly -increased, and also their stature and the variety of their beautiful -colourings, so that now they can be used as tall plants of great effect. -Six feet two inches was the measurement of one grand spike of soft, rosy -colouring in the writer’s own garden last autumn. These capital plants -have been “fixed,” as gardeners say, in ranges of different heights; -tall, intermediate, and the quite dwarf little cushions whose form is -perhaps as little suited to the character of the plant as the foolish -little dwarf Sweet Peas, that are only wilfully wanton, freakish -distortions of a beautiful and graceful plant, whose duty it is to climb -and bring its pretty blooms up to the level of our admiring eyes and -appreciative noses. A good strong - -[Illustration: THE ROSE GARDEN, ARLEY - -from the picture in the possession of - -MRS. HUTH] - -soil is shown by the well-being of the White Lily and Phlox, Sweet -Williams and double Scarlet Potentilla. Carnations are largely grown in -the borders; the great Orange Lily (_L. croceum_) has just given place -to the White; Canterbury Bells are in grand masses, and the sturdier -plants are interspersed with graceful fragilities, such as the -long-spurred yellow Californian Columbine. - -To the left of the alcove an archway cut in the yew hedge leads to the -bowling-green. This also is inclosed and sheltered by yew hedges. There -is a terrace all round, from which it is pleasant to watch the game. -Next to this, and following along the line of the yew hedge, is a square -inclosure of turf, with a few clipped yews. This is a kind of ante-room -to the rose-garden. High walls of yew are all around except to this -garden, where they are low and shaped. The middle space of the -rose-garden has beds concentrically arranged, leaving spandrils of beds -of other shape. At the end is a garden-house, and a wide way out to lawn -spaces with fine trees and flowering shrubs. A broad gravel walk at the -boundary of the lawn, with a wide grass outer verge and the knee-high -top of the wall of a sunk fence, that separates it from the park, leads -leftwards to the house. From this walk there is a very beautiful view -across the steeply-falling gradient of the park to the lake. The park -has grand old oak trees that fall into picturesque groups. Beyond the -lake again are fine masses of timber. The lake is a sheet of water that -takes a winding course and disappears among the trees. - -The kitchen-garden walls are interesting survivals of an old way of -treating fruit-trees. They are three feet thick and honeycombed with -flues for heating. It was a clumsy and unmanageable expedient practised -in the days before the circulation of water in pipes heated from one -boiler was understood. The modern orchard-house is much more convenient -and its working absolutely under control. - -The kitchen garden lies between the house and the newer gardens that -have been described. The maze should not be forgotten. It is at the back -of the alcove and the bowling-green. These old garden toys are very -seldom planted now. Perhaps people have not time for them. Also they are -costly of labour; the area of green wall of a maze of even moderate -size, that has to be clipped yearly, if computed would amount to an -astonishing figure. Now that the possibilities of other forms of garden -delight are so much widened, it is small wonder that the maze should -have fallen into disuse. It must have been amusing in the older days -when people’s lives were simpler and more leisured; but there are -puzzles and difficulties enough in our more complicated days, and the -influences that we now want in a garden are soothing tranquillities -rather than bewildering perplexities. Near the maze and alcove is a -group of three great Lombardy Poplars that tells with extremely fine -effect from many parts of the garden. - -On one side of the house is an old parterre of the kind now but seldom -seen out of Italy; with elaborate scrolls and arabesques of clipped box; -the more characteristically Italian form of the “knotted” gardens of our -Tudor ancestors. The English patterns were much nearer akin to those -used so lavishly on gala clothing in the form of needlework of cording -and braiding, and the strap-work of wood-carving, while the Italian -parterre designs were drawn more freely in flowing lines and less rigid -forms. - -Opposite the porch is a sundial, supported by a kneeling figure of a -black slave, of the same design as the one in the gardens of the Inner -Temple, that was formerly at Clement’s Inn, and is known as the -“Blackamoor.” Like this one the figure is of lead. - -[Illustration: LADY COVENTRY’S NEEDLEWORK - -from the picture in the possession of - -MRS. APPLETON] - - - - -LADY COVENTRY’S NEEDLEWORK - - -This is a pretty Midland name for the good garden plant commonly called -Red Valerian, or Spur Valerian (_Centranthus ruber_), that groups so -well in the picture with the straw-thatched beehives. How the name -originated cannot be exactly stated, but may easily be inferred. There -are several estates in the Midland Counties belonging to the Coventry -family, and, bearing in mind what we know of the home life of our -great-great-grandmothers of the late eighteenth century, it may be -assumed that some Lady Coventry of that date was specially fond of the -pretty needlecraft so widely practised among the ladies of that time. - -Delightful things they are, these old needlework pictures, with a -character quite different from that of their predecessors of Jacobean -times. These were much stiffer in treatment and usually had figures; a -lady and gentleman and a dog being usual subjects, and trees looking -like those out of a Noah’s Ark, no doubt interpretations of the -stiffly-cut yew and box trees of the gardens of the same times. - -But the workers of the flower-pictures of a hundred years later, and -into the first quarter of the nineteenth century, for the most part -chose flowers alone for their subjects. Sometimes a drawing was made, -but many of them look as if they were worked direct from the flowers. It -would appear that the worker would begin in the spring, with a Hyacinth; -then would come Anemones, Tulips, Auriculas, Lilac, Roses and Lilies; a -jumble of seasons but a concord of pretty things, and all done with a -simplicity, a sweetness, a directness of intention and absence of strain -or affectation, that give them a singular charm. One such picture that I -have before me must have been begun in May, and finished, perhaps, in -August and September; for the first flower in the upper left-hand -corner, where the work would naturally begin, is a thyrse of Lilac, and -the last, low down on the right, is a Nasturtium; while the intermediate -flowers, following each other in what would be approximately their -natural sequence, come in between. These are Pansy, Rose, Sweet Pea, -Love-in-a-Mist, Lily, Larkspur, Convolvulus, Carnation, Jasmine and -Passion-flower; and one Daisy-shaped flower, whose identity, considering -the numbers of possible Composites and the somewhat vague manner of the -rendering, cannot be determined, though all the other flowers are -capitally done and could not be mistaken. - -The disk of the Daisy-flower is worked in a mass of those little knots -that sit closely together, the secret of whose making is known to every -good needlewoman. They are a capital direct imitation of the group of -anthers in the centre of a flower. - -The glory of the picture, and what was evidently the delight of the -worker, is the Love-in-a-Mist, which stands above the others in the -middle top of the picture. The tender blue of the flower, shading to -white, the sharply-jagged edges of the petals, the green upstanding -forms in the centre, and, above all, the fennel-like divisions of the -involucre and the leaves, all lend themselves to satisfactory portrayal -with the needle; while the prominent position given to this charming -midsummer flower shows how the worker rejoiced in its beauty and took -pleasure in painting its form and colour in tender stitchery upon the -white silken ground of her picture. The Jasmine flowers, too, are done -with evident enjoyment as well as the neat, clear-cut leaves. The Rose -is a Moss-Rose, shown in three stages of bud and half-blown bloom, when -this charming Rose is at its best; the mossiness of the calyx being -cleverly suggested by short straw-coloured stitches that catch the light -upon a ground of dull green. The working material is floss silk, whose -silvery, shining surface, dark in some lights, makes a distinct effect -of light and shade in the case of the white flowers, even though they -are worked upon a ground that is also white. - -Sometimes these pictures are of a bunch of flowers without a receptacle, -but often there is a basket or vase. In this case there is a basket of -very simple form, standing on a darker table worked in the chenilles, -which were also much used. They are tiny ropes of silk velvet with an -effect of rich short pile, like the old velvets of Genoa. - -It is easy to see how the Red Valerian came to be used as a model for -needlework. Short stitches and long would easily render the small -divisions of the calyx and the long slender spur and single pistil, and -a quantity of this, representing the rather crowded flower-head, would -have a very good effect on a white or light ground. - -The plant itself is a pretty one in any garden. Botanists say that it is -not indigenous, but it has taken to the country and acclimatised itself, -and now behaves like a native; haunting quarries and railway cuttings in -the chalk. It is a capital plant for establishing on or in walls or bold -rockwork, as well as in the garden border. It is always thankful for -chalk or lime in any form. - -Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. - -London & Edinburgh - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME ENGLISH GARDENS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Some English Gardens</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Gertrude Jekyll</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: George S. Elgood</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 19, 2022 [eBook #67874]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Cathy Maxam, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME ENGLISH GARDENS ***</div> -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/cover.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" height="500" alt="[The image -of the book's cover is unavailable.]" /></a> -</div> - -<p class="c">SOME ENGLISH GARDENS</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_001" style="width: 447px;"> -<a href="images/ill_001.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>PHLOX</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. George E. B. Wrey</span></p></div> -</div> - -<h1>SOME ENGLISH GARDENS</h1> - -<p class="c"> -AFTER DRAWINGS BY<br /> -<span class="big">GEORGE S. ELGOOD, R.I.</span><br /> -WITH NOTES BY<br /> -<span class="big">GERTRUDE JEKYLL</span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -LONGMANS, GREEN   AND   CO.<br /> -39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON<br /> -NEW YORK AND BOMBAY   1904<br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> publication of this collection of reproductions of water-colour -drawings would have been impossible without the willing co-operation of -the owners of the originals. Special acknowledgment is therefore due to -them for their kindness and courtesy, both in consenting to such -reproduction and in sparing the pictures from their walls. On pages xi. -and xii. is given a full list of the pictures, together with the names -of the owners to whom we are so greatly indebted.</p> - -<p>We have also had the valuable assistance of Mr. Marcus B. Huish, of The -Fine Art Society, who has taken the greatest interest in the work from -its inception.</p> - -<p class="r"> -G. S. E.<br /> -G. J.<br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table cellpadding="1"> - -<tr><td>  </td><td class="rt"><i>Page</i></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BROCKENHURST">Brockenhurst</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#HOLLYHOCKS_AT_BLYBOROUGH">Hollyhocks at Blyborough</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_5">5</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#GREAT_TANGLEY_MANOR">Great Tangley Manor</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_8">8</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BULWICK_HALL">Bulwick Hall</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_11">11</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BRAMHAM">Bramham</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_15">15</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#MELBOURNE">Melbourne</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_18">18</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BERKELEY_CASTLE">Berkeley Castle</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_23">23</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#SUMMER_FLOWERS">Summer Flowers</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_26">26</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#THE_YEW_ALLEY_ROCKINGHAM">The Yew Alley, Rockingham</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_33">33</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BRYMPTON">Brympton</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_36">36</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BALCASKIE">Balcaskie</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_39">39</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#CRATHES_CASTLE">Crathes Castle</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_42">42</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#KELLIE_CASTLE">Kellie Castle</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_47">47</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#HARDWICK">Hardwick</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_52">52</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#MONTACUTE">Montacute</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_55">55</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#RAMSCLIFFE">Ramscliffe</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_58">58</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#LEVENS">Levens</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_63">63</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#CAMPSEY_ASHE">Campsey Ashe</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_67">67</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#CLEEVE_PRIOR">Cleeve Prior</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_70">70</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#CONDOVER">Condover</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_74">74</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#SPEKE_HALL">Speke Hall</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_76">76</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#GARDEN_ROSES">Garden Roses</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_79">79</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#PENSHURST">Penshurst</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_82">82</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#BRICKWALL">Brickwall</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_87">87</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#STONE_HALL_EASTON">Stone Hall, Easton</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_90">90</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#THE_DEANERY_GARDEN_ROCHESTER">The Deanery Garden, Rochester</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_93">93</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#COMPTON_WYNYATES">Compton Wynyates</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_96">96</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#PALMERSTOWN">Palmerstown</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_99">99</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#ST_ANNES_CLONTARF">St. Anne’s, Clontarf</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_101">101</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#AUCHINCRUIVE">Auchincruive</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_104">104</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#YEW_ARBOUR_LYDE">Yew Arbour: Lyde</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_107">107</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#AUTUMN_FLOWERS">Autumn Flowers</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_110">110</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#MYNTHURST">Mynthurst</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_115">115</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#ABBEY_LEIX">Abbey Leix</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_118">118</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#MICHAELMAS_DAISIES">Michaelmas Daisies</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_121">121</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#ARLEY">Arley</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_125">125</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><a href="#LADY_COVENTRYS_NEEDLEWORK">Lady Coventry’s Needlework</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_129">129</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table cellpadding="1"> -<tr><td>  </td><td class="pdd"><i>From Pictures in the<br /> possession of</i></td> -<td class="rt"><i>To face<br /> page</i></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_001">Phlox</a></td><td>Mr. George E. B. Wrey</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#ill_001"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_002">The Terrace, Brockenhurst</a></td><td>Mr. G. N. Stevens</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_2">2</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_003">Brockenhurst: The Garden Gate</a></td><td>Miss Radcliffe</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_4">4</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_004">Blyborough: Hollyhocks</a></td><td>Mr. C. E. Freeling</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_6">6</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_005">The Pergola, Great Tangley</a></td><td>Mr. Wickham Flower</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_8">8</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_006">Bulwick: Autumn</a></td><td>Lord Henry Grosvenor</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_11">11</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_007">Bulwick: The Gateway</a></td><td>Lord Henry Grosvenor</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_12">12</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_008">The Pool, Bramham</a></td><td>Sir James Whitehead, Bart</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_16">16</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_009">Melbourne</a></td><td>Mr. W. V. R. Fane</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_18">18</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_010">Melbourne: Amorini</a></td><td>Mr. J. W. Ford</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_20">20</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_011">The Lower Terrace, Berkeley Castle</a></td><td>Mr. Albert Wright</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_24">24</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_012">Orange Lilies and Larkspur</a></td><td>Mr. George C Bompas</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_26">26</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_013">White Lilies and Yellow Monkshood</a></td><td>Mr. Herbert D. Turner</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_28">28</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_014">Purple Campanula</a></td><td>Miss Beatrice Hall</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_30">30</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_015">The Yew Alley, Rockingham</a></td><td>Miss Willmott</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_34">34</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_016">The Gateway, Brympton</a></td><td>Mr. Edwin Clephan</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_36">36</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_017">The Apollo, Balcaskie</a></td><td>Miss Bompas</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_40">40</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_018">The Yew Walk, Crathes</a></td><td>Mr. Charles P. Rowley</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_42">42</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_019">Crathes</a></td><td>Mr. George C. Bompas</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_44">44</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_020">Crathes: Phlox</a></td><td>Mrs. Croft</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_46">46</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_021">Kellie Castle</a></td><td>Mr. Arthur H. Longman</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_48">48</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_022">The Forecourt, Hardwick</a></td><td>Mr. Aston Webb</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_52">52</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_023">Montacute: Sunflowers</a></td><td>Mr. E. C. Austen Leigh</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_56">56</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_024">Ramscliffe: Orange Lilies and Monkshood</a></td><td>Mr. C. E. Freeling</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_58">58</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_025">Ramscliffe: Larkspur</a></td><td>Miss Kensit</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_60">60</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_026">Levens</a></td><td>Major Longfield</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_63">63</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_027">Levens: Roses and Pinks</a></td><td>Mrs. Archibald Parker</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_65">65</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_028">The Yew Hedge, Campsey Ashe</a></td><td>Mr. H. W. Search</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_68">68</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_029">The Twelve Apostles, Cleeve Prior</a></td><td>Sir Frederick Wigan</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_70">70</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_030">Cleeve Prior: Sunflowers</a></td><td>Mr. James Crofts Powell</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_72">72</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_031">Condover: The Terrace Steps</a></td><td>Miss Austen Leigh</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_74">74</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_032">Speke Hall</a></td><td>Mr. George S. Elgood</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_76">76</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_033">“Viscountess Folkestone”</a></td><td>Mr. R. Clarke Edwards</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_80">80</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_034">“Gloire de Dijon,” Penshurst</a></td><td>Sir Reginald Hanson, Bart.</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_82">82</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_035">Penshurst: The Terrace Steps</a></td><td>Mr. Frederick Greene</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_84">84</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_036">Brickwall, Northiam</a></td><td>Mr. R. A. Oswald</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_88">88</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_037">Stone Hall, Easton: The Friendship Garden</a></td><td>The Countess of Warwick</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_90">90</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_038">The Deanery Garden, Rochester</a></td><td>Mr. G. A. Tonge</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_94">94</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_039">Compton Wynyates</a></td><td>Mr. George S. Elgood</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_96">96</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_040">China Roses and Lavender, Palmerstown</a></td><td>Mrs. Kennedy-Erskine</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_99">99</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_041">St. Anne’s, Clontarf</a></td><td>Miss Mannering</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_102">102</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_042">Auchincruive</a></td><td>Mr. R. A. Oswald</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_104">104</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_043">The Yew Arbour, Lyde</a></td><td>Mr. George E. B. Wrey</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_107">107</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_044">Phlox and Daisy</a></td><td>Lady Mount-Stephen</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_112">112</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_045">Mynthurst</a></td><td>Miss Radcliffe</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_116">116</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_046">Abbey-Leix</a></td><td>Sir James Whitehead, Bart.</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_118">118</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_047">Michaelmas Daisies, Munstead Wood</a></td><td>Mr. T. Norton Longman</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_122">122</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_048">The Alcove, Arley</a></td><td>Mrs. Campbell</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_125">125</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_049">The Rose Garden, Arley</a></td><td>Mrs. Huth</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_126">126</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="pdd"><a href="#ill_050">Lady Coventry’s Needlework</a></td><td>Mrs. Appleton</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_129">129</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_1" id="page_1">{1}</a></span>  </p> - -<h2><a name="BROCKENHURST" id="BROCKENHURST"></a>BROCKENHURST</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> English gardens in which Mr. Elgood delights to paint are for the -most part those that have come to us through the influence of the -Italian Renaissance; those that in common speech we call gardens of -formal design. The remote forefathers of these gardens of Italy, now so -well known to travellers, were the old pleasure-grounds of Rome and the -neighbouring districts, built and planted some sixteen hundred years -ago.</p> - -<p>Though many relics of domestic architecture remain to remind us that -Britain was once a Roman colony, and though it is reasonable to suppose -that the conquerors brought their ways of gardening with them as well as -their ways of building, yet nothing remains in England of any Roman -gardening of any importance, and we may well conclude that our gardens -of formal design came to us from Italy, inspired by those of the -Renaissance, though often modified by French influence.</p> - -<p>Very little gardening, such as we now know it, was done in England -earlier than the sixteenth century. Before that, the houses of the -better class were places of defence; castles, closely encompassed with -wall or moat; the little cultivation within their narrow bounds being -only for food—none for the pleasure of garden beauty.</p> - -<p>But when the country settled down into a peaceful state, and men could -dwell in safety, the great houses that arose were no longer fortresses, -but beautiful homes both within and without, inclosing large garden -spaces, walled with brick or stone only for defence from wild animals, -and divided or encompassed with living hedges of yew or holly or -hornbeam, to break wild winds and to gather on their sunny sides the -life-giving rays that flowers love.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_2" id="page_2">{2}</a></span></p> - -<p>So grew into life and shape some of the great gardens that still remain; -in the best of them, the old Italian traditions modified by gradual and -insensible evolution into what has become an English style. For it is -significant to observe that in some cases, where a classical model has -been too rigidly followed, or its principles too closely adhered to, -that the result is a thing that remains exotic—that will not assimilate -with the natural conditions of our climate and landscape. What is right -and fitting in Italy is not necessarily right in England. The general -principles may be imported, and may grow into something absolutely -right, but they cannot be compelled or coerced into fitness, any more -than we can take the myrtles and lentisks of the Mediterranean region -and expect them to grow on our middle-England hill-sides. This is so -much the case, with what one may call the temperament of a region and -climate, that even within the small geographical area of our islands, -the comparative suitability of the more distinctly Italian style may be -clearly perceived, for on our southern coasts it is much more possible -than in the much colder and bleaker midlands.</p> - -<p>Thus we find that one of the best of the rather nearly Italian gardens -is at Brockenhurst in the New Forest, not far from the warm waters of -the Solent. The garden, in its present state, was laid out by the late -Mr. John Morant, one of a long line of the same name owning this forest -property. He had absorbed the spirit of the pure Italian gardens, and -his fine taste knew how to bring it forth again, and place it with a -sure hand on English soil.</p> - -<p>It is none the less beautiful because it is a garden almost without -flowers, so important and satisfying are its permanent forms of living -green walls, with their own proper enrichment of ball and spire, bracket -and buttress, and so fine is the design of the actual masonry and -sculpture.</p> - -<p>The large rectangular pool, known as the Canal, bordered with a bold -kerb, has at its upper end a double stair-way; the retaining wall at the -head of the basin is cunningly wrought into buttress and niche. Every -niche has its appropriate sculpture and each buttress-pier its urn-like -finial. On the upper level is a circular fountain bordered by the same -kerb in lesser proportion, with stone vases on its circumference. The -broad walk on both levels is bounded by close walls of living</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_002" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_002.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="600" height="413" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE TERRACE, BROCKENHURST</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. G. N. Stevens</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3">{3}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">greenery; on the upper level swinging round in a half circle, in which -are cut arched niches. In each leafy niche is a bust of a Cæsar in -marble on a tall term-shaped pedestal. Orange trees in tubs stand by the -sides of the Canal. This is the most ornate portion of the garden, but -its whole extent is designed with equal care. There is a wide -bowling-green for quiet play; turf walks within walls of living green; -everywhere that feeling of repose and ease of mind and satisfaction that -comes of good balance and proportion. It shows the classical sentiment -thoroughly assimilated, and a judicious interpretation of it brought -forth in a form not only possible but eminently successful, as a garden -of Italy translated into the soil of one of our Southern Counties.</p> - -<p>Whether or not it is in itself the kind of gardening best suited for -England may be open to doubt, but at least it is the work of a man who -knew what he wanted and did it as well as it could possibly be done. -Throughout it bears evidence of the work of a master. There is no doubt, -no ambiguity as to what is intended. The strong will orders, the docile -stone and vegetation obey. It is full-dress gardening, stately, -princely, full of dignity; gardening that has the courtly sentiment. It -seems to demand that the actual working of it should be kept out of -sight. Whereas in a homely garden it is pleasant to see people at work, -and their tools and implements ready to their hands, here there must be -no visible intrusion of wheelbarrow or shirt-sleeved labour.</p> - -<p>Possibly the sentiment of a garden for state alone was the more -gratifying to its owner because of the near neighbourhood of miles upon -miles of wild, free forest; land of the same character being inclosed -within the property; the tall trees showing above the outer hedges and -playing to the lightest airs of wind in an almost strange contrast to -the inflexible green boundaries of the ordered garden.</p> - -<p>The danger that awaits such a garden, now just coming to its early -prime, is that the careful hand should be relaxed. It is an heritage -that carries with it much responsibility; moreover, it would be ruined -by the addition of any commonplace gardening. Winter and summer it is -nearly complete in itself; only in summer flowers show as brilliant -jewels in its marble vases and in its one restricted parterre of -box-edged beds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4">{4}</a></span></p> - -<p>It is a place whose design must always dominate the personal wishes, -should they desire other expression, of the succeeding owners. The -borders of hardy and half-hardy plants, that in nine gardens out of ten -present the most obvious ways of enjoying the beauty of flowers, are -here out of place. In some rare cases it might not be impossible to -introduce some beautiful climbing plant or plant of other habit, that -would be in right harmony with the design, but it should only be -attempted by an artist who has such knowledge of, and sympathy with, -refined architecture as will be sure to guide him aright, and such a -consummate knowledge of plants as will at once present to his mind the -identity of the only possible plants that could so be used. Any mistaken -choice or introduction of unsuitable plants would grievously mar the -design and would introduce an element of jarring incongruity such as -might easily be debased into vulgarity.</p> - -<p>There is no reason why such other gardening may not be rightly done even -at Brockenhurst, but it should not encroach upon or be mixed up with an -Italian design. Its place would be in quite another portion of the -grounds.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_003" style="width: 491px;"> -<a href="images/ill_003.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="491" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>BROCKENHURST: THE GARDEN GATE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Miss Radcliffe</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5">{5}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="HOLLYHOCKS_AT_BLYBOROUGH" id="HOLLYHOCKS_AT_BLYBOROUGH"></a>HOLLYHOCKS AT BLYBOROUGH</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> climate of North Lincolnshire is by no means one of the most -favourable of our islands, but the good gardener accepts the conditions -of the place, faces the obstacles, fights the difficulties, and -conquers.</p> - -<p>Here is a large walled garden, originally all kitchen garden; the length -equal to twice the breadth, divided in the middle to form two squares. -It is further subdivided in the usual manner with walks parallel to the -walls, some ten feet away from them, and other walks across and across -each square. The paths are box-edged and bordered on each side with fine -groups of hardy flowers, such as the Hollyhocks and other flowers in the -picture.</p> - -<p>The time is August, and these grand flowers are at their fullest bloom. -They are the best type of Hollyhock too, with the wide outer petal, and -the middle of the flower not too tightly packed.</p> - -<p>Hollyhocks have so long been favourite flowers—and, indeed, what would -our late summer and autumn gardens be without them?—that they are among -those that have received the special attention of raisers, and have -become what are known as florists’ flowers. But the florists’ notions do -not always make for the highest kind of beauty. They are apt to favour -forms that one cannot but think have for their aim, in many cases, an -ideal that is a false and unworthy one. In the case of the Hollyhock, -according to the florist’s standard of beauty and correct form, the wide -outer petal is not to be allowed; the flower must be very tight and very -round. Happily we need not all be florists of this narrow school, and we -are at liberty to try for the very highest and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6">{6}</a></span> truest beauty in our -flowers, rather than for set rules and arbitrary points of such -extremely doubtful value.</p> - -<p>The loosely-folded inner petals of the loveliest Hollyhocks invite a -wonderful play and brilliancy of colour. Some of the colour is -transmitted through the half-transparency of the petal’s structure, some -is reflected from the neighbouring folds; the light striking back and -forth with infinitely beautiful trick and playful variation, so that -some inner regions of the heart of a rosy flower, obeying the mysterious -agencies of sunlight, texture and local colour, may tell upon the eye as -pure scarlet; while the wide outer petal, in itself generally rather -lighter in colour, with its slightly waved surface and gently frilled -edge, plays the game of give and take with light and tint in quite -other, but always delightful, ways.</p> - -<p>Then see how well the groups have been placed; the rosy group leading to -the fuller red, with a distant sulphur-coloured gathering at the far -end; its tall spires of bloom shooting up and telling well against the -distant tree masses above the wall. And how pleasantly the colour of the -rosy group is repeated in the Phlox in the opposite border. And what a -capital group that is, near the Hollyhocks of that fine summer flower, -the double Crown Daisy (<i>Chrysanthemum coronarium</i>), with the bright -glimpses of some more of it beyond. Then the Pansies and Erigerons give -a mellowing of grey-lilac that helps the brighter colours, and is not -overdone.</p> - -<p>The large fruit-tree has too spreading a shade to allow of much actual -bloom immediately beneath it, so that here is a patch of Butcher’s -Broom, a shade-loving plant. Beyond, out in the sunlight again, is the -fine herbaceous Clematis (<i>C. recta</i>), whose excellent qualities entitle -it to a much more frequent use in gardens.</p> - -<p>The flower-borders are so full and luxuriant that they completely hide -the vegetable quarters within, for the garden is still a kitchen garden -as to its main inner spaces. These masses of good flowers are the work -of the Misses Freeling; they are ardent gardeners, sparing themselves no -labour or trouble; to their care and fine perception of the best use of -flowers the beauty and interest of these fine borders are entirely due. -Indeed, this garden is a striking instance</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_004" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_004.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="600" height="420" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>BLYBOROUGH: HOLLYHOCKS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. C. E. Freeling</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7">{7}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">of the extreme value of personal effort combined with knowledge and good -taste.</p> - -<p>These qualities may operate in different gardens in a hundred varying -ways, but where they exist there will be, in some form or other, a -delightful garden. Endless are the possibilities of beautiful -combinations of flowers; just as endless is their power of giving -happiness and the very purest of human delight. So also the special -interest of different gardens that are personally directed by owners of -knowledge and fine taste would seem to be endless too, for each will -impress upon it some visible issue of his own perception or discernment -of beauty.</p> - -<p>About the house and lawns are other beds and borders of herbaceous -flowers of good grouping and fine growth; conspicuous among them is that -excellent flower <i>Campanula pyramidalis</i>, splendidly grown.</p> - -<p>Though Blyborough is in a cold district, it has the advantage of lying -well sheltered below a sharply-rising ridge of higher land.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8">{8}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="GREAT_TANGLEY_MANOR" id="GREAT_TANGLEY_MANOR"></a>GREAT TANGLEY MANOR</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Forty</span> years ago, lying lost up a narrow lane that joined a track across -a wide green common, this ancient timber-built manor-house could -scarcely have been found but by some one who knew the country and its -by-ways well. Even when quite near, it had to be searched for, so much -was it hidden away behind ricks and farm-buildings; with the closer -overgrowth of old fruit trees, wild thorns and elders, and the tangled -wastes of vegetation that had invaded the outskirts of the neglected, or -at any rate very roughly-kept, garden of the farm-house, which purpose -it then served.</p> - -<p>What had been the moat could hardly be traced as a continuous -water-course; the banks were broken down and over-grown, water stood in -pools here and there; tall grass, tussocks of sedge and the rank weeds -that thrive in marshy places had it all to themselves.</p> - -<p>But the place was beautiful, for all the neglect and disorder, and to -the mind of a young girl that already harboured some appreciative -perception of the value of the fine old country buildings, and whose -home lay in a valley only three miles away, Tangley was one of the -places within an easy ride that could best minister to that vague -unreasoning delight, so gladly absorbed and so keenly enjoyed by an -eager and still almost childish imagination. For the mysteries of -romantic legend and old tale still clung about the place—stories of an -even more ancient dwelling than this one of the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p>There was always a ready welcome from the kindly farmer’s wife, and -complete freedom to roam about; the pony was accommodated in a cowstall, -and many happy summer hours were spent in the delightful</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_005" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_005.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE PERGOLA, GREAT TANGLEY</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. Wickham Flower</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9">{9}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">wilderness, with its jewel of a beautifully-wrought timbered dwelling -that had already stood for three hundred years.</p> - -<p>In later days, when the whole of the Grantley property in the district -was sold, Great Tangley came into the market. Happily, it fell into the -best of hands, those of Mr. and Mrs. Wickham Flower, and could not have -been better dealt with in the way of necessary restoration and judicious -addition. The moat is now a clear moat again; and good modern gardening, -that joins hands so happily with such a beautiful old building, -surrounds it on all sides. There was no flower garden when the old place -was taken in hand; the only things worth preserving being some of the -old orchard trees within the moat to the west. A space in front of the -house, on its southward face, inclosed by loop-holed walls of -considerable thickness, was probably the ancient garden, and has now -returned to its former use.</p> - -<p>The modern garden extends over several acres to the east and south -beyond the moat. The moat is fed by a long-shaped pond near its -south-eastern angle. The water margin is now a paradise for -flower-lovers, with its masses of water Irises and many other beautiful -aquatic and sub-aquatic plants; while Water-Lilies, and, surprising to -many, great groups rising strongly from the water of the white Calla, -commonly called Arum Lily, give the pond a quite unusual interest. To -the left is an admirable bog-garden with many a good damp-loving plant, -and, best of all in their flowering time, some glorious clumps of the -Moccasin Flower (<i>Cypripedium spectabile</i>), largest, brightest, and most -beautiful of hardy orchids.</p> - -<p>Those who have had the luck to see this grand plant at Tangley, two feet -high and a mass of bloom, can understand the admiration of others who -have met with it in its North American home, and their description of -how surprisingly beautiful it is when seen rising, with its large rose -and white flowers, and fresh green pleated leaves, from the pools of -black peaty mud of the forest openings. But it seems scarcely possible -that it can be finer in its own home than it is in this good garden.</p> - -<p>Beyond the bog-garden, on drier ground, is a garden of heaths, and, -returning by the pathway on the other side of the pond, is the kitchen -garden, a strip of pleasure-ground being reserved between it and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10">{10}</a></span> -pond. Here is the subject of the picture. The pergola runs parallel with -the pond, which, with the house and inclosed garden, are to the -spectator’s right. To the left, before the vegetable quarters begin, is -a capital rock-garden of the best and simplest form—just one long dell, -whose sides are set with rocks of the local Bargate stone and large -sheets of creeping and rock-loving plants. Taller green growths of -shrubby character shut it off from other portions of the grounds.</p> - -<p>The picture speaks for itself. It tells of the right appreciation of the -use of the good autumn flowers, in masses large enough to show what the -flowers will do for us at their best, but not so large as to become -wearisome or monotonous. Roses, Vines and Ivies cover the pergola, -making a grateful shade in summer. Each open space to the right gives a -picture of water and water-plants with garden ground beyond, and, -looking a little forward, the picture is varied by the background of -roof-mass with a glimpse of the timbered gables of the old house.</p> - -<p>The new garden is growing mature. The Yews that stand like gate-towers -flanking the entrance of the green covered way, have grown to their -allotted height, doing their duty also as quiet background to the -autumnal flower-masses. In the border to the left are Michaelmas -Daisies, French Marigolds, and a lower growth of Stocks; to the right is -a dominating mass of the great white Pyrethrum, grouped with pink Japan -Anemone, Veronicas and yellow Snapdragon. Japan Anemones, both pink and -white, are things of uncertain growth in many gardens of drier soil, but -here, in the rich alluvial loam of a valley level, they attain their -fullest growth and beauty.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_006" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_006.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>BULWICK: AUTUMN</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Lord Henry Grosvenor</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11">{11}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BULWICK_HALL" id="BULWICK_HALL"></a>BULWICK HALL</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Bulwick Hall</span>, in Northamptonshire, the home of the Tryon family, but, -when the pictures were painted, in the occupation of Lord and Lady Henry -Grosvenor, is a roomy, comfortable stone building of the seventeenth -century. The long, low, rather plain-looking house of two stories only, -is entered in an original manner by a doorway in the middle of a stone -passage, at right angles to the building, and connecting it with a -garden house. The careful classical design and balustraded parapet of -the outer wall of this entrance, and the repetition of the same, only -with arched openings, to the garden side, scarcely prepare one for the -unadorned house-front; but the whole is full of a quiet, simple dignity -that is extremely restful and pleasing. Other surprises of the same -character await one in further portions of the garden.</p> - -<p>Passing straight through the entrance gate there is a quiet space of -grass; a level court with flagged paths, bounded on the north by the -house and on the east and west by the arcade and the wall of the kitchen -garden. The ground falls slightly southward, and the fourth side leads -down to the next level by grass slopes and a flight of curved steps -widening below. Trees and shrubs are against the continuing walls to -right and left, and beds and herbaceous borders are upon the grassy -space. The wide green walk, between long borders of hardy plants, -leading forward from the foot of the steps, reaches a flower-bordered -terrace wall, and passes through it by a stone landing to steps to right -and left on its further side. A few steps descend in twin flights to -other landings, from which a fresh flight on each side reaches the -lowest garden level, some nine feet below the last. The whole of this -progression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12">{12}</a></span> with its pleasant variety of surface treatment and means -of descent, is in one direct line from a garden door in the middle of -the house front.</p> - -<p>The lowest flight of steps, the subject of the first picture, has a -simple but excellent wrought-iron railing, of that refined character -common to the time of its making. It was draped, perhaps rather -over-draped when the picture was painted, with a glory of Virginia -Creeper in fullest gorgeousness of autumn colouring. This question of -the degree to which it is desirable to allow climbing plants to cover -architectural forms, is one that should be always carefully considered. -Bad architecture abounds throughout the country, and free-growing plants -often play an entirely beneficent part in concealing its mean or vulgar -or otherwise unsightly character. But where architectural design is good -and pure, as it is at Bulwick, care should be taken in order to prevent -its being unduly covered. Old brick chimney-stacks of great beauty are -often smothered with Ivy, and the same insidious native has obliterated -many a beautiful gate-pier and panelled wall. But the worst offender in -modern days has been the far-spreading Ampelopsis Veitchii, useful for -the covering of mean or featureless buildings, but grievously and -mischievously out of place when, for instance, ramping unchecked over -the old brickwork of Wolsey’s Palace at Hampton Court. Some may say that -it is easily pulled off; but this is not so, for it leaves behind, -tightly clinging to the old brick surface, the dried-up sucker and its -tentacle, desiccated to a consistency like iron wire. These are -impossible to detach without abrasion of surface, while, if left, they -show upon the brick as a scurfy eruption, as disfiguring to the -wall-face as are the scars of smallpox on a human countenance.</p> - -<p>The iron-railed steps in the picture come down upon a grassy space -rather near its end. Behind the spectator it stretches away for quite -four times the length seen in the picture. It is bounded on the side -opposite the steps by a long rectangular fish-pond. The whole length of -this is not seen, for the grass walk narrows and passes between old yew -hedges, one on the side of the pond, the other backed by some other -trees against the kitchen garden wall, which is a prolongation of the -terrace wall in the picture.</p> - -<p>The garden is still beautifully kept, but owes much of its wealth of</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_007" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_007.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="600" height="392" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>BULWICK: THE GATEWAY</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Lord Henry Grosvenor</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13">{13}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">hardy flowers to the planting of Lady Henry Grosvenor, whose fine taste -and great love of flowers made it in her day one of the best gardens of -hardy plants, and whose untimely death, in the very prime of life, was -almost as much deplored by the best of the horticultural amateurs who -only knew her by reputation, but were aware of her good work in -gardening, as by her wide circle of personal friends.</p> - -<p>She had a special love for the flag-leaved Irises, and used them with -very fine effect. The borders that show to right and left of the steps -had them in large groups, and were masses of bloom in June; other -plants, placed behind and between, succeeding them later. Lady Henry was -one of the first amateurs to perceive the value of planting in this -large way, and, as she had ample spaces to deal with, the effects she -produced were very fine, and must have been helpful in influencing -horticultural taste in a right direction.</p> - -<p>Another important portion of the garden at Bulwick is a long double -flower-border backed by holly hedges, that runs through the whole middle -length of the kitchen garden. It is in a straight line with the flagged -walk that passes westward across the green court next to the house, and -parallel with its garden front. The flagged path stops at the gate-piers -in the second picture, a grass path following upon the same line and -passing just behind the shaded seat.</p> - -<p>The holly hedges that back the borders are old and solid. Their top -line, shaped like a flat-pitched roof, is ornamented at intervals with -mushroom-shaped finials, each upon its stalk of holly stem. The grass -walk and double border pass right across the kitchen garden in the line -of its longest axis. At the furthest end there is another pair of the -same handsome gate-piers with a beautiful wrought-iron gate, leading -into the park. The park is handsomely timbered, and in early summer is -especially delightful from the great number of fine old hawthorns.</p> - -<p>In Lady Henry’s time several borders in the kitchen garden were made -bright with annuals and other flowers. Such borders are very commonly -used for reserve purposes, such as the provision of flowers for cutting, -with one main double border for ornament alone. But where gardens are -being laid out from the beginning, such a plan as this at Bulwick, of a -grass path with flower borders and a screening hedge at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14">{14}</a></span> back, -passing through a kitchen garden, is an excellent one, greatly enlarging -the length of view of the pleasure garden, while occupying only a -relatively small area. It is also well in planning a garden to provide a -reserve space for cutting alone, of beds four feet, and paths two feet -wide, and of any length suitable for the supply required. This has the -advantage of leaving the kitchen garden unencumbered with any -flower-gardening, and therefore more easy to work.</p> - -<p>Such a long-shaped garden is also capable of various ways of treatment -as to its edge, which need not necessarily be an unbroken line. The -length of the border in question is perhaps a little too great. It might -be better, while keeping the effect of a quiet line, looking from end to -end, to have swung the edge of the border back in a segment of a circle -to a little more than half its depth, every few yards, in such a -proportion as a plan to scale would show to be right; or to have treated -it in some one of the many possible ways of accentuation where the cross -paths occur that divide it into three lengths. The thinking out of these -details according to the conditions of the site, the combining of them -into designs that shall add to its beauty, and the actual working of -them, the mind meanwhile picturing the effect in advance—these are some -of the most interesting and enlivening of the many kinds of happiness -that a garden gives.</p> - -<p>Be it large or small there is always scope for inventive ability; either -for the bettering of something or for the casting of some detail into a -more desirable form. Every year brings some new need; in supplying it -fresh experience is gained, and with this an increasing power of -adapting simple means to such ends as may be easily devised to the -advancement of the garden’s beauty.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15">{15}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BRAMHAM" id="BRAMHAM"></a>BRAMHAM</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> gardens at Bramham in Yorkshire, laid out and built near the end of -the seventeenth century, are probably the best preserved in England or -the grounds that were designed at that time under French influence. -Wrest in Bedfordshire, and Melbourne in Derbyshire of which some -pictures will follow, are also gardens of purely French character.</p> - -<p>It is extremely interesting to compare these gardens with those of a -more distinctly Italian feeling. Many features they have in common; -architectural structure and ornament, close-clipped evergreen hedges -inclosing groves of free-growing trees; parterres, pools and fountains. -Yet the treatment was distinctly different, and, though not easy to -define in words, is at once recognised by the eye.</p> - -<p>For one thing the French school, shown in its extremest form by the -gardens of Versailles, dealt with much larger and more level spaces. The -gardens of Italian villas, whether of the Roman Empire or of the -Renaissance, were for the most part in hilly places; pleasant for summer -coolness. This naturally led to much building of balustraded terraces -and flights of steps, and of parterres whose width was limited to that -of the level that could conveniently be obtained. Whereas in France, and -in England especially, where the country house is the home for all the -year, the greater number of large places have land about them that is -more or less level and that can be taken in to any extent.</p> - -<p>At Bramham the changes of level are not considerable, but enough to -furnish the designer with motives for the details of his plan. The -house, of about the same date as the garden, was internally destroyed by -fire in the last century. The well-built stone walls still stand, but -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16">{16}</a></span> building has never been restored. The stables and kennels are still -in use, but the owner, Captain Lane-Fox, lives in another house on the -outskirts of the park. The design of the gardens has often been -attributed to Le Nôtre, and is undoubtedly the work of his school, but -there is nothing to prove that the great French master was ever in -England.</p> - -<p>The way to the house is through a large, well-timbered park. Handsome -gate-piers with stone-wrought armorial ornament lead into a forecourt -stretching wide to right and left. A double curved stairway ascends to -the main door. To the left of the house is an entrance to the garden -through a colonnade. Next to the garden front of the house, which faces -south-west, is a broad gravelled terrace. The ground rises away from the -house by a gently sloping lawn, but in the midmost space is a feature -that is frequent in the French gardening of the time, though unusual in -England: a long theatre-shaped extent of grass. There is a stone sundial -standing on two wide steps near the house, and a gradually heightened -retaining wall following the rise of the ground. Not more than two feet -high where it begins below, and there accentuated on either side by a -noble stone plinth and massive urn, the retaining wall, itself a -handsome object of bold masonry, follows a straight line for some -distance, and then swings round in a segmental curve to meet the equal -wall on the further side; thus inclosing a space of level sward. Midway -in the curve, where the wall is some twelve feet high, there appear to -have been niches in the masonry, possibly for fountains.</p> - -<p>The wide gravel walk next the house-front falls a little as it passes to -the left, divides in two and continues by an upward slope on either side -of a wall-fountain in a small inclosure formed by the retaining walls of -the rising paths. The path then passes all round the large rectangular -pool, one end of which forms the subject of the picture. This shows well -the graceful ease and, one may say, the courteous suavity, that is the -foremost character of this beautiful kind of French designing. The high -level of the water in the pool, so necessary for good effect, is a -detail that is often overlooked in English gardens. Nothing looks worse -than a height of bare wall in a pool or fountain basin, and nothing is -more commonly seen in our gardens. The low stone kerb bordering the pool -is broken at intervals with only slightly rising pedestals for</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_008" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_008.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE POOL, BRAMHAM</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir James Whitehead, Bart.</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17">{17}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">flower vases. Tubs of Agapanthus stand on the projections by the side of -the piers that flank the small fountain basin, whose overflow falls into -the pool.</p> - -<p>All this portion of the garden has a background of yew hedges inclosing -large trees. From this pool the ground rises to another; also of -rectangular form, but with an arm to the right, in the line of the cross -axis, forming a T-shape. Between the two, on a path always rising by -occasional flights of steps, is a summer-house. The path swings round it -in a circle. To right and left are flower-beds and roses; outside these, -also on a curved line, are ranged a series of gracefully sculptured -<i>amorini</i>, bearing aloft vases of flowers.</p> - -<p>The path soon reaches the upper pool, again passing all round it. At the -point furthest to the right, at the end of the projecting arm, and -looking along the cross axis to where, beyond the pool, the ground again -rises, is a handsome wall fountain, with steps to right and left, -inclosed by panelled walls. All this garden of pool and fountain, easy -way of step and gravel, and ornament of flower and sculpture, is bounded -by the massive walls of yew, and all beyond is sheltering quietude of -ancient trees. From several points around the highest pool, as well as -from the rising lawns to right and left of the theatre, straight -grass-edged paths, bordered by clipped hornbeam, lead through the -heavily wooded ground. From distant points the main walks converge; and -here, in a circular green-walled court, stands a tall pedestal bearing a -handsome stone vase. The prospects down the alleys are variously ended; -some by pillared temples set in green niches, some by the open -park-landscape; some by further depths of woodland. It is all easy and -gracious, but full of dignity—courtly—palatial; bringing to mind the -stately bearing and refined courtesy of manner of our ancestors of two -centuries ago. It is good to know that some of these gardens and -disciplined woodlands still exist in our own land and in France; these -quiet <i>bosquets de verdure</i> of those far-away days. Though the scale on -which they were planned is only suitable for the largest houses and for -wealthy owners who can command lavish employment of labour, yet we -cannot but admire the genius of those garden artists of France who -designed so boldly and yet so gracefully, and who have left us such -admirable records of their abounding ability.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18">{18}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="MELBOURNE" id="MELBOURNE"></a>MELBOURNE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> gardens of Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire, the property of Earl -Cowper, but occupied for the last five-and-twenty years by Mr. W. D. -Fane, though perhaps less well preserved than those of Bramham, still -show the design of Henry Wise in the early years of the eighteenth -century. There had formerly been an older garden. Wise’s plan shows how -completely the French ideas had been adopted in England, for here again -are the handsome pools and fountains, the garden thick-hedged with yew, -and the <i>bosquet</i> with its straight paths, green-walled, leading to a -large fountain-centred circle in the thickest of the grove.</p> - -<p>The whole space occupied by the house and grounds is not of great -extent; it is irregular and even awkward in shape, and has roads on two -sides.</p> - -<p>The treatment is extremely ingenious; indeed, it is doubtful whether any -other plan that could have been devised would have made so much of the -space or could have so cleverly concealed the limits.</p> - -<p>The garden lies out forward of the house in a long parallelogram. Next -to the house-front is the usual wide gravel terrace, from which paths, -inclosing spaces of lawn, lead down to a lower level. The whole lawn, -with its accompanying paths, slopes downward; where a steeper slope -occurs above and below, the path becomes a flight of steps.</p> - -<p>The lower level is intersected by paths. As they converge, they swing -round the pedestal of the Flying Mercury that stands upon a circular -grass-plot. The main path soon reaches the edge of the handsome pool -known as the Great Water. It is four-sided, with a</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_009" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_009.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>MELBOURNE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. W. V. R. Fane</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19">{19}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">further semi-circular bay. A wide grass verge and turf slope form the -edging. Broad walks pass all round, with pleasant views at various -points into the cool and shaded woodland alleys. Near the further angles -of the pool’s green court, the great yew hedge, which bounds the whole -garden, swings back into shallow segmental niches to take curved stone -seats. Just beyond, on the return angle, the view from the path, here -passing the right side of the pool, is ended by the lead figure of -Perseus, of heroic size, also standing in a niche cut in the yews. The -companion statue of Andromeda occupies the corresponding niche on the -other side.</p> - -<p>After passing the Mercury, the view across the pool is met by a curious -piece of wrought-iron work in the form of a high, dome-topped -summer-house; a masterpiece of Jean Tijou. It is entered by steps, and -leads, through the trees, to higher ground beyond.</p> - -<p>Right and left of the middle and upper portions of the garden the great -yew hedges are double; planted in parallel lines, with an open space -between. Scotch Firs, now very old and towering high aloft, give great -character to this part of the garden. In one place there are three -parallel hedges of yew, the two outermost forming the “Dark Arbour,” a -tunnel of yew a hundred yards in length, only broken near its lower end, -where a small fountain marks the crossing of a broad path.</p> - -<p>All the lower portion of the garden is surrounded by a dense grove of -trees, in which other tall Scotch Firs stand out conspicuously. Its most -extensive area is on the right side of the Great Water, where several -grassy paths, bounded by clipped hedges of yew and lime, radiate from a -large circular space where there is a wide, round basin and -fountain-jet. Looking along one of the pleasant green ways, other jets -are seen springing from further fountains where more paths cross. The -ends of some of the walks are finished with alcoves or arbours. One of -them, that runs diagonally from the right-hand side of the large pool, -crosses the great wood fountain, and passing on some distance further -ends at a magnificent lead urn on a massive pedestal. This is also the -terminal point of view of another of the longest of the green paths.</p> - -<p>The water that supplies the pools and fountains comes from a wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20">{20}</a></span> pond, -the home of many wild-fowl, that is on a higher level, outside the -grounds and beyond one of the roads that bounds them. A stream from the -pond meanders through the wooded ground, and is conducted by a culvert -to the large pool; the overflow passing out on the opposite side in the -same way.</p> - -<p>Important in the garden’s decoration are the unusual number of lead -statues and other accessories, of excellent design. The upper lawn has -two kneeling figures of negro or Indian type, bearing on their heads, -partly supported by their hands, circular tables with moulded edges that -carry an urn-finial. The central ornament of the next level is the -Flying Mercury, after John of Bologna. Referring to this example, -Messrs. Blomfield and Inigo Thomas tell us in “The Formal Garden in -England” that “lead statues very easily lose their centre of gravity.” -This is exemplified by the Mercury at Melbourne, which has already come -over to a degree which makes its evident want of balance distressing to -the eye of the beholder, and forebodes its eventual downfall.</p> - -<p>Lead as a material for such use in gardens is much more suitable to the -English climate than marble. It acquires a beautiful silvery colouring -with age, whereas marble becomes disfigured with blackish -weather-streaks. During the eighteenth century the art of lead casting -came to great perfection in England. Some good models came from Italy; -the original of the kneeling slave at Melbourne is considered to have -come from there. Others were brought from France. The inspiration, if -not the actual designs or moulds, of the many charming figures of -<i>amorini</i> in these gardens must have been purely French. The pictures -show how they were used. They stand on pedestals at several of the -points of departure of the green glades. In fountain basins they form -jets; the little figure appearing to blow the water through a -conch-shell. They are also shown, sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs, -disputing, wrestling or carrying a cornucopia of flowers. One little -fellow, alone on his pedestal, is whittling his bow with a tool like a -wheelwright’s draw-knife. All are charming and graceful. They are -probably more beautiful now than of old, when they were painted and -sanded to look like stone.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_010" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_010.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="600" height="414" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>MELBOURNE: AMORINI</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. J. W. Ford</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21">{21}</a></span></p> - -<p>There were several lead foundries in London early in the eighteenth -century for the making of these garden ornaments. The foremost was that -of John Van Nost. Mr. Lethaby in his book on Leadwork tells us that this -Dutch sculptor came to England with King William III.; that his business -was taken in 1739 by Mr. John Cheere, who served his time with his -brother, Sir H. Cheere, who made several of the Abbey monuments. The -kneeling slave, bearing either a vase, as at Melbourne, or a sundial as -in the Temple Gardens in London, and in other pleasure grounds in -different parts of the country, was apparently a favourite subject. The -figure, not always from the same mould in the various examples, but -always showing good design, was evidently of Italian origin. Towards the -end of the century, designs for lead figures became much debased, and -such subjects as people sitting round a table, painted like life, could -not possibly have served any decorative purpose. The natural colour of -lead is so good that no painting can improve it. In Tudor days it was -often gilt, a much more permissible treatment.</p> - -<p>In the old days there was probably a parterre at Melbourne, now no -longer existing. The figures of kneeling slaves were possibly the centre -ornaments of its two divisions, on what is now the upper lawn. This -portion of the garden is rather liberally, and perhaps somewhat -injudiciously, planted with a mixture of conifers, put in probably -thirty to forty years ago, when the remains of good old garden designs -were not so reverently treated, nor their value so well understood, as -now. Some of this planting has even strayed to the banks of the Great -Water. The pleasure ground of Melbourne is a precious relic of the past, -and, even though the ill effects of the modern planting of various -conifers may be less generally conspicuous there than it is in many -places, yet it is distinctly an intrusion. The tall trees inclosed by -massive yew hedges, the pools and fountains, the statues and other -sculptured ornaments, all recall, with their special character of garden -treatment, the times and incidents that Watteau loved to paint. Such a -picture as his <i>Bosquet de Bacchus</i>, so well known by the engraving, -with its gaily-dressed groups of young men and maidens seated in the -grassy shade and making the music of their lutes and voices accompany -that of the fountains’ waters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22">{22}</a></span> might have been painted at Melbourne. -For here are the same wide, green-walled alleys, the pools, the -fountains and the ornamental details of the great gardens of courtly -France of two hundred years ago acclimatised on English soil; not in the -dreary vastness of Versailles, but tamed to our climate’s needs and on a -scale attuned to the more moderate dimensions of a reasonable human -dwelling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23">{23}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BERKELEY_CASTLE" id="BERKELEY_CASTLE"></a>BERKELEY CASTLE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">This</span> venerable pile, one of the oldest continuously-inhabited houses in -England, stands upon a knoll of rising ground at the southern end of the -tract of rich alluvial land known as the Vale of Berkeley, that -stretches away for ten miles or more north-eastward in the direction of -Gloucester. Within two miles to the west is the Severn, already a mile -across and rapidly widening to its estuary. On the side of the higher -ground the town creeps up to the shelter of the Castle and the grand old -church, on the lower is a level stretch of water-meadow.</p> - -<p>Seen from the meadows some half-mile away it looks like some great -fortress roughly hewn out of natural rock. Nature would seem to have -taken back to herself the masses of stone reared by man seven and a half -centuries ago.</p> - -<p>The giant walls and mighty buttresses look as if they had been carved by -wind and weather out of some solid rock-mass, rather than as if wrought -by human handiwork. But when, in the middle of the twelfth century, in -the earliest days of the reign of Henry Plantagenet, the castle was -built by Robert, son of Harding, he built it with outer walls ten to -fifteen feet thick, without definite plan as it would seem, but, as the -work went on, suiting the building to the shape of the hillock and to -the existing demands of defensive warfare.</p> - -<p>When the day is coming to its close, and the light becomes a little dim, -and thin mist-films rise level from the meadows, it might be an -enchanted castle; for in some tricks of evening light it cheats the eye -into the semblance of something ethereal—sublimate—without -subst<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24">{24}</a></span>ance—as if it were some passing mirage, built up for the moment -of towering masses of pearly vapour.</p> - -<p>So does an ancient building come back into sympathy with earth and -cloud. Its stones are carved and fretted by the wind and rain of -centuries; tiny mosses have grown in their cavities; the decay of these -has formed mould which has spread into every joint and fissure. Here -grasses and many kinds of wild plants have found a home, until, viewed -from near at hand, the mighty walls and their sustaining buttresses are -seen to be shaggy with vegetation.</p> - -<p>These immense buttresses on the meadow side come down to a walled -terrace; their foundations doubtless far below the visible base. The -terrace level is some twelve feet above the grassy space below. The -grass then slopes easily away for a distance of a few hundred feet to -the alluvial flat of the actual meadow-land.</p> - -<p>Large fig-trees grow at the foot of the wall, rising a few feet above -the parapet of the terrace, from which the fruit is conveniently -gathered.</p> - -<p>It is in the deep, well-sheltered bays between the feet of the giant -buttresses that the most interesting of the modern flower gardening at -Berkeley is done.</p> - -<p>White Lilies grow like weeds in the rich red loam, and there are fine -groups of many of the best hardy plants and shrubby things, gathered -together and well placed by the late Georgina Lady Fitzhardinge, a true -lover of good flowers and a woman of sound instinct and well-balanced -taste respecting things beautiful both indoors and out.</p> - -<p>The chief relic of the older gardening at Berkeley is the remains of the -yew hedge that inclosed the bowling-green on three sides; the fourth -side having for its boundary the high retaining wall that supports the -entrance road beyond the outer gate. The yews, still clipped into bold -rounded forms, may have formed a trim hedge in Tudor days, and the level -space of turf, which is reached from the terrace by a flight of downward -steps that passes under an arch of the old yews, lies cool and sheltered -from the westering sun by the stout bulwark of their ancient shade.</p> - -<p>The yew arch in the picture shows where the terrace level descends to -the bowling-green. The great buttresses of the main castle wall are -behind the spectator. A bowery Clematis is in full bloom over the steps</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_011" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_011.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="600" height="367" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE LOWER TERRACE, BERKELEY CASTLE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Albert Wright</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25">{25}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">to the shorter terrace above, and near it, on the lower level, is one of -the great pear-trees that have been trained upon the wall, and that, -with others on the keep above, brighten up the grim old building in -spring-time. <i>Campanula pyramidalis</i> has been sown in chinks on the -inner side of the low parapet, and the picture shows how handsomely they -have grown, supported only by the slight nutriment they could find among -the stones. But, like so many of the Bell-flowers, it delights in -growing between the stones of a wall. It should be remembered how well -this fine plant will succeed in such a place, as well as for general -garden use. It is so commonly grown as a pot-plant for autumn indoor -decoration that its other uses would seem to be generally overlooked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26">{26}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="SUMMER_FLOWERS" id="SUMMER_FLOWERS"></a>SUMMER FLOWERS</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> end of June and beginning of July—when the days are hot and long, -and the earth is warm, and our summer flowers are in fullest mass and -beauty—what a time of gladness it is, and of that full and thankful -delight that is the sure reward for the labour and careful -thoughtfulness of the last autumn and winter, and of the present earlier -year!</p> - -<p>The gardens where this reward comes in fullest measure are perhaps those -modest ones of small compass where the owner is the only gardener, at -any rate as far as the flowering plants are concerned; where he thinks -out good schemes of plant companionship; of suitable masses of form and -stature; of lovely colour-combination; where, after the day’s work, -comes the leisurely stroll, when every flower greets and is greeted as a -close friend, and all make willing offering of what they have of scent -and loveliness in grateful return for the past loving labour.</p> - -<p>This is the high tide time of the summer flowers. It may be a week or -two earlier or later according to the district, for our small islands -have climatic diversities such as can only be matched within the greater -part of the whole area of middle Europe, though inclining to a temperate -average. For the Myrtle of the Mediterranean is quite hardy in the South -and South-West, and Ivy and Gorse, neither of which is hardy in North -and Middle Germany, are, with but few exceptions, at home everywhere. -Given, therefore, a moderately good soil, fair shelter and a true love -of flowers, there will be such goodly masses as those shown in the -pictures.</p> - -<p>Advisedly is the word “true” lover of flowers used, for it is now -fashionable to like flowers, and much of it is pretence only. The test -is to ascertain whether the person professing devotion to a garden works -in</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_012" style="width: 460px;"> -<a href="images/ill_012.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_012.jpg" width="460" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>ORANGE LILIES AND LARKSPUR</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. George C. Bompas</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27">{27}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">it personally, or in any way likes it well enough to take a great deal -of trouble about it. To those who know, the garden speaks of itself, for -it clearly reflects individual thought and influence; and it is in these -lesser gardens that, with rare and happy exceptions, the watchful care -and happy invention of the beneficent individuality stamps itself upon -the place.</p> - -<p>There is nothing more interesting to one of these ardent and honest -workers than to see the garden of another. Plants that had hitherto been -neglected or overlooked are seen used in ways that had never been -thought of, and here will be found new combinations of colour that had -never been attempted, and methods of use and treatment differing in some -manner to those that had been seen before.</p> - -<p>There is nothing like the true gardening for training the eye and mind -to the habit of close observation; that precious acquirement that -invests every country object both within and without the garden’s bounds -with a living interest, and that insensibly builds up that bulk of -mentally noted incident or circumstance that, taken in and garnered by -that wonderful storehouse the brain, seems there to sort itself, to -distribute, to arrange, to classify, to reduce into order, in such a way -as to increase the knowledge of something of which there was at first -only a mental glimpse; so to build up in orderly structure a -well-founded knowledge of many of those things of every-day out-door -life that adds so greatly to its present enjoyment and later usefulness.</p> - -<p>So it comes about that some of us gardeners, searching for ways of best -displaying our flowers, have observed that whereas it is best, as a -general rule, to mass the warm colours (reds and yellows) rather -together, so it is best to treat the blues with contrasts, either of -direct complementary colour, or at any rate with some kind of yellow, or -with clear white. So that whereas it would be less pleasing to put -scarlet flowers directly against bright blue, and whereas flowers of -purple colouring can be otherwise much more suitably treated, the -juxtaposition of the splendid blues of the perennial Larkspurs with the -rich colour of the orange Herring Lily (<i>Lilium croceum</i>) is a bold and -grand assortment of colour of the most satisfactory effect.</p> - -<p>This fine Lily is one of those easiest to grow in most gardens. The true -flower-lovers, as defined above, take the trouble to find out which are<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28">{28}</a></span> -the Lilies that will suit their particular grounds; for it is generally -understood that the soil and conditions of any one garden are not likely -to suit a large number of different kinds of these delightful plants. -Four or five successful kinds are about the average, and the owner is -lucky if the superb White Lily is among them. But Lilies are so -beautiful, so full of character, so important among other flowers or in -places almost by themselves, that, when it is known which are the right -ones to grow, those kinds should be well and rather largely used.</p> - -<p>The garden in which these fine groups were painted has a good loamy -soil, such as, with good gardening, grows most hardy flowers well, and -therefore the grand White Lily also thrives. A few of the Lilies like -peat, such as the great Auratum, and the two lovely pink ones, Krameri -and Rubellum. But the garden of strong loam should never be without the -White Lily, the Orange Lily, and the Tiger Lily, an autumn flower that -seems to accommodate itself to any soil. The Orange Lilies are grandly -grown by the Dutch nurserymen in many varieties, under the names -<i>bulbiferum</i>, <i>croceum</i>, and <i>davuricum</i>, and their price is so moderate -that it is no extravagance to buy them in fair quantity.</p> - -<p>Flowers of pure scarlet colour are so little common among hardy -perennials that it seems a pity that the brilliant <i>Lilium -chalcedonicum</i> of Greece, Palestine, and Asia Minor, and its ally <i>L. -pomponium</i>, the Scarlet Martagon of Northern Italy, should be so seldom -seen in gardens. They are some of the most easily grown, and are not -dear to buy. Another Lily that should not be forgotten and is easy to -grow in strong soils is the old Purple Martagon; not a bright-coloured -flower, but so old a plant of English gardens that in some places it has -escaped into the woods. The white variety is very beautiful, the colour -an ivory white, and the flower of a waxy texture. They are the Imperial -Martagon, or Great Mountain Lily of the old writers; the scarlet -<i>pomponium</i>, of the same shaped flower, was their Martagon Pompony. The -name “pompony,” no doubt, came from the tightly rolled-back petals -giving the flower something of the look of the flattened melons of the -Cantaloupe kind, with their deep longitudinal furrows; the old name of -these being “Pompion.” Another name for this Lily was the Red Martagon -of Constantinople. It is so named by that charming old writer Parkinson, -who gives evidence of its</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_013" style="width: 459px;"> -<a href="images/ill_013.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_013.jpg" width="459" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>WHITE LILIES AND YELLOW MONKSHOOD</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Herbert D. Turner</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29">{29}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">popularity and former frequency in gardens in these words: “The Red -Martagon of Constantinople is become so common everywhere, and so well -known to all lovers of these delights, that I shal seem unto them to -lose time, to bestow many lines upon it; yet because it is so fair a -flower, and was at the first so highly esteemed, it deserveth his place -and commendations, howsoever increasing the plenty hath not made it -dainty.”</p> - -<p>One more of the Lilies, indispensable for loveliness, should be grown -wherever it is found possible. This is the Nankeen Lily (<i>L. -testaceum</i>). It is a flower as mysterious as it is beautiful. It is not -found wild, and is considered to be a hybrid between the White Lily and -the Scarlet Martagon. Whether it occurred naturally, or whether it was -the deliberate work of some unknown benefactor to horticulture, will now -never be known; we can only be thankful that by some happy agency we -have this Lily of mixed parentage, one of the most beautiful in -cultivation. The name Nankeen Lily nearly, but not exactly, describes -its colour, for a suspicion of pinkish warmth is added to the tender -buff-colour usually so named.</p> - -<p>Many other Lilies may be grown in different gardens, but the tenderer -kinds from Eastern Asia are not for the hardy flower-border, and the -vigorous American species have not yet been with us long enough to be -familiar as flowers of old English gardens.</p> - -<p>A July garden would not show its true character without some masses of -the stately blue perennial Larkspurs. No garden plant has been more -widely cultivated within the last fifty years, and our nurserymen have -produced a large range of beautiful varieties. They have, perhaps, gone -a little too far in some directions. The desire to produce something -that can be called a novelty often makes growers forget that what is -wanted is the thing that is most beautiful, rather than something merely -exceptionally abnormal, to be gaped at in wonderment for perhaps one -season, and above all for the purpose of being blazoned forth in the -trade list. The true points to look for in these grand flowers are pure -colour, whether light, medium or dark, fine stature and a well-filled -but not overcrowded spike. There are some pretty double flowers, where -the individual bloom loses its normal shape and becomes flattened, but -the single is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30">{30}</a></span> truer form. They are so easily raised from seed that -good varieties may be grown at home, when, if space may be allowed for a -line of seedlings in the trial-ground, it is pleasant to watch what they -will bring forth. Such a good old kind as the one named “Cantab” is a -capital seed-bearer, and will give many handsome plants. They must be -carefully observed at flowering time, and any of poor or weedy habit in -their bloom thrown away. Some will probably have interrupted spikes, -that is to say, the spike will have some flowers below and then a bare -interval, with more flowers above. This is a fault that should not be -tolerated.</p> - -<p>The Monkshoods (<i>Aconitum</i>) are related to the Larkspurs (<i>Delphinium</i>); -indeed, it is a common thing to hear them confused and the name of one -used for the other. It is easy to understand how this may be, for the -leaves are much alike in shape, and both genera bear hooded flowers on -tall spikes, mostly of blue and purple colours. For ordinary garden -knowledge it may be remembered that Monkshood has a smooth leaf and that -the colour is a purplish blue, the bluest of those commonly in -cultivation being the late-flowering <i>Aconitum japonicum</i>, and that the -true pure blues are those of the perennial Larkspurs, whose leaves are -downy.</p> - -<p>The great Delphiniums love a strong, rich loamy soil, rather damp than -dry, and plenty of nourishment.</p> - -<p>There is a handsome Monkshood with pale yellow flowers that is well used -in the garden of the White Lilies, and most happily in their near -companionship. It is <i>Aconitum Lycoctonum</i>; a plant of Austria and the -Tyrol. The widely-branched racemes of pale luminous bloom are thrown out -in a graceful manner, in pleasant contrast with the equally graceful but -quite different upright carriage of the White Lily. The handsome dark -green polished leaves of this fine Aconite are also of much value; -persisting after the bloom is over till quite into the late autumn.</p> - -<p>Many of the charming members of the Bell-flower family are fine things -in the flower-border. The best of all for general use is perhaps the -well-known <i>Campanula persicifolia</i>, with its slender upright stems and -its numbers of pretty bells, both blue and white. There are double</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_014" style="width: 465px;"> -<a href="images/ill_014.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_014.jpg" width="465" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>PURPLE CAMPANULA</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Beatrice Hall</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31">{31}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">kinds, but the doubling, though in some cases it makes a good enough -flower, changes the true character so much that it is a Bell-flower no -longer; and we think that a Bell-flower should be a bell, and should -hang and swing, and not be made into a flattened flower set rather -tightly on an ungraceful, thickened stem.</p> - -<p>Another beautiful Campanula is <i>C. latifolia</i>, especially the -white-flowered form. It is not only a first-rate flower, but it gives -that pleasant impression of wholesome prosperity that is so good to see. -The tall, pointed spike of large milk-white bells is of fine form, and -the distinctly-toothed leaves are in themselves handsome. Like all the -Bell-flowers, the bloom is cut into six divisions—“lobes of the -corolla,” botanists call them. Each division is sharply pointed and -recurved or rolled back after the manner of many of the Lilies. This -fine Campanula is not only a good plant for the flower-border, but also -for half-shady places in quiet nooks where the garden joins woodland, in -the case of those fortunate gardens that have such a desirable -frontier-land; the sort of place where the instinct of the best kind of -gardener will prompt him to plant, or rather to sow, the white Foxglove, -and to plant the white French Willow (<i>Epilobium</i>).</p> - -<p>Nothing is more commonly seen in gardens than wide-spread neglected -patches of <i>Campanula grandis</i>. The picture shows it better grown. It -spreads quickly and in many gardens flowers only sparingly, because the -tufts should have been oftener divided. It is perhaps the most commonly -grown of all, and though, as the picture shows, it can be more worthily -used than is ordinarily done, it is by no means so pretty a plant as -others of its family.</p> - -<p>In good soils in our southern counties the tall and beautiful Chimney -Campanula (<i>C. pyramidalis</i>), commonly grown in pots for the -conservatory, should be largely used in the borders; it also loves a -place in a wall joint. It is a plant that we are so used to see in a pot -that we are apt to forget its great merit in the open ground.</p> - -<p>Of the smaller Bell-flowers, <i>C. carpatica</i>, both blue and white, is one -of the very best of garden plants; delightful from the moment when the -first tuft of leaves comes out of the ground in spring till its full -blooming time in middle summer. No plant is better for the front edge<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32">{32}</a></span> -of a border, especially where the edge is of stone; though it is just -tall enough to show up well over a stout box-edging.</p> - -<p>The biennial Canterbury Bells are well known and in every garden. Their -only disadvantage is that they flower in the early summer and then have -to be cleared away, leaving gaps that may be difficult to fill. The -careful gardener, foreseeing this, arranges so that their near -neighbours in the border shall be such as can be led or trained over to -take their places. It should not be forgotten that the Canterbury Bell -is an admirable rock or wall plant, where the size of a rock-wall admits -of anything so large. The wild plant from which it came has its home in -rocky clefts in Southern Italy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33">{33}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="ROCKINGHAM" id="ROCKINGHAM"></a>ROCKINGHAM</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> large gardens where ample space permits, and even in those of narrow -limits, nothing is more desirable than that there should be some places, -or one at least, of quiet greenery alone, without any flowers whatever. -In no other way can the brilliancy of flowers be so keenly enjoyed as by -pacing for a time in some cool green alley and then passing on to the -flowery places. It is partly the unconscious working out of an optical -law, the explanation of which in every-day language is that the eye, -being, as it were, saturated with the green colour, is the more ready to -receive the others, especially the reds.</p> - -<p>Even in quite a small garden it is often possible to arrange something -of the sort. In the case of a place that has just one double -flower-border and a seat or arbour at the end, it would be easy to do by -stopping the borders some ten feet away from the seat with hedges of yew -or hornbeam, and putting other seats to right and left; the whole space -being turfed.</p> - -<p>The seat was put at the end in order to give the whole view of the -border while resting; but, after walking leisurely along the flowers and -surveying their effect from all points, a few minutes’ rest on one of -the screened side seats would give repose to the eye and brain as well -as to the whole body, and afford a much better preparation for a further -enjoyment of the flowers.</p> - -<p>It was probably some such consideration that influenced the designers of -the many old gardens of England, where yew, the grand walling tree, was -so freely used. The first and obvious use was as a protection from wind -and a screen for privacy, then as a beautiful background, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34">{34}</a></span> lastly -perhaps for resting and refreshing the eye, and giving it renewed -appetite between its feasts of brilliant colouring and complex design. -These green yew-bordered alleys occur without end in the old gardens. -They were not always bowling-greens, though now often so called, but -rather secluded ambulatories; places either for solitary meditation and -refreshment of mind, or where friends would meet in pleasant converse, -or statesmen hold their discourse on weightier matters. Such a place of -cool green retreat is this straight alley of ancient yews. Almost better -it might have been if the path were green and grassy too—Nature herself -seems to have thought so, for she greens the gravel with mossy growths. -Perhaps this mossiness afflicts the gardener’s heart—let him take -comfort in knowing how much it consoles the artist. Though a garden is -for the most part the better for being kept trim, there are exceptional -cases such as this, where to a certain degree it is well to let natural -influences have their way. It is a matter respecting which it is -difficult to lay down a law; it is just one for nice judgment. Had the -path been freshly scratched up and rolled, and the verges trimmed to a -perfectly true line, it would not have commended itself to the artist as -a subject for a picture, but, as it is, it is just right. The mossy path -is in true relation for colour to the trees and grassy edges, and the -degree of infraction of the canons of orderliness stops short of an -appearance of actual neglect.</p> - -<p>Among the interesting features of the grounds at Rockingham is a -rose-garden, circular in form, bounded and protected by a yew hedge. -Four archways at equal points, cut in the hedge, with straight paths, -lead to a concentric path within which is a large round bed, with poles -and swinging garlands of free-growing Roses. The outer quarters have -smaller beds, some concentric, some parallel with the straight paths. -The space is large enough to give ample light and air to the Roses, -while the yew hedge affords that comforting shelter from boisterous -winds that all good Roses love.</p> - -<p>Close to the house a flight of steps leads to a flower garden on the -higher level. A sundial on steps stands in the midmost space, with beds -and clumps of bright flowers around. There is other good gardening at -Rockingham, and a curious “mount”; not of the usual circular</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_015" style="width: 498px;"> -<a href="images/ill_015.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_015.jpg" width="498" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE YEW ALLEY, ROCKINGHAM</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Willmott</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35">{35}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">shape, but in straight terraces. But it is these grand old hedges of yew -that seem to cling most closely to the fabric and sentiment of the -ancient building—half house, half castle, whose windows have looked -upon them for hundreds of years, and whose inmates have ever paced -within their venerable shade.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36">{36}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BRYMPTON" id="BRYMPTON"></a>BRYMPTON</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Brympton d’Evercy</span> in Somersetshire—not far from Montacute, the -residence of the Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane—is a house of mixed -architectural character of great interest. A large portion of the -earlier Tudor building now shows as the western (entrance) front, while, -facing southward, is the handsome façade of classical design, said to be -the work of Inigo Jones, but more probably that of a later pupil. The -balustraded wall flanking the entrance gates—the subject of the -picture—appears to be of the time of this important addition, for it is -better in design than the balustrade of the terrace, which was built in -the nineteenth century.</p> - -<p>But the terrace is of fine effect, with the great flight of steps midway -in its length that lead down to a wide unspoilt lawn. This again passes -to the fish-pond, then to parkland with undulating country beyond.</p> - -<p>The treatment of the ground is admirable. Fifty years ago the lawn would -probably have been cut up into flower-beds, a frivolity forbidden by the -dignified front.</p> - -<p>Gardening is always difficult, often best let alone, in many such cases. -When the architecture, especially architecture of the classical type, is -good and pure, it admits of no intrusion of other forms upon its -surfaces. It is complete in itself, and the gardener’s additions become -meddling encroachments. When any planting is allowable against houses of -this type—as in cases where they are less pure in style and have larger -wall-spaces—it should be of something of bold leafage, or large aspect -of one simple character; the strong-growing <i>Magnolia grandiflora</i> as an -upright example, and <i>Wistaria</i> as one of horizontal</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_016" style="width: 485px;"> -<a href="images/ill_016.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_016.jpg" width="485" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE GATEWAY, BRYMPTON</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Edwin Clephan</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37">{37}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">growth. There is some planting between the lower windows at Brympton, -but it is doubtful whether it would not have been better omitted. It is -a place more suitable (if on this front any gardening is desirable) for -the standing of Bays or some such trees, in tubs or boxes on the -terrace.</p> - -<p>There is sometimes a flower-border at the base of such a house; where -this occurs it is a common thing to see it left bare in winter and in -the early year dotted with bulbous plants and spring flowers; to be -followed in summer with bedding-plants. No such things look well or at -all in place directly against a building. The transition from the -permanent structure to the transient vegetation is too abrupt. At least -the planting should be of something more enduring and of a shrubby -character, and mostly evergreen. Such plants as <i>Berberis Aquifolium</i>, -Savin, Rosemary and Laurustinus would seem to be the most suitable, with -the large, persistent foliage of the Megaseas as undergrowth, Pyrus -japonica for early bloom, and perhaps some China Roses among the -Rosemary.</p> - -<p>But happily this house has been treated as to its environment with the -wisest restraint. No showy or pretentious gardening intrudes itself upon -the great charm of the place, which is that of quiet seclusion in a -beautiful but little-known part of the county. The place lies among -fields—just the House, the Church and the Rectory. There is no village -or public road. The house is approached by a long green forecourt -inclosed by walls. Between this and the kitchen garden is the quiet, -low, stone-roofed church, in a churchyard that occupies such another -parallelogram as the forecourt. The pathway to the church passes across -the forecourt into the restful churchyard with its moss-grown tombs and -bushes of old-fashioned Roses, and the grassy mounds that mark the last -resting-place of generations of long-forgotten country folk.</p> - -<p>The church has a bell-cote built upon the gable of its western wall of -remarkable and very happy form, stone-roofed like the rest. Among the -graves stands the base—three circular steps and a square plinth—of -what was once an ancient stone cross. The church seems to lie within the -intimate protection of the house, adding by its presence to the general -impression of repose and peaceful dignity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38">{38}</a></span></p> - -<p>The picture shows the walled and balustraded entrance, probably -contemporary with the classical façade, wrought of the local Ham Hill -stone; a capital freestone for the working of architectural enrichment. -It is of a warm yellowish-brown colour; but grey and yellow lichens and -brown mosses have painted the surface after their own wayward but always -beautiful manner. A light cloud of <i>Clematis Flammula</i> peeps over the -bushes through the balusters. Stonework so good as this can just bear -such a degree of clothing with graceful flowery growth; no doubt it is -watched and not allowed to hide too much with an excess of overgrowth. -Where garden architecture is beautiful in proportion and detail it is -not treating it fairly to smother it with vegetation. How many beautiful -old buildings are buried in Ivy or desecrated by the unchecked invasion -of Veitch’s Virginia Creeper!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39">{39}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BALCASKIE" id="BALCASKIE"></a>BALCASKIE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Equidistant</span> from Pittenweem and St. Monan’s, in Fifeshire, and a mile -from the sea, stands Balcaskie, the beautiful home of Sir Ralph -Anstruther.</p> - -<p>The park is entered from the north by a fine gateway with stone piers -bearing “jewelled” balls, dating from the later middle of the -seventeenth century. The entrance road is joined by two others from east -and west, all passing through a park of delightful character. The road -leads straight through a grassy forecourt walled on the three outer -sides by yew hedges, and reaches the door by a gravelled half-circle -formed by the projection on either side, of the curved walls of the -offices and stables. The house, of the middle seventeenth century, -though just too late to have been built as a fortress, retains much of -the character of the older Scottish castles, but adds to it the -increased comfort and commodiousness of its own time. There have been -considerable later additions and alterations, but much of the old still -remains, including some rooms with very interesting ceilings.</p> - -<p>The main entrance on the north leads straight through to a door to the -garden on the south. The garden occupies a space equal to about five -times the length of the house-front. The ground falls steeply, something -like fifty feet in all, and is boldly terraced into three levels. -Looking southward from the door and across the garden, the eye passes -down a great vista between trees in the park to the Firth of Forth, and -across it to the Bass Rock, some twelve miles away and near the further -shore.</p> - -<p>The upper garden level, reached from the house by a double flight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40">{40}</a></span> -descending steps, has a broad walk running the whole length, with an -excellently modelled lead statue at each end; to the west an Apollo, a -singularly graceful figure, and to the east a female statue, possibly a -Diana. The space in front of the house is divided into three portions; -the two outer compartments having hedges of yew from four to five feet -high. One of these incloses a bowling-green, the other a lawn with some -beds. The middle turfed space has a sundial and beds of flowers. Here is -also the remaining one of what was formerly a pair of fine cedars, -placed symmetrically to right and left. Adjoining the house and next to -the end of the broad walk where stands the Apollo, is the rose-garden, -which, with this graceful statue, forms the subject of the picture. The -rose-garden is of beds cut in the grass, containing not Roses only but -also other bright garden flowers. A female statue of more modern work -stands in the centre.</p> - -<p>The great terrace wall, eighteen feet high, that forms the retaining -wall of the upper portion of the garden, rises towards both ends to its -full height as a wall, but the middle space is lightened by being -treated with a handsome balustrade. At the extreme ends flights of steps -lead down to the next, the middle level. The first long flight reaches a -wide stone landing, the lower, shorter flight turning inwards at a right -angle. Great buttresses, projecting forward eight feet at the -ground-line, add much to the dignity and beauty of the wall. They are -roofed with stone, and each one carries the bust of a Roman emperor. -From the steps on each side come broad gravelled walks, leading by one -step down to a slightly sunk rectangular lawn, which occupies the middle -space. On each side of the paths are groups of flower-beds on a long -axial line that is parallel with the wall. They have a broad turf verge -and a nearly equal space of gravel next to their box-edges. Piers and -other important points have stone balls or flower-vases. Stone seats -stand upon the landings above the lowest flights or steps, against the -walls which bound the garden to right and left. Beyond these boundaries -are tall trees, their protecting masses giving exactly that comforting -screen that the eye and mind desire, and forming the best possible -background to the structure and garnishing of the beautiful garden.</p> - -<p>It is one of the best and most satisfying gardens in the British Isles;</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_017" style="width: 491px;"> -<a href="images/ill_017.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_017.jpg" width="491" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE APOLLO, BALCASKIE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Bompas</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41">{41}</a></span></p> - -<p>Italian in feeling, and yet happily wedding with the Scottish mansion of -two and a half centuries ago, and forming, with the house and park-land, -one of the most perfect examples of a country gentleman’s place. All of -it is pleasant and beautiful, home-like and humanly sympathetic; the -size is moderate—there is nothing oppressively grand.</p> - -<p>More than once already in these pages attention has been drawn to the -danger of letting good stone-work become overgrown with rank creepers. -At Balcaskie this is evidently carefully regulated. The wall-spaces -between the great buttresses, and the buttresses themselves, are -sufficiently clothed but never smothered with the wall-loving and -climbing plants. The right relation of masonry and vegetation is -carefully observed; each graces and dignifies the other; the balance is -perfect.</p> - -<p>The lowest level is given to the kitchen garden. It is not put out of -the way, but forms part of the whole scheme. It is reached by a single -flight of handsome balustraded stone steps.</p> - -<p>Balcaskie occurs as a place-name early in the thirteenth century. From -1350 to 1615 it was owned by a family named Strang, afterwards by the -Moncrieffs, till 1665. It is not known whether any portion of the -present house and garden belonged to these earlier dates, but it is -probable that the designer of both was Sir William Bruce, one of the -best architects of the time of Charles II., and an owner of Balcaskie -for twenty years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42">{42}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CRATHES_CASTLE" id="CRATHES_CASTLE"></a>CRATHES CASTLE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Crathes Castle</span> in Kincardineshire presents one of the finest examples of -Scottish architecture of the sixteenth century. It is the seat of Sir -Robert Burnett of Leys, the eleventh baronet and descendant of the -founder.</p> - -<p>Profoundly impressive are these great northern buildings, rising -straight and tall out of the very earth. As to their lower walls, they -are grim, forbidding, almost fiercely repellent. There is an aspect of -something like ruthless cruelty in the very way they come out of the -ground, without base or plinth or any such amenity—built in the old -barbarous days of frequent raiding and fighting, and constant need of -protection from marauders; when a man’s house must needs be a strong -place of defence.</p> - -<p>This is the first impression. But the eye travelling upward sees the -frowning wall blossom out above into what has the semblance of a fairy -palace. It is like a straight, tall, rough-barked tree crowned with -fairest bloom and tenderest foliage. Turrets both round and square, as -if in obedience to the commanding wave of a magician’s wand, spring out -of the angles of the building and hang with marvellous grace of poise -over the abyss. There seems to be no actual plan, and yet there is -perfect harmony; the whole beautiful mass appears as if it had come into -being in some one far-away, wonderful, magical night! It is a sight full -of glamour and romantic impression—grim fortalice below, ethereal -fantasy aloft. Rough and rugged is the rock-like wall, standing dark and -dim in the evening gloom; intangible, opalescent are the mystic forms -above, in the tender warmth of the afterglow; cloud-coloured, faintly -rosy, with shadows pearly-blue.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_018" style="width: 460px;"> -<a href="images/ill_018.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_018.jpg" width="460" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE YEW WALK, CRATHES</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Charles P. Rowley</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43">{43}</a></span></p> - -<p>Direct descendants of the old Norman keep, these Scottish castles, for -the most part, retain the four-sided tower, as to the main portion of -the structure. The walls need no buttresses, for they are of immense -thickness, and the vaulted masonry, usually of the simple barrel form, -that carries the floors of, at any rate, the lower stories, ties the -whole structure together. The angle turrets carried on bold corbels that -are so conspicuous a feature of these northern castles, broke away from -the Norman forms and became a distinct character of the Scottish work. -They were a helpful addition to the means of defence, and, as long as -they were built for use, added much to the beauty and dignity of the -structure. The only detail that shows a tendency to debasement in -Crathes is the quantity of useless cannon-shaped gargoyles, put for -ornament only, in places where they could not possibly do their -legitimate work of carrying off rain-water from the roof.</p> - -<p>There could have been no pleasure garden in the old days; but now these -ancient strongholds, mellowed by the centuries, seem grateful for the -added beauty of good gardening. The grand yew hedges may be of the -seventeenth century. They stand up solid and massive for ten feet or -more, with roof-shaped tops, and then rise again at intervals into great -blocks, bearing ornaments like circular steps crowned with a ball. The -ornament is simpler, a low block and ball only, in the first picture, -where they accentuate the arches that lead right and left into the two -divisions of the flower garden. This plainer form is perhaps more -suitable to this grand old place than the more elaborate, just because -it is simpler and more dignified.</p> - -<p>The flower garden, as it is to-day, is quite modern. The finest of the -hardy flowers are well grown in bold groups. Luxuriant are the masses of -Phlox and tall Pyrethrum, of towering Rudbeckia, of Bocconia, now in -seed-pod but scarcely less handsome than when in bloom; of the bold -yellow Tansy and Japan Anemones; all telling, by their size and vigour, -of a strong loamy soil.</p> - -<p>Many are the arches of cluster and other climbing Roses; at one point in -the kitchen garden coming near enough together to make a tunnel-like -effect.</p> - -<p>Wonderful is the colouring and diversity of texture!—the bright<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44">{44}</a></span> -flowers, the rich, dark velvet of the half-distant yews, the -weather-worn granite and rough-cast of the great building.</p> - -<p>If the flowers in the second and third pictures were in our southern -counties the time would be the end of August or at latest the middle of -September, but the seasons of the flowers in Scotland are much later, -and these would be October borders.</p> - -<p>The Castle stands upon a wide, level, grassy terrace, which is stopped -on the north-eastern side by the parapet of a retaining wall, broken by -a flight of steps down to the path that is bounded by the two hedges of -ancient yews shown in the first picture. These hedges divide the flower -garden into two equal parts on the lower level, for, from where the -Castle stands, the ground falls to the south and east. On each side of -the steps, just beneath the terrace wall, is a flower border. -Immediately on entering the double wall of yew there is an opening to -right and left—an arch cut in the living green—giving access to the -two square gardens, in both of which a path passes all round next the -yews. There is also a flower border on two sides. The middle space is -grass with flower beds; in the left-hand garden (coming from the Castle) -are bold masses of herbaceous plants in beds grouped round a fountain; -in the one on the right, for the most part, Roses and Lilies.</p> - -<p>To the south-east, and occupying the space next beyond the rose garden -and the end of the lawn adjoining the Castle, is the kitchen garden. The -main walks have flower borders. Where the two cross paths intersect is a -Mulberry tree with an encircling seat. The subjects of the second and -third pictures are within the kitchen garden.</p> - -<p>Many are the beautiful points of view from the kitchen garden, for there -the grand yew hedges show beyond the flowers; then, towering aloft, -comes the fairy castle, and then fine trees; for trees are all around, -closely approaching the garden’s boundaries.</p> - -<p> <br />  </p> - -<p>The brilliancy of colour masses in these Scottish gardens is something -remarkable. Whether it is attributable to soil or climate one cannot -say; possibly the greater length of day, and therefore of daily -sunshine, of these northern summers, may account for it. Of the great -number of people who go North for the usual autumn shooting, those</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_019" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_019.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_019.jpg" width="600" height="399" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>CRATHES</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. George C. Bompas</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45">{45}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">who love the summer flowers find their season doubled, for the kinds -they have left waning in the South are not yet in bloom in the more -northern latitude. The flowers of our July gardens, Delphiniums, -Achilleas, Coreopsis, Eryngiums, Geums, Lupines, Scarlet Lychnis, -Bergamot, early Phloxes, and many others, and the hosts of spring-sown -annuals, are just in beauty. Sweet Peas are of astounding size and -vigour. Strawberries are not yet over, and early Peas are coming in. The -Gooseberry season, that had begun in the earliest days of August with -the Early Sulphurs and had been about ten days in progress in the -Southern English gardens, is for a time interrupted, but resumes its -course in September in the North, where this much-neglected fruit comes -to unusual excellence. It is a hardy thing, and appears to thrive better -north of the Border than elsewhere.</p> - -<p>It is one of the wholesomest of fruits; its better sorts of truly -delicious flavour. It is a pleasure, to one who knows its merits, to -extol them. It is essentially a fruit for one who loves a garden, -because, for some reason difficult to define, it is less enjoyable when -brought to table in a dessert dish. It should be sought for in the -garden ground and eaten direct from the bush. Perhaps many people are -deterred by its spiny armature, and it is certain that, when, as is too -often the case, the bushes are in crowded rows and have been allowed to -grow to a large size, the berries are difficult to get at.</p> - -<p>But the true amateur of this capital autumn fruit has them in espalier -form, in a few short rows, with ample space—about six feet—between -each row.</p> - -<p>The plants may be had ready trained in espalier shape, but it is almost -as easy to train them from the usual bush form. The vigorous young -growth that will spring out every year is cut away at the sides in -middle summer; just a shoot or two of young wood being left, when the -bushes have grown to a fair size, to train in, to take the place of -older wood. The plants being restricted to the fewer branches that form -the flat espalier, more strength is thrown into the ones that remain, so -that the berries become larger; and, as plenty of light and sun can get -to the fruits, even the best kinds are sweeter and better flavoured than -when they are allowed to grow in dense bushes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46">{46}</a></span></p> - -<p>Then when the kinds are ripe how pleasant it is to take a low seat and -sit at ease before each good sort in succession! The best and ripest -fruits can be seen at a glance and picked without trouble, in pleasant -contrast to the painful, prickly groping that goes on among the crowded -bushes. No one would ever regret planting such excellent sorts as Red -Champagne, Amber Yellow, Cheshire Lass, Jolly Painter, a large, -well-flavoured and little-known berry, and Red Warrington, a trusty late -kind. To these should be added two admirable Gooseberries lately brought -out by Messrs. Veitch, namely, Langley Green and Langley Gage, both fine -fruits of delicious flavour.</p> - -<p>If such a little special fruit space were planted in these large -Scottish gardens, and the merits of the kinds became known, the daily -invitation of the hostess, “Let us go to the gooseberry garden,” would -be gladly welcomed, and guests would also find themselves, at various -times of day, sauntering towards the gooseberry plot.</p> - -<p>How grandly the scarlet Tropæolum (<i>T. speciosum</i>) grows in these -northern gardens is well known; indeed, in many places it has become -almost a pest. It is much more difficult to grow in the South, where it -is often a failure; in any case, it insists on a northern or eastern -exposure. Where it does best in gardens in the English counties is in -deep, cool soil, thoroughly enriched. When well established, the running -roots ramble in all directions, fresh growths appearing many feet away -from the place where it was originally planted. It looks perhaps best -when running up the face of a yew hedge, when the bright scarlet bloom, -and leaves of clear-cut shape, are seen to great advantage, and many of -the free growths of the plant take the form of hanging garlands.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_020" style="width: 477px;"> -<a href="images/ill_020.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_020.jpg" width="477" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>CRATHES: PHLOX</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Croft</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47">{47}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="KELLIE_CASTLE" id="KELLIE_CASTLE"></a>KELLIE CASTLE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Kellie Castle</span> in Fifeshire, very near Balcaskie, is another house of the -finest type of old Scottish architecture. The basement is vaulted in -solid masonry, the ground-floor rooms have a height of fourteen feet; -the old hall, now the drawing-room, is nearly fifty feet long. A row of -handsome stone dormers to an upper floor, light a set of bedrooms, -which, as well as the main rooms below, have coved plaster ceilings of -great beauty.</p> - -<p>There is no certain record of the date of the oldest part of the castle. -It is assigned to the fourteenth century, but may be older. The earliest -actual date found upon the building is 1573, and it is considered that -the mass of the castle, as we see it now, was completed by that date, -though another portion bears the date 1606. It belonged of old to the -Oliphants, a family that held it for two and a half centuries, when it -passed by sale to an Erskine, who, early in the seventeenth century, -became Earl of Kellie. In 1797, after the death of the seventh Earl, it -was abandoned by the family and soon showed signs of deterioration from -disuse. About thirty years later the Earldom of Kellie descended to the -Earl of Mar, and the family seat being elsewhere, Kellie was allowed to -go to ruin.</p> - -<p>In 1878 the ruined place was taken, to its salvation, on a long lease by -Mr. James Lorimer, whose widow is the present occupier. It has undergone -the most careful and reverent reparation. The broken roofs have been -made whole, the walls are again hung with tapestries, and the rooms -furnished with what might have been the original appointments.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48">{48}</a></span></p> - -<p>The castle stands at one corner of the old walled kitchen garden, a door -in the north front opening directly into it. The garden has no -architectural features. There are walks with high box edgings and -quantities of simple flowers. Everywhere is the delightful feeling that -there is about such a place when it is treated with such knowledge and -sympathy as have gone to the re-making of Kellie as a delightful human -habitation. For two sons of the house are artists of the finest -faculty—painter and architect—and they have done for this grand old -place what boundless wealth, in less able hands, could not have -accomplished.</p> - -<p>Close to the house on its western side is a little glen, and in it a -rookery. When strong winds blow in early spring the nests in the swaying -tree-tops come almost within hand reach of the turret windows of the -north-west tower.</p> - -<p>How the flowers grow in these northern gardens! Here they must needs -grow tall to be in scale with the high box edging. But Shirley Poppies, -when they are autumn sown, will rise to four feet, and the grand new -strains of tall Snapdragons will go five and even over six feet in -height.</p> - -<p>As the picture shows, this is just the garden for the larger -plants—single Hollyhocks in big free groups, and double Hollyhocks too, -if one can be sure of getting a good strain. For this is just the -difficulty. The strains admired by the old-fashioned florist, with the -individual flowers tight and round, are certainly not the best in the -garden. The beautiful double garden Hollyhock has a wide outer frill -like the corolla of the single flowers in the picture. Then the middle -part, where the doubling comes, should not be too double. The waved and -crumpled inner petals should be loosely enough arranged for the light to -get in and play about, so that in some of them it is reflected, and in -some transmitted. It is only in such flowers that one can see how rich -and bright it can be in the reds and roses, or how subtle and tender in -the whites and sulphurs and pale pinks. Other flowers beautiful in such -gardens are the taller growing of the Columbines, the feathery -herbaceous Spiræas, such as <i>S. Aruncus</i>, that displays its handsome -leaves, and waves its creamy plumes, on the banks of Alpine torrents, -and its brethren the lovely pale pink <i>venusta</i>, the bright rosy -<i>palmata</i> and the cream-white <i>Ulmaria</i>, the</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_021" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_021.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_021.jpg" width="600" height="420" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>KELLIE CASTLE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Arthur H. Longman</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49">{49}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">garden form of the wild Meadow-sweet of our damp meadow-ditches. Then -the tall Bocconia, with its important bluish leaves and feathery -flower-beads, which shows in the picture in brownish seed-pod; and the -Thalictrums, pale yellow and purple, and Canterbury Bells, and Lilies -yellow and white, and the tall broad-leaved Bell-flowers.</p> - -<p>All these should be in these good gardens, besides the many kinds of -Scotch Briers, and big bushes of the old, almost forgotten garden Roses -of a hundred years ago, many of which are no longer to be found, except -now and then in these old gardens of Scotland. For here some gardens -seem to have escaped that murderously overwhelming wave of fashion for -tender bedding plants alone, that wrought such havoc throughout England -during three decades of the last century.</p> - -<p>Here, too, are Roses trained in various pretty simple ways. Our garden -Roses come from so many different wild plants, from all over the -temperate world, that there is hardly an end to the number of ways in -which they can be used. Some of them, like the Scotch Briers, grow in -close bushy masses; some have an upright habit; some like to rush up -trees and over hedges; others again will trail along the ground and even -run downhill. Some are tender and must have a warm wall; some will -endure severe cold; some will flower all the summer; others at one -season only. So it is that we find in various gardens, Roses grown in -many different ways. In one as small bushes in beds, or budded on -standards, in another as the covering of a pergola, or as fountain -roses, throwing up many stems which arch over naturally. Some of the -oldest garden Roses, such as <i>The Garland</i>, <i>Dundee Rambler</i> and -<i>Bennett’s Seedling</i> are the best for this kind of use.</p> - -<p>The Himalayan <i>R. polyantha</i> will grow in this way into a huge bush, -sometimes as much from thirty to forty feet in diameter, and many of the -beautiful modern garden Roses that have <i>polyantha</i> for a near ancestor, -will do well in the same way, though none of them attain so great a -size. Roses grown like this take a form with, roughly speaking, a -semi-circular outline, like an inverted basin. If they are wanted to -take a shape higher in proportion they must be trained through or over -some simple framework. This is called balloon-training. Some roses are -grown in this fashion at Kellie, the framework being a central post from -which hoops<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50">{50}</a></span> are hung one above the other. The Rose grows up inside the -framework and hangs out all over. If this kind of training is to be on a -larger scale, long half-hoops have their ends fixed in the ground, and -pass across and across one another at a central point, where they are -fixed to a strong post, thus forming ten or twelve ribs. Horizontal -wires, like lines of latitude upon a globe, pass all round them at even -intervals. Then Roses can be trained to any kind of trellis, either a -plain one to make a wall of roses or a shaped one, whose form they will -be guided to follow. Then again, there may be rose arches, single, -double or grouped; or in a straight succession over a path; or alternate -arches and garlands, a pretty plan where paths intersect; the four -arches kept a little way back from the point of intersection, with -garlands connecting them diagonally in plan. Then there are Roses, some -of the same that serve for several of these kinds of free treatment, for -making bowers and arbours.</p> - -<p>And there are endless possibilities for the beautiful treatment of Rose -gardens, though seldom does one see them well done. There are many who -think that a Rose garden must admit no other flowers but Roses. This may -be desirable in some cases, but the present writer holds a more elastic -view. Beds and clumps of Roses where no other flower is allowed, often -look very bare at the edges, and might with advantage be under-planted -with Pinks and Carnations, Pansies, London Pride, or even annuals. And -any Lilies of white and pink colouring such as <i>candidum</i>, -<i>longiflorum</i>, <i>Brownii</i>, <i>Krameri</i>, or <i>rubellum</i> suit them well, also -many kinds of Clematis. The gardener may perhaps, object that the usual -cultivation of Roses, the winter mulch and subsequent digging in and the -frequent after-hoeing precludes the use of other plants; but all these -rules may be relaxed if the Rose garden is on a fairly good rose soil. -For the object is the showing of a space of garden ground made beautiful -by garden Roses—not merely the production of a limited number of blooms -of exhibition quality.</p> - -<p>The way the bushes of garden Roses grow and bloom in close companionship -with other strong-growing plants, at Kellie and in thousands of other -gardens, shows how amicably they live with their near neighbours; and -often by a happy accident, they tell us what plants will group -beautifully with them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51">{51}</a></span></p> - -<p>The Roses that are best kept out of the Rose garden, are those -delightful ones of the end of June; the Damasks, and the Provence, the -sweet old Cabbage Rose of English gardens. These, and the Scotch Briers -of earlier June, bloom for one short season only. Of late years the -possibilities of beautiful Rose gardening have been largely increased by -the raising of quantities of beautiful Roses of the Hybrid Tea class -that bloom throughout the summer, and that, with the coming of autumn, -seem only to gain renewed life and strength.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52">{52}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="HARDWICK" id="HARDWICK"></a>HARDWICK</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Hardwick Hall</span> in Derbyshire, one of the great houses of England, is, -with others of its approximate contemporaries of the later half of the -sixteenth century, such as Longleat, Wollaton, and Montacute, an example -of what was at the time of its erection an entirely new aspect of the -possibilities of domestic architecture.</p> - -<p>The country had settled down into a peaceful state. A house was no -longer a castle needing external defence. Hitherto the homes of England -had been either fortresses, or had needed the protection of moats and -walls. They had been poorly lighted; only the walls looking to an inner -court, or to a small walled garden could have fair-sized openings. No -spacious windows could look abroad upon open country, field or woodland. -But by this time such restriction was a thing of the past, and we see in -these great houses, and in Hardwick especially, immense window spaces in -the outer walls. The architects of the time, John Thorpe, the Smithsons -and others, ran riot with their great windows, as if revelling in their -exemption from the older bonds. The new freedom was so tempting that -they knew not how to restrain themselves, and it was only later, when it -was found that the amount of lighting was overmuch for convenience, that -the relation of degree of light to internal comfort came to be better -understood and more reasonably adjusted.</p> - -<p>The famous Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick), to whose -initiative this great house owes its origin, set an imperishable -memorial of her imperious arrogance upon the balustrading that crowns -the square tower-like projections at the angles and ends of the -building, where the</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_022" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_022.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_022.jpg" width="600" height="422" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE FORECOURT: HARDWICK</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Aston Webb</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53">{53}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">stone is wrought into lace-like fretwork of arabesque, whereof the chief -features are her coronet and the initials of her name.</p> - -<p>A spacious forecourt occupies the ground upon the western—the main -entrance front. It stretches the whole length of the house, and projects -as much forward; its outer sides being inclosed with a wall that bears -in constant succession an ornament of a <i>fleur-de-lys</i> with tall -pyramidal top, a detail imported direct from Italy, from the Renaissance -gardens of earlier date. Such an ornament occurs at the Villa d’Este at -Tivoli, crowning a retaining wall. The entrance to the inclosed -forecourt is by a handsome stone gateway. This gateway forms the -background of the picture, which shows one of the well-planted flower -borders that abound at Hardwick, and that strike that lightsome and -cheerful note of human care and delight that is so welcome in this place -whose scale is rather too large, and somewhat coldly forbidding, in -relation to the more ordinary aspects of daily comfort.</p> - -<p>Indeed—for all the good planting—the long wall-backed flower border -facing south, whose wall is in part of its length that of the house -itself, looks as if, in relation to the great building towering above -it—its occupants were still too small, although they include flowering -plants seven to nine feet high, such as Gyneriums and the larger -herbaceous Spiræas. A well-directed effort has evidently been made to -have the planting on a scale with the lordly building, but the items -want to be larger still and the grouping yet bolder, to overcome the -dwarfing effect of the towering structure. In such a place the -Magnolias, both evergreen and deciduous, would have a fine effect, -though possibly they would hardly thrive in the midland climate.</p> - -<p>Within the forecourt, along the wall parallel to the house and furthest -from it, this need is not so apparent. In the subject of the picture, -the Honeysuckle, the magnificently grown purple Clematis upon the wall, -the Mulleins, Bocconia and Japan Anemones, are in due proportion; the -Tufted Pansies and Mignonette bringing their taller brethren happily -down to the grassy verge. Approaching the pathway from the right, -stretch some of the long loose growths of one of the two large Cedars -that are such prominent objects in the forecourt garden.</p> - -<p>The main open spaces of this garden repeat in flower beds on grass<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54">{54}</a></span> the -big E.S. of the self-asserting founder. It is not pretty gardening nor -particularly dignified. No doubt it is only a modern acquiescence in the -dominating tradition of the place. Even making allowance for, and -retaining this sentiment, a better design might have been made, -embodying these already too-often-repeated letters. Moreover, the -servile copying of the lettering in its stone form only serves to -illustrate the futility of reproducing a form of ornament designed for -one material in another of totally different nature.</p> - -<p>There is some excellent gardening in a long flower-border outside the -forecourt wall. Here the size of the house is no longer oppressive, and -it comes into proper scale a little way beyond the point where the broad -green ways, bounded by noble hedges of ancient yews, swing into a wide -circle as they cross, and show the bold niches cut in the rich green -foliage where leaden statues are so effectively placed.</p> - -<p>By the kindness of the owner, the Duke of Devonshire, Hardwick Hall, -illustrating as it does a distinct form of architectural expression with -much of historical interest, is open to the public.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55">{55}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="MONTACUTE" id="MONTACUTE"></a>MONTACUTE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Montacute</span> in Somersetshire, built towards the end of the sixteenth -century by Sir Edward Phelips, is another of that surprising number of -important houses built on a symmetrical plan that arose during the reign -of Queen Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>As the house was then, so we see it now; unaltered, and only mellowed by -time. The gardens, too, are of the original design, including a -considerable amount of architectural stonework.</p> - -<p>The large entrance forecourt is inclosed by a high balustraded wall, -with important and finely-designed garden houses on its outer angles. -The length of the side walls is broken midway on each side by a small -circular pillared pavilion with a boldly projecting entablature, crowned -with an openwork canopy and a topmost ornament of two opposite and -joining rings of stone.</p> - -<p>The piers of the balustrade are surmounted by stone obelisks, and the -large paved landing, forming a shallow court at the top of the flight of -steps a hundred feet wide, that gives access to the house on this side -has tall pillars that now carry lamps, though they appear to have been -designed merely as a stately form of ornament.</p> - -<p>The forecourt has a wide expanse of gravel with a large fountain basin -in the middle. Next the wall there are flower-borders; then the wide -gravelled path, and, following this, a broad strip of turf with Irish -yews at regular intervals. The general severity of the planning is -pleasantly relieved by the bright flower-border, the subject of the -picture. To right and left are openings in the wall leading to other -garden spaces. The one of these to the left, just behind the spectator -as in the picture,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56">{56}</a></span> leads by an upward flight of steps to one side of a -wide terrace walk, that encompasses on all four sides a large sunk -garden of formal design. This garden runs the whole length of the -forecourt and depth of the house, and has a width equal to some -two-thirds of its length. A large middle fountain-basin, with shaped -outline of angles and segments of circles, has a balustraded kerb with a -stone obelisk on every pier. In the centre is a handsome tazza in which -the water plays. Wide paths lead down flights of balustraded steps from -all four sides to the gravelled area within which the fountain stands. -The spaces between, and the banks rising to the level of the upper -terraces, are of turf. Rows of Irish yews stand ranged on both levels. -It is all extremely correct, stately—dare one say a trifle dull? -Opposite the forecourt the garden is bounded by a good yew hedge -protecting it from wind from the valley below. Midway in the length is -an opening where a low wall and seats give a welcome outlook. The same -yew hedge returns eastward to the south-east angle of the house; the -garden’s opposite boundary being a low wall with a sunk fence outside, -giving a view into the park.</p> - -<p>There is an entrance from the garden to the house on its southern side -by a flight of balustraded steps, and niches with seats are on either -side of the door.</p> - -<p>Wonderful are these great stone houses of the early English -Renaissance—wonderful in their bold grasp and sudden assertion of the -new possibilities of domestic architecture! For it may be repeated that -it was only of late that a man’s house had ceased to be a place of -defence, and that he might venture to have windows looking abroad all -round, and yet feel perfectly safe without even an inclosing moat.</p> - -<p>In the present day it is somewhat difficult to account for the -designer’s attitude of mind when deciding on such a lavish employment of -the obelisk-shaped finials. One can only regard it as the outcome of the -taste or fashion of the day, when he borrowed straight from the Italians -everything except their marvellous discernment. One accepts the many -obelisks at Montacute as showing the reflection of Italian influence on -the Tudor mind; to-day and new, they would be inadmissible. The modern -mind, with the vast quantity of material at hand, and the easy access to -all that has been said and done on the subject, should</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_023" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_023.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_023.jpg" width="600" height="421" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>MONTACUTE: SUNFLOWERS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. E. C. Austen Leigh</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57">{57}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">accept nothing but the best and purest in this as in any other branch of -fine art.</p> - -<p>There is one other possible way of accounting for the prevalence of -these all-pervading obelisks. The name of the place is taken from a -conical wooded hill (<i>mons acutus</i>). The same play on a word, a -favourite fashion of Elizabethan times, and a custom in heraldry from a -remoter antiquity, is seen in the shield of the ancient Montacute -family, where the three sharp peaks denote that the surname had the same -origin. The connexion of this name with the acute peak or obelisk form -would therefore the more readily commend itself to the Elizabethan mind.</p> - -<p>The house has never gone into other hands, the present owner, Mr. W. R. -Phelips, being the descendant of the founder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58">{58}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="RAMSCLIFFE" id="RAMSCLIFFE"></a>RAMSCLIFFE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">It</span> would seem to be a law that the purest and truest human pleasure in a -garden is attained by means whose ratio is exactly inverse to the scale -or degree of the garden’s magnificence. The design, for instance, of a -Versailles impresses one with a sense of ostentatious consciousness of -magnitude; out of scale with living men and women; whose lives could -only be adapted to it, as we know they were, by an existence full of -artificial restraints and discomforts; the painful and arbitrarily -imposed conditions of a tyrannical and galling etiquette.</p> - -<p>So we think also of our greatest gardens, such as Chatsworth. It is -visited by a large number of people who go to see it as a large -expensive place to gape at, but surely not for the truest love of a -garden. So it is with many a large place; the size and grandeur of the -garden may suit the great house as a design; it may be imposing and -costly, it may be beautifully kept, and yet it may lack all the -qualities that are needed for simple pleasure and refreshment. It is not -till we come to some old garden of moderate size that has always been -cherished and has never been radically altered, that the true message of -the garden can be received and read; and it is from thence downward in -the scale of grandeur that we find those gardens that are the happiest -and best of all for true delight and close companionship; the simple -borders of hardy flowers, planted and tended with constant watchfulness -and loving care by the owner’s own hands.</p> - -<p>Such a garden is this of Mr. Elgood’s; in a midland county, and on a -strong soil that throws up good hardy plants in vigorous luxuriance. -Here grow the great Orange Lilies—the Herring Lilies of</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_024" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_024.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_024.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>RAMSCLIFFE: ORANGE LILIES & MONKSHOOD</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. C. E. Freeling</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59">{59}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">the Dutch, because they bloom at the time of the herring harvest—six -and seven feet high, and with them the Monkshood, with its tall spikes -of hooded bloom. In poorer soils or with worse culture these fine -flowers are of much lower growth, the Monkshood often only half the -height, with its deeply-cut leaves yellowing before their time with the -weakness of too-early maturity. The pleasure with which one sees this -fine old garden flower is, however, always a little lessened by the -knowledge of the dangerously poisonous nature of the whole plant, and -especially of the root. It is the deadly Aconite of pharmacy. Another of -the same family is grouped with it; the yellow Aconite of the Austrian -mountains, with branched heads of sulphur-coloured bloom and singularly -handsome leaves—large, dark green, glistening and persistently -enduring—for, long after the bloom is past, they are beautiful in the -border.</p> - -<p>How well an artist knows the value of grey-leaved plants, and their use -in pictorial gardening in the way of giving colour-value by close -companionship, to tender pinks and lilacs, and, above all, to whites! A -patch of white bloom is often too hard and sudden and inharmonious to -satisfy the trained eye, but led up to and softened and sweetened by -masses of neighbouring tender grey it takes its proper place and comes -to its right strength in the well-ordered scheme. Lavender, -Lavender-cotton (<i>Santolina</i>), Catmint, Pinks and Carnations, and the -Woolly Woundwort (<i>Stachys</i>) with some other plants of hoary foliage, do -this good work. In this garden the Woundwort, there known by its old -Midland name of “Our Saviour’s Blanket,” throws up its grey-pink heads -of bloom from a thick carpet of rather large leaves, silvery soft with -their thick coating of long white down. Here a groundwork of it leads to -the group of white Peach-leaved Bell-flower on the right and to the tall -white Gnaphalium, a plant of kindred woolliness, on the left, while the -precious grey quality runs through the left-hand flower-group by means -of the downy-coated pods of the earlier-blooming Lupins, purposely left -among the later flowers for this and for their handsome form.</p> - -<p>How finely the Orange Lilies tell against the background of the holly -hedge, at the path-end cut into an arbour, may well be seen in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60">{60}</a></span> the -picture, and how kindly and gracefully the Greengage Plum-tree bends -over and plays its appointed part.</p> - -<p>Such a flower border makes many a picture in the hands of a -garden-artist. His knowledge of the plants, their colours, seasons, -habits and stature, enables him to use them as he uses the colours on -his palette.</p> - -<p>How grandly the tall Delphiniums grow in this strong soil. A little of -the colour has been lost owing to technical difficulties of -reproduction, for the blue is purer and stronger in effect both in the -original picture and in nature than is here shown. They are grouped, as -blue flowers need, with contrasts of yellow and orange; with yellow -Daisies and the feathery Meadow-rue (<i>Thalictrum</i>), and the tall yellow -Aconite and nearly white Campanulas, woolly Stachys and purple -Bell-flowers beyond. Only one small patch of brighter colour, the -scarlet of Lychnis chalcedonica, is allowed here. On the other side is -the loose-growing and always pictorial white Mallow (<i>Sidalcea -candida</i>), taking some weeks to produce its crop of flowers that, like -Foxgloves and most of the flowers of the tall-spiked habit of growth, -begin to bloom below, following upward till they finish at the top.</p> - -<p>Some sort of garden knowledge is so generally professed in these days, -and so much more gardening of the better kind is being attempted, that -people are gradually learning the advantage of planting in good groups -of one thing at a time. The older way of putting one each of the same -plant at regular intervals along a border—like buttons on a -waistcoat—is now no longer tolerated, but a great deal has yet to be -learnt. Even planting in bold groups, however good the plants, will be -ineffective if not absolutely unfortunate, if relationships of colouring -are not understood. The safest plan is to plant in harmonies more or -less graduated as to the warm colours, such as full yellow with orange -and scarlet, and to plant blues with contrasts of yellows and any white -flowers. Then delightful effects may be obtained with masses of grey -foliage, such as Lavender, Lavender-cotton, and Stachys, and white Pink, -with flowers that have colourings of tender pink, white, lilac and -purple. To acquire a colour eye is an education in itself, founded on -the needful natural aptitude, a gift that is denied to some people even -if they are not actually colour-blind. But it is a precious possession -where it occurs, and all the better</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_025" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_025.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_025.jpg" width="600" height="423" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>RAMSCLIFFE: LARKSPUR</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Miss Kensit</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61">{61}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">when it has been so well trained that the eye is enabled to appreciate -the utmost refinements of colour-values, and when this education has -been carried to the point necessary for the artist, of justly estimating -the colour <i>as it appears to be</i>. This is the most difficult thing to -learn; to see colour as it is, is quite easy; any one not colour-blind -can do this; but to see it as it appears to be needs to be learnt, for -upon this acquired proficiency depends the power of the artist to -interpret the colours of objects and to represent them in their right -relation to each other.</p> - -<p>There is another good double flower-border in this pleasant garden. In -the sunny month of August the fine Summer Daisies (<i>Chrysanthemum -maximum</i>), Phloxes and Lavender are in beauty, and some bloom remains -upon the climbing Roses. The Box-edging, stout and strong, can withstand -the temporary encroachments of some of the border flowers, for in such a -garden, rule is relaxed whenever such latitude tends to beauty. Here and -there, where the little edging shrub showed signs of unusual vigour, it -has been allowed to grow up on the understanding that it shall submit to -the shears, which clip it into rounded ball-shapes of two sizes, one -upon another, like loaves of bread.</p> - -<p>A garden like this, of moderate size, and needing no troublesome -accessories of glasshouses, or even frames, and very little outside -labour, is probably the very happiest possession of its kind. As the -seasons succeed each other new pictures of flower beauty are revealed in -constant succession. After the day’s work in the best of the daylight is -over, its owner turns to it for pleasant labour or any such tending as -it may need. Every group of plants meets him with a friendly face, for -each one was planted by his own hands. His watchful eye observes where -anything is amiss and the needful aid is immediately given.</p> - -<p>In a great garden this vigilant personal care of plants as individuals -is impossible. However able a man the head gardener may be, or however -much he may love and wish to cherish the flowers under his care, his -duties and responsibilities are too many and too onerous to admit of his -being able to enjoy this intimate fellowship; but in the humbler garden -the close relationship of man and flowers, with all its beneficent and -salutary serviceableness to both, seems to be exactly adjusted.</p> - -<p>Such a garden it is that fulfils its highest purpose; that giving of -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62">{62}</a></span> pleasure—the rich reward of the loving toil and care that have -gone to its making; every plant or group in it doing its appointed work -in its due season—that giving of “sweet solace” according to the -well-fitting wording of our far-away ancestors.</p> - -<p>And when the day’s work is done, and the light just begins to fail, no -one knows better than the artist that then is the best moment in the -garden—when the colours acquire a wonderful richness of “subdued -splendour” such as is unmatched throughout the lighter hours of the long -summer day. Then it is that the flowers of delicate texture that have -grown faint in the full heat, raise their heads and rejoice; that the -tall evening Primrose opens its pale wide petals and gives off its faint -perfume; that the little lilac cross-flowers of the night-scented Stock -open out and show their modest prettiness and pour forth their -enchanting fragrance. This early evening hour is indeed the best of all; -the hour of loveliest sight, of sweetest scent, of best earthly rest and -fullest refreshment of body and spirit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_026" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_026.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_026.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>LEVENS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Major Longfield</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63">{63}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="LEVENS" id="LEVENS"></a>LEVENS</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">There</span> is perhaps no garden in England that has been so often described -or so much discussed as that at Levens in Westmorland, the home of -Captain Jocelyn Bagot.</p> - -<p>It was laid out near the beginning of the eighteenth century by a French -gardener named Beaumont. There is nothing about it of the French manner, -as we know it, for it is more in the Dutch style of the time, and has -become in appearance completely English; according perfectly with the -beautiful old house, and growing with it into a complete harmony of -mellow age, whose sentiment is one of perfect unison both within and -without.</p> - -<p>Forward of the house-front, in a space divided by intersecting paths -into six main compartments, is the garden. Flower-borders, box-edged on -both sides, form bordering ornaments all round these divisions. The -inner spaces are of turf. At the angles and at equal points along the -borders are strange figures cut in yew and box. Some are like turned -chessmen; some might be taken for adaptations of human figures, for one -can trace a hat-covered head—one of them wears a crown—shoulders and -arms and a spreading petticoat. Some of the yews, and these mostly in -the more open spaces of grass or walk, rise four-square as solid blocks, -with rounded roof and stemless mushroom finial. These have for the most -part arched recesses, forming arbours. One of the tallest, standing -clear on its little green, is differently shaped, being round in plan -above and the stems bared all round below, with an encircling seat.</p> - -<p>No doubt many of the yews have taken forms other than those that were -originally designed; the variety of shape would be otherwise too<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64">{64}</a></span> -daring; but these recklessly defiant escapes from rule only add to the -charm of the place, presenting a fresh surprise at every turn. The play -of light and variety of colour of the green surfaces of the clipped -evergreens is a delight to the trained colour-eye. Sometimes in shadow, -cold, almost blue, reflecting the sky, with a sunlit edge of surprising -brilliancy of golden-green—often all bright gold-green when the young -shoots are coming, or when the sunlight catches the surface in one of -its many wonderful ways. For the trees, clipped in so many diversities -of form, offer numberless planes and facets and angles to the light, -whose play upon them is infinitely varied. Then the beholder, passing on -and looking back, sees the whole thing coloured and lighted anew. This -quantity of Yew and Box clipped into an endless variety of fantastic -forms has often been criticised as childish. Would that all gardens were -childish in so happy a way! Is not the joy and perfectly innocent -delight that the true lover of flowers feels in a good garden in itself -akin to childishness, and is not a fine old English garden such as this, -with its numberless incidents that stir and gratify the imagination, and -its abundance of sweet and beautiful flowers, just the one that can give -that happiness in the greatest degree? Does not the oldest of our -legends, so closely bound up with our youngest apprehension of religious -teaching, tell us of the earliest of our race of whom we have any record -or even tradition, living happily in a garden in a state of childish -innocence? Why should a garden not be childish?—perhaps when it truly -deserves such a term it is the highest praise it could possibly have!</p> - -<p>However this may be the fact remains that those who own this garden of -many wonders, and watch and tend it with unceasing love and reverence, -and others who have had the happiness of working in it for many days -together, find it a place that never wearies, but only continues day by -day to disclose new beauties and new delights. Doubtless it is a garden -that cannot be fairly judged from a hasty glance or a few hours’ visit. -Like many of the places and things that we call inanimate—though to one -who knows and loves a garden nothing is more vitally living—such a -place has its moods and can frown upon an unsympathetic beholder.</p> - -<p>The garden is filled with many Roses and well-grown hardy plants;</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_027" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_027.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_027.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>LEVENS: ROSES AND PINKS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mrs. Archibald Parker</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65">{65}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">those especially of tall stature making a fine effect. The Rose garden -has White Pinks in its outer beds. Immediately beyond the garden’s -bounds is wild ground of a beautiful character. The river Kent, a -rock-strewn stream with steep wooded banks, flows within fifty yards of -the house. The contrast is a great and a delightful one. Wild parkland -and untamed river without; and within the walls ordered restraint; then -again, the quiet of the wide bowling-green, with its dark clipped -hedges, and beyond it a long, tree-shaded walk.</p> - -<p>Precious, indeed, are the few remaining gardens that have anything of -the character of this wonderful one of Levens; gardens that above all -others show somewhat of the actual feeling and temperament of our -ancestors. They show personal discrimination combining happily with -common-sense needs; walls and masses of yew and box to make shelter from -the violence of wind, and yet to admit the welcome sunlight; so to -provide the best conditions in the inner spaces for the growing of -lovely flowers. Then the shaping of some of the yews into strange forms, -shows perhaps the whimsical humour of some one of a line of owners, -preserved, with careful painstaking, by his descendants.</p> - -<p>A garden many generations old may thus be a reflection of the minds of -several of such possessors—men who have not only thankfully paced its -green spaces and delighted in its flowery joys, but who have held it in -that close and friendly fellowship whose outcome is sure to be some -living and lasting addition either to its comfort, its interest, or its -beauty. The original design may have become in some degree lost, but -unless the doings of the several owners have been in the way of -destruction or radical alteration, or something of obvious folly or bad -taste, the garden will have gained in a remarkable degree that quality -of human interest that is not easy to define but that is clearly -perceptible, not only to a trained critic but to any one who has -knowledge of its most vital needs and sympathy with its worthiest -expression. This precious utterance is not confined to this or to any -one special kind of gardening, but may pervade and illuminate almost any -one of the many ways in which men find their pleasure and delight in -ordering the sheltered seclusion of their home grounds, and enjoying the -varied beauty of tree and bush and flower.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66">{66}</a></span></p> - -<p>It is only in gardens of the most rigidly formal type, such as are full -of architectural form and detail and admit of no alteration of the -original plan, that personal influence can least be exercised. This is -no doubt the reason why such gardens, correctly beautiful though they -may be, are those that give in smallest measure that wonderful sense of -the purest and most innocent happiness, that of all earthly enjoyments -seems to be the most directly God-given.</p> - -<p>Yet, even in such gardens, it is not impossible that some impress of the -personal influence may be beneficently given, but the range of operation -is extremely limited, the greatest knowledge and ability are needed, -with the sure action of the keenest and most restrained judgment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67">{67}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CAMPSEY_ASHE" id="CAMPSEY_ASHE"></a>CAMPSEY ASHE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> Eastern Suffolk, within a few miles of the sea, is this, the country -home of the Hon. William Lowther.</p> - -<p>The house, replacing an older one that occupied the same site, is of -brick and stone, built in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. A -moat, inclosing an unusually large area, and formerly entirely -encompassing the house and garden, is now partly filled up; but one long -arm remains, running the greater part of the length of the house and -garden; a shorter length bounding the inclosed garden on the opposite -side. The longer length of moat approaches the house closely on its -eastern face, and then forms the boundary of a large and -beautifully-kept square lawn, with fine old cedars and other trees. -Following this southward is a double walled garden, with the main paths, -especially those of the nearer division, bordered with flowers. Beyond -these again is the portion of the garden that forms the subject of the -picture—a small parterre of box-edged beds with a row of old clipped -yews beyond. This leads westward to a grove of trees, with a statue also -girt with trees standing in an oval in the midmost space.</p> - -<p>The garden has beautiful incidents in abundance, but is somewhat -bewildering. Traces of the older gardening constantly appear; but their -original cohesion has been lost. The moat, always an important feature, -ends suddenly at four points. Garden-houses and gazebos, that usually -come at salient points with determinate effect, seem to have strayed -into their places. Sections of the park seem to have broken loose and -lost themselves in the garden. The garden is not the less charming in -detail, but is impossible to gather together or hold in a clear mental -grasp, from the absence of general plan.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68">{68}</a></span></p> - -<p>Besides the old clipped yews in the picture, others, apparently of the -same age, inclose an oval bowling-green. In form they are as if they had -been at first cut as a thick hedge with a roof-like sloping top. From -this, at fairly regular intervals, spring great rounded masses, that, -with the varying vigour of the individual trees and the continual -clipping without reference to a fixed design, have asserted themselves -after their own fashion. Though symmetry has been lost, the place has -gained in pictorial value. Four ways lead in; the larger bosses guarding -the entrances.</p> - -<p>So it is throughout this charming but puzzling garden. Ever a glimpse of -some delightful old-world incident, and then the baffled effort to fit -together the disjointed members of what must once have been a definite -design.</p> - -<p>The portion of the garden that is simplest and clearest is a broad walk -opposite the house, on the further side of the moat, and raised some ten -feet above it; backed by an old yew hedge some twenty feet high, of -irregular outline. Just opposite the middle of the house the line of the -hedge is interrupted to give a view into the park, with a vista between -groups of fine elms; but the hedge stretches away southward the whole -length of the long arm of the moat and the walled gardens. At regular -intervals along the old hedge are ranged, on column-shaped pedestals, -busts that came from an Italian villa. About half way along steps lead -down to the moat, where there is a ferry-punt propelled by an endless -rope, such as is commonly used in the fenlands. At the end of the long -walk is a curious seat with a high carved back, that looks as if it had -once formed part of an old ship or state barge, in the bygone days of -two hundred years ago, when a fine style of bold and free wood-carving -was lavishly used about their raised poops and stern-galleries.</p> - -<p>Towards the end of the second division of the walled garden is an old -orangery or large garden house, that probably was in connexion with the -scheme of the yew hedges. It has the usual piercing with large lights -but no top-light. The original purpose of these buildings was the -housing of orange and other tender trees in tubs, and the fact of its -presence might possibly throw some light on the mystery of the garden’s -former planning.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_028" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_028.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_028.jpg" width="600" height="427" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE YEW HEDGE, CAMPSEY ASHE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. H. W. Search</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69">{69}</a></span></p> - -<p>Good hardy flowers are everywhere in abundance. Specially beautiful in -the later summer is a grand pink Hollyhock of strong free habit, with -the flowers of that best of all shapes—with wide, frilled outer petals -and centres not too tightly packed.</p> - -<p>It would be interesting work for some one with a knowledge of the garden -design of the past three centuries in England to try to reconstruct the -original plan of some one time. Though on the ground the various -remaining portions of the older work cannot be pieced together, yet, if -these were put on paper to proper scale, it might be possible to come to -some general conclusions as to the way in which the garden was -originally, and again perhaps subsequently, laid out. Some of the -remaining portions of the older work of quite different dates may now -seem to be of the same age, but the expert would probably be able to -discriminate. The result of such a study would be worth having even if -actual reconstruction were not contemplated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70">{70}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CLEEVE_PRIOR" id="CLEEVE_PRIOR"></a>CLEEVE PRIOR</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Near</span> a quiet village in Warwickshire, and in close relation to its -accompanying farm buildings, is this charming old manor house. It is not -upon a main road, but stands back in its own quiet place on rising -ground above the Avon. Everything about it is interesting and quite -unspoilt. The wooden hand-gate, with its acorn-topped posts, that stands -upon two semi-circular steps may not have been of the pattern of the -original gate—it has an eighteenth-century look—but it is just right -now. It leads into a half dark, half light, double arcade of splendid -old clipped yews. Looking from the gate they seem to be tall walls of -yew to right and left, showing the projecting porch of the house at the -end; but, passing along, there are seen to be openings between every two -trees, each of which gives a charming picture of the lawns and simple -flower beds to right and left. The path is paved with stone flags; the -garden is bounded with a low wall of the local oolite limestone that -rock-plants love. A few thin-topped old fruit-trees, their stems clothed -with ivy, are another link between the past and present, and the -somewhat pathetic evidence of their having long passed their prime and -being on the downward path, is in striking contrast with the robust -vigour of the ancient yews, already some centuries old, and looking as -if they must endure for ever.</p> - -<p>Eight yews stand on either side—sixteen in all. They are known as the -twelve Apostles and the four Evangelists. The names may have belonged to -them from the time of their planting, for the whole place belonged in -old days to Evesham Abbey, and is pervaded with monastic memory and -tradition. This may also account for the excellence of the</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_029" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_029.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_029.jpg" width="600" height="409" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE TWELVE APOSTLES, CLEEVE PRIOR</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir Frederick Wigan</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71">{71}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">buildings, for the old monks were grand constructors, and their -structures were not only solid but always beautiful.</p> - -<p>One of the older of these at Cleeve Prior is a large circular dovecote -of stone masonry with tiled roof and small tiled cupola. Such buildings -were not unfrequent in the old days, and many of them remain. Sometimes -they are round in plan, sometimes four-, sometimes eight-sided. -Occasionally there is a central post inside, set on pivots to revolve -easily, with lateral arms carrying a ladder that reaches nearly to the -walls, so that any one of the many pigeon-holes can be reached.</p> - -<p>To the left of the Apostles’ Garden, as you stand facing the house, a -little gate leads into the vegetable garden. It has narrow grass paths -bordered with old-fashioned flowers. A further gate leads into the -orchard. Behind the house is the home close with some fine trees; on two -other sides are the farm buildings, yard and rickyard.</p> - -<p>How grandly the flowers grow in these old manor and farm gardens! How -finely the great masses of bloom compose, and how beautifully they -harmonise with the grey of the limestone wall and the wonderful colour -of the old tiled roof; both of them weather and lichen-stained; each -tile a picture in itself of grey and orange and tenderest pink.</p> - -<p>The yews have got over their paler green colour of the early summer when -the young shoots are put forth, and have settled into the deep green -dress that they will wear till next May. For the time is September; -wheat harvesting is going on and the autumn flowers are in full vigour. -There are Dahlias, the great annual Sunflowers and the tall autumn -Daisy; Lavender and Michaelmas Daisies, with sweet herbs for the -kitchen, just as it should be in such a garden.</p> - -<p>Some of these old pot-herbs are beautiful things deserving a place in -any flower garden. Sage—for instance—a half shrubby plant with -handsome grey leaf and whorled spikes of purple flowers; a good plant -both for winter and summer, for the leaves are persistent and the plant -well clothed throughout the year. Hyssop is another such handsome thing, -of the same family, with a quantity of purple bloom in the autumn, when -it is a great favourite with the butterflies and bumble bees. This is -one of the plants that was used as an edging plant in gardens in Tudor -days, as we read in Parkinson’s “Paradisus,” where<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72">{72}</a></span> Lavender-cotton, -Marjoram, Savoury and Thyme are also named as among the plants used for -the same purpose. Rue, with its neat bluish-green foliage, is also a -capital plant for the garden where this colour of leafage is desired. -Fennel, with its finely-divided leaves and handsome yellow flower, is a -good border plant, though rarely so used, and blooms in the late autumn. -Lavender and Rosemary are both so familiar as flower-garden plants that -we forget that they can also be used as neat edgings, if from the time -they are young plants they are kept clipped. Borage has a handsome blue -flower, as good as its relation the larger <i>Anchusa</i>. Tansy, best known -in gardens by the handsome <i>Achillea Eupatorium</i>, was an old inmate of -the herb garden. Sweet Cicely (<i>Myrrhis odorata</i>) has beautiful foliage, -pale green and fern-like, with a good umbel of white bloom, and is a -most desirable plant to group with and among early blooming flowers. And -we all know what a good garden flower is the common Pot Marigold.</p> - -<p>The old farm buildings at Cleeve Prior are scarcely less beautiful than -the manor-house itself, and are remarkable for the timber erections, -open at the sides but with tiled roofs, that give sheltered access, by -outside stairways, to the lofts.</p> - -<p>Throughout England the older farmhouses and buildings are full of -interest, not only to architects, but to many who are in sympathy with -good and simple construction, and have taken the pleasant trouble to -learn enough about it to understand how and why the buildings were -reared. And in these restless days of hurry and strain and close -competition in trades, and bad, cheap work, it is good to pass a quiet -hour in wandering about among structures set up four or even five -centuries ago by these grand building monks. The present writer had just -such a pleasure not long ago in the South of England, where a large -group of monastic farm buildings stands within sound of the wash of the -sea. They are on sloping ground, inclosing three sides of a square; a -wall, backed with trees, forming the fourth side. On the upper level is -a great barn; a much greater, the tithe barn, being opposite it on the -lower. Buildings containing stables, cattle-sheds and piggeries connect -the two. Between these and the wall opposite is a spacious yard; across -the middle is a raised causeway dividing the yard into two levels.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_030" style="width: 483px;"> -<a href="images/ill_030.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_030.jpg" width="483" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>CLEEVE PRIOR: SUNFLOWERS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. James Crofts Powell</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73">{73}</a></span></p> - -<p>The barns are of grand masonry. Some of the stones, next above the -plinth—a feature that adds so much to the dignity of the building, and -by its additional width, to its solidity—measure as much as four feet -six inches in length by twenty inches in height. In every fifth course -is a row of triangular holes for ventilation, such as every brick or -stone-built barn must have. They are cleverly arranged as to the detail -of the manner of their building, and though only intended for use have a -distinctly ornamental value. Where the walls rise at the gable ends they -are corbelled out at the eaves and carried up some two feet above the -line of the rafters, finishing in a wrought stone capping, thus stopping -the thatch. For the buildings are, and always have been, thatched with -straw, the ground around being good corn-land, a rich calcareous loam.</p> - -<p>There is a delightful sense of restfulness about these fine solid -buildings, built for the plainest needs of the community of the material -nearest to hand, in the simply right and therefore most beautiful way. -With no intentional ornament, they have the beauty of sound, strong -structure and unconsciously right proportion. There is also a -satisfaction in the plain evidence of delight in good craftsmanship, and -in the unsparing use of both labour and material.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74">{74}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CONDOVER" id="CONDOVER"></a>CONDOVER</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Condover Hall</span> near Shrewsbury is a stately house of important size and -aspect—one of the many great houses that were reared in the latter half -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Its general character gives the -impression of severity rather than suavity, though the straight groups -of chimneys have handsome heads, and the severe character is mitigated -on the southern front by an arcade in the middle space of the ground -floor. The same stern treatment pervades the garden masonry. No -mouldings soften the edges of the terrace steps; parapets and retaining -walls, with the exception of the balustrade of the main terrace, are -without ornament of light and shade; plainly weathered copings being -their only finish. Only here and there, a pier that carries a large -Italian flower-pot has a little more ornament of rather massive bracket -form.</p> - -<p>The garden spaces are large and largely treated, as befits the place and -its environment of park-land amply furnished with grand masses of -tree-growth. On the southern side of the house, where the ground falls -away, are two green flats and slopes, leading to a lower walk parallel -with their length and with the terrace above. The steps in the picture -are the top flight of a succession leading to these lower levels. The -lower and narrower grassy space has a row of clipped yews of a rounded -cone-shape. The upper level has a design of the same, but of different -patterns.</p> - -<p>The balustrade in the picture is old, probably of the same date as the -house; much of the other stonework is modern. The circular seat on a -raised platform, with its stone-edged flower-beds, has a very happy -effect, and its yew-hedge backing joins well into the older yews that</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_031" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_031.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_031.jpg" width="600" height="398" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>CONDOVER: THE TERRACE STEPS</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Austen Leigh</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_75" id="page_75">{75}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">overlap the parapet of the steps; their colour contrasting distinctly -with that of the more distant Ilex, a magnificent example of a tree that -deserves more general use in English gardens. The parterre above the -steps and on a level with the house has box hedges, after the Italian -manner, three feet high and two feet wide. These, with some of the yew -hedges, were planted a hundred years ago, though much of the garden, -with its ornaments of fine Italian flower-pots, was the work of the -former owner, the late Mr. Reginald Cholmondeley, a man of powerful -personality and fine taste.</p> - -<p>The most important part of the garden lies to the west of the house, -where there is a double garden of stiff pattern with high box borders -and clipped evergreens. At a right angle to this, the spectator, -standing at some distance westward, and looking back towards the east -and straight with the space between the pair of gardens of angular -design, sees a broad space flanked on either side by a row of handsome -upright yews. The ground between is a flower garden of large -diamond-shaped beds in two sizes, with cleverly-arranged green edgings. -But now that the large Irish yews have grown to their early maturity, -dominating the garden and insisting on their own strong parallel lines, -it is open to question whether it would not have been better to have had -a wide, clear middle space of green straight down the length, with the -flowers in shapely, ordered masses to right and left. The close -succession of large beds gives the impression of impediments to -comfortable progress.</p> - -<p>It was wise to leave the Irish yews unclipped. Though the common English -yew is the tree that is of all others the most docile to the discipline -of training and shearing, the upright growing variety will have none of -it. In some fine English gardens they are clipped, always with -disastrous effect. They will only take one form: that of an ugly swollen -bottle, or lamp-chimney with a straight top. Their own form is quite -symmetrical enough for use in any large design.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_76" id="page_76">{76}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="SPEKE_HALL" id="SPEKE_HALL"></a>SPEKE HALL</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">There</span> are, alas! but few now remaining of the timber buildings of the -sixteenth century that are either so important in size or so -well-preserved as this beautiful old Lancashire house.</p> - -<p>They were built at a time when the country had settled down into a -peaceable state; when houses need no longer be walled and loopholed -against the probable raids of enemies; when their windows might be of -ample size and might look abroad without fear. Many of them, however, -were still moated, for a moat was of use not only for defence but as a -convenient fish-pond, and as a bar to the depredations of wolves, foxes -and rabbits.</p> - -<p>The advance of civilisation also brought with it a greater desire for -home comforts, and the genius of the country, unspoilt, unfettered, -undiluted by that mass of half-digested knowledge of many styles that -has led astray so many of the builders of modern days, by a natural -instinct cast these dwellings into forms that we now seek out and study -in the effort to regain our lost innocence, and that in many cases we -are glad to adopt anew as models of what is most desirable for comfort -and for the happy enjoyment of our homes.</p> - -<p>Still, in these days we cannot build such houses anew without a -suspicion of strain or affectation. When they were reared, oak was the -building material most readily to be obtained, and carpenters’ work, -already well developed in the construction of roofs, now given free -scope in outer walls as well, seemed to revel in the new liberty, and -oak-framed houses grew up into beautiful form and ornament in such a way -as has never been surpassed in this country.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_032" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_032.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_032.jpg" width="600" height="373" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>SPEKE HALL</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. George S. Elgood</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_77" id="page_77">{77}</a></span></p> - -<p>It was satisfying and beautiful because every bit of ornamental detail -grew out of the necessary structure. The plainer framing of cottage and -farmhouse became enriched in the manor-house into a wealth of moulding -and carving and other kinds of decoration. External panel ornament -gained a rich quality by the repetition of symmetrical form, while the -overhanging of the successive stories and the indentations between -projecting wings and porches threw the various faces of the building -into interesting masses of light and shade. Then, in delightful and -restful contrast to the “busy” wall-spaces, are the roofs, with their -long quiet lines of ridge and their covering of tile or stone, painted -by the ages with the loveliest tinting of moss and lichen.</p> - -<p>Within, these fine old wooden houses show the good English oak as -worthily treated as without. For the whole structure is of wood from end -to end, built as soundly and strongly as were the old wooden ships. The -inner walls, where they were not panelled with oak, were hung with -tapestry. Ceilings of the best rooms were wrought with plaster ornament; -lesser rooms showed the beams and often the thick joists that fitted -into them and upheld the floor above. Where, as was usual, there was a -long gallery in the topmost floor, its ceiling would show a tracery of -oak with plaster filling, partly following the line of the roof. The -whole structure, blossoming out in its more important parts into -beautiful decorative enrichment, showed the worker’s delight in his -craft, and his mastery of mind and hand in conceiving and carrying out -the possibilities offered by what was then the most usual building -material of the country.</p> - -<p>Such another house as Speke is Moreton Old Hall in Cheshire, but the -latter is still more richly decorated, with carved strings, some of -which were painted, and wood and plaster panels of great elaboration, -and lead-quarried windows of large size and beautiful design.</p> - -<p>The destruction of large numbers of these timber buildings in the -eighteenth century can never be sufficiently deplored. There was a time -when the fashion for buildings of classical form was spreading over -England, when they were considered barbarous relics of a bygone age, and -when the delightful gardens that had grown up around them were alike -condemned and in many cases destroyed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_78" id="page_78">{78}</a></span></p> - -<p>There is not a large garden at Speke, but just enough of simple groups -of flowers to grace the beautiful timber front. The picture shows that -the gardening is just right for the place; not asserting itself overmuch -but doing its own part with a restful, quiet charm that has a right -relation to the lovely old dwelling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_79" id="page_79">{79}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="GARDEN_ROSES" id="GARDEN_ROSES"></a>GARDEN ROSES</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Those</span> who follow the developments of taste in modern gardening, cannot -fail to perceive how great has been the recent increase in the numbers -of Roses that are for true beauty in the garden.</p> - -<p>It is only some of the elders among those who take a true and lively -interest in their gardens who know what a scarcity of good things there -was thirty years ago, or even twenty, compared with what we have now to -choose from. Still, of the Roses commonly known as garden Roses, there -were even then China Roses, Damask, Cabbage and Moss, Sweetbriars and -Cinnamon Roses, and the free-growing Ayrshires, which are even now among -the most indispensable.</p> - -<p>But the wave of indifferent taste in gardening that had flooded all -England with the desire for summer bedding plants, to the almost entire -exclusion of the worthier occupants of gardens, had for a time pushed -aside the older garden Roses. For whereas in the earlier half of the -nineteenth century these good old Roses were much planted and worthily -used, with the coming of the fashion for the tender bedding plants they -fell into general disuse; and, with the accompanying neglect of many a -good hardy border plant, left our gardens very much the poorer, and, -except for special spring bedding, bare of flowers for all the earlier -part of the year.</p> - -<p>Now we have learnt the better ways, and have come to see that good -gardening is based on something more stable and trustworthy than any -passing freak of fashion. And though the foolish imp fashion will always -pounce upon something to tease and worry over, and to set up on a -temporary pedestal only to be pulled down again before long, so also it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_80" id="page_80">{80}</a></span> -assails and would make its own for a time, some one or other point of -garden practice. Just now it is the pergola and the Japanese garden; and -truly wonderful are the absurdities committed in the name of both.</p> - -<p>But the sober, thoughtful gardener smiles within himself and lets the -freaks of fashion pass by. If he has some level place where a straight -covered way of summer greenery would lead pleasantly from one quite -definite point to another, and if he feels quite sure that his -garden-scheme and its environment will be the better for it, and if he -can afford to build a sensible structure, with solid piers and heavy oak -beams, he will do well to have a pergola. If he has travelled in Japan, -and lived there for some time and acquired the language, and has deeply -studied the mental attitude of the people with regard to their gardens, -and imbibed the traditional lore so closely bound up with their -horticultural practice, and is also a practical gardener in -England—then let him make a Japanese garden, if he will <i>and can</i>; but -he will be the wiser man if he lets it alone. Even with all the -knowledge indicated, and, indeed, because of its acquirement, he -probably would not attempt it. When a Japanese garden merely means a -space of pleasure-ground where plants, natives of Japan, are grown in a -manner suitable for an English garden, there is but little danger of -going wrong, but such danger is considerable when an attempt is made to -garden in the Japanese manner.</p> - -<p>This is a wide digression from the subject of garden Roses, and yet -excusable in that it can scarcely be too often urged that any attempt to -practise anything in horticulture for no better reason than because it -is the fashion, can only lead to debasement and can only achieve -futility.</p> - -<p>Now that there are large numbers of people who truly love their gardens, -and who show evidence of it by giving them much care and thought and -loving labour, the old garden Roses have been sought for and have been -restored to their former place of high favour. And our best nurserymen -have not been slow to see what would be acceptable in well-cared-for -gardens throughout the length and breadth of the land; so that the last -few years have seen an extraordinary activity in the production of good -Roses for garden effect. The free-growing <i>Rosa polyantha</i> of the -Himalayas has been employed as a seed or pollen-bearing parent, and from -it have been developed first the well-known Crimson</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_033" style="width: 468px;"> -<a href="images/ill_033.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_033.jpg" width="468" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>“VISCOUNTESS FOLKESTONE”</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. R. Clarke Edwards</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_81" id="page_81">{81}</a></span></p> - -<p>Rambler, and later a number of less showy but much more refined flowers -of just the right kind for free use in garden decoration.</p> - -<p>Valuable hybrids have also been raised from the Tea Roses, one of the -best known of them being <i>Viscountess Folkestone</i>, the subject of the -picture; a grand Rose for grouping in beds or clumps, and one that -yields its large, loose, blush-white flowers abundantly and for a long -season. This merit of an extended blooming season runs through the -greater number of the now long list of varieties of the beautiful hybrid -Teas.</p> - -<p>Some of the new seedling Tea Roses have nearly single flowers, and are -none the less beautiful, as those wise folk well know who grow -<i>Corallina</i> and the lovely white <i>Irish Beauty</i>, and its free-blooming -companion <i>Irish Glory</i>. These also are plants that will succeed, as -will most of the hybrid Teas, in some poor hot soils where most Roses -fail.</p> - -<p>Then for rambling over banks we have <i>Rosa wichuraiana</i> and its -descendants; among these the charming <i>Dorothy Perkins</i>, good for any -free use.</p> - -<p>Those who garden on the strong, rich loams that Roses love will find -that many of the so-called show Roses are grand things as garden Roses -also; indeed, for purely horticultural purposes there is no need of any -such distinction. The way is for a number of Roses to be grown on trial, -and for a keen watch to be kept on their ways. It will soon be seen -which are those that are happiest in any particular garden, and how, -having regard to their colour and way of growth, they may best be used -for beauty and delight.</p> - -<p>In the garden where the picture was painted, <i>Viscountess Folkestone</i> -has an undergrowth of Love-in-a-mist, that comes up year after year, and -with its quiet grey-blue colouring makes a charming companionship with -the faint blush of the Roses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_82" id="page_82">{82}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="PENSHURST" id="PENSHURST"></a>PENSHURST</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> gardens that adorn the ancient home of the Sidneys are, as to the -actual planting of what we see to-day, with repairs to the house and -some necessary additions to fit it for modern needs, the work of the -late Lord de L’Isle with the architect George Devey, begun about fifty -years ago. It was a time when there was not much good work done in -gardening, but both were men of fine taste and ability, and the -reparation and alteration needed for the house, and the new planting and -partly new designing of the garden could not have been in better hands.</p> - -<p>The aspect and sentiment of the garden, now that it has grown into -shape—its lines closely following, as far as it went, the old -design—are in perfect accordance with the whole feeling of the place, -so that there seems to be no break in continuity from the time of the -original planting some centuries ago. Such as it is to-day, such one -feels sure it was in the old days—in parts line for line and path for -path, but throughout, just such a garden as to general form, aspect, and -above all, sentiment, as it must have been in the days of old. For when -it was first planted the conditions that would have to be considered -were always the same; requirement of shelter from prevailing winds; -questions relating to various portions, as to whether it would be -desirable to welcome the sunlight for the flowers’ delight, or to shut -it out for human enjoyment of summer coolness—all such grounds of -motive were, just as now, deliberated by the men of old days, whose -decisions, actuated by sympathy with both house and ground, would bring -forth a result whose character would be the same, whether thought out -and planned to-day or four centuries ago.</p> - -<p>So it is that we find the old work at Penshurst confirmed and renewed,</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_034" style="width: 424px;"> -<a href="images/ill_034.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_034.jpg" width="424" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>“GLOIRE DE DIJON,” PENSHURST</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir Reginald Hanson Bart</span>.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_83" id="page_83">{83}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">and new work added of a like kind, such as will make use of the wider -modern range of garden plants, while it retains the dignity and grandeur -of the fine old place.</p> - -<p>The house stands on a wide space of grass terrace commanding the garden. -On a lower level is a large quadrangular parterre, with cross paths. In -each of its square angles is a sunk garden with a five-foot-wide verge -of turf and a bordering stone kerb forming a step. The beds within, -filled with good hardy plants, have bold box edgings eighteen inches -high and a foot thick, that not only set off the bright masses of -flowers within, but have in themselves an air of solidity and importance -that befits the large scale of the place. They represent in their own -position and on their lesser scale somewhat of the same character as the -massive yew hedges, twelve feet high and six feet through, that do their -own work in other parts of the garden.</p> - -<p>These grand yew hedges and solid box borders have responded well to good -planting and tending, for the late Lord de L’Isle knew his work and did -it thoroughly. Not only was the ground well prepared, but for several -years after planting the young trees were provided with a surface -dressing that prevented evaporation and provided nutriment. This was -carefully attended to, not only in the case of the yews but of the box -edgings also.</p> - -<p>The cross-walks of the parterre do not meet in the middle, but sweep -round a circular fountain basin, in the centre of which stands a statue -of what may be a young Hercules, brought from Italy by Lord de L’Isle. -The slender grace of the figure might at first suggest a youthful -Bacchus, but the identity in such a statue is easily established by -looking for one or other of the characteristic attributes of Hercules; -these usually are the lion’s skin, the upright-growing hair on the -forehead, the poplar wreath or the battered, flattened ears. But the -statue stands too far from the walk to be exactly identified.</p> - -<p>That the nearer portions of the garden are on the same lines as the -older planting is shown by an engraving in Harris’s “Kent,” where the -parterre is, now as then, bounded by terraces on two of its sides, the -house side and that of the adjoining churchyard, to which access is -gained by a beautiful gabled gateway of brick and stone, the work of -Tudor times.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_84" id="page_84">{84}</a></span></p> - -<p>The old churchyard has its own beauty, while the church and a fine group -of elms are seen from the garden above the wall, and take their own -beneficent place in the garden landscape.</p> - -<p>The rectangular fountain, which, with its surrounding yew hedges, and -the grass walks also inclosed by thick yew hedges, divides the two -portions of the kitchen garden, are also parts of the old design, added -to by the late owner. The yew hedges beyond the fountain pool have been -set back to allow width enough for a handsome flower-border on either -side. Water Lilies grow in the pool and the flower-borders display their -beauties beyond, while the fruit trees of the kitchen garden show above -the thick green hedges as flowering masses in spring, and in later -summer, as the taller perennials of the border rise to their full -height, as a thin copse of fruit and leafage. The turf walk and -flower-border swing outward to suit the greater width of another -fountain-basin at the end. This has straight sides running the way of -the main path, and a segmental front. Instead of the usual rising kerb, -there are two shallow stone steps, the upper one even with the grass, -the lower half way between that and the water-level. Except that it is -less of a protection than something of the parapet kind, this is a most -desirable means of near access to the water; welcome to the eye in all -ways and allowing the water-surface to be seen from a distance. It is -pleasantly noticeable in this pool that the water-level rises to the -proper place. Nothing is more frequent or more unsightly than a deep -pool or basin with straight sides and only a little water in the bottom. -If the height of the water is necessarily fluctuating it is a good plan -to build the tank in a succession of such steps; they are pleasant to -see both above and under water, and in the case of an accident to a -straying child, danger is reduced to the smallest point.</p> - -<p>The picture shows one of the flights of steps from one level to another. -To the left two handsome gate-piers and a fine wrought-iron gate lead to -a quiet green meadow. Near by and just across it is the Medway, with -wooded banks and groups of fine trees. The old wall is beautiful from -the meadow side; its coping a garden of wild flowers. Above it is seen -the clipped yew hedge with its series of rising ornaments, rounded in -the direction of the axis of the hedge, but flat on</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_035" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_035.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_035.jpg" width="600" height="423" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE TERRACE STEPS, PENSHURST</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Frederick Greene</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_85" id="page_85">{85}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">its two faces. This is seen in the picture on the upper level, above the -steps to the left.</p> - -<p>Herbaceous plants are grandly grown throughout this beautiful garden. -Specially noticeable are the fine taste and knowledge of garden effect -with which they have been used. There are not flowers everywhere, but -between the flowery portions of the garden are quiet green spaces that -rest and refresh the eye, and that give both eye and brain the best -possible preparation for a further display and enjoyment of their -beauty.</p> - -<p>Such an example the picture shows. On either side is a border with -masses of strong-growing hardy plants—pale Monkshood, Evening Primrose, -Sweet-William, Pink Mallow—then, above the steps, only the restful turf -underfoot, and to right and left the quiet walls of yew; at the end a -group of great elms. At the foot of the steps, passing away to the -right, is another double flower-border, passing again by a turn to the -right into the quiet green walk leading to the large fountain basin.</p> - -<p>Many a good climbing Rose, with other rambling and clambering plants, -find their homes on the terraces. A <i>Gloire de Dijon</i> or one of its -class—<i>Madame Bérard</i> or <i>Bouquet d’Or</i>, perhaps; either of these the -equal of the other for such garden use—rises from below the parapet of -one of the flights of steps and comes forward in happiest fellowship -with a leaden vase of fine design; the dark background of Irish Yew -making the best possible ground for both Rose and urn.</p> - -<p>In olden days these lead ornaments were commonly painted and gilt, but -the revived taste for all that is best in gardening rightly considers -such treatment to be a desecration of a surface which with age acquires -a beautiful grey colouring and a delightful quality of colour-texture. -The painting of lead would seem to be a relic of the many toy-like -artifices in gardening that were prevalent in Tudor times. All these are -rejected in the best modern practice, though all the old ways that made -for true garden beauty and permanent growth and value have been -retained.</p> - -<p>A clever way of utilising the stronger growing Clematises, including the -large purple Jackmanii, is here practised. They are swung -garl<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_86" id="page_86">{86}</a></span>and-fashion between a row of Apple-trees that borders one of the -walks. Hops are used in the same way. It was perhaps a remembrance of -Italy, where Vines are trained to swing between the Mulberries.</p> - -<p>The beautiful pale yellow Carnation, named <i>Pride of Penshurst</i>, was -raised in this good garden, where everything tells of the truest -sympathy with all that is best in English horticulture. Not the least -among the soothing and satisfying influences of the pleasure-grounds of -Penshurst, is the entire absence of the specimen conifer, that, with its -wearisome repetition of single examples of young firs and pines, has -brought such a displeasing element of restless confusion into so many -pleasure-grounds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_87" id="page_87">{87}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="BRICKWALL" id="BRICKWALL"></a>BRICKWALL</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">East Sussex</span> is rich in beautiful houses of Tudor times; many precious -relics remaining of those days and of the Jacobean reigns, of important -manor-house, fine farm building and labourer’s cottage. These were the -times when English oak, some of the best of which grew in the Sussex -forests, was the main building material. The walls were framed of oak, -and the same wood provided beams, joists and rafters, boards for the -floors, panelling, doors, window-mullions and furniture. In those days -the wood was not cut up with the steam-saw, but was split with the axe -and wedge. The carpentry of the roofs was magnificent; there was no -sparing of stuff or of labour. Much of it that has not been exposed to -the weather, such as these roof-framings, is as sound to-day as when it -was put together, with its honest tenons and mortises and fastenings of -stout oak pins. In most cases the old oak has become extraordinarily -hard and of a dark colour right through.</p> - -<p>Brickwall, the beautiful home of the Frewens, near Northiam, is a -delightful example, both as to house and garden, of these old places of -the truest English type. A stately gateway, and a short road across a -spacious green forecourt bounded by large trees, leads straight to the -entrance in the wide north-eastern timbered front. The other side of the -house, in closely intimate relation to the garden, has a homely charm of -a most satisfying kind.</p> - -<p>The wide bricked path next the house, so typical of Sussex, speaks of -the strong, cool soil. The ground rises just beyond, and again further -away in the distance. The garden is divided into two nearly equal -portions by the double flower-border, backed by pyramidal clipped yews,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_88" id="page_88">{88}</a></span> -that forms the subject of the picture, and is enfiladed by the middle -windows of the house. In the left hand division is a long rectangular -pool with rather steep-angled sides of grass, looking a little -dangerous. There is a reason here for the water being a good way below -the level of the lawn, for this is much above that of the ground floor -of the house; still it is a matter of doubt whether it would not have -been better to have had a flagged or bricked path some four feet wide, -not much above the water-level, with steps rising on two sides to the -lawn, and dry walling, allowing of some delightful planting, from the -path to the lawn level.</p> - -<p>On the two outer sides of the garden, parallel with the middle walk, are -raised terraces, reached by steps at the ends of the bricked path. These -have walls on their outer sides, and towards the garden, yew hedges kept -low so that it is easy to see over. These low hedges run into a much -higher and older one that connects them towards the upper end of the -garden.</p> - -<p>The clipped yews which give the garden its character are for the most -part of one pattern, a tall three-sided pyramid, only varied by some -tall cones. One cannot help observing how desirable it is in gardens of -this kind that the form of the clipped yews should for the most part -keep to one shape, or at any rate one general pattern, just as the -architecture, whatever its character or ornament, within some kind of -limit remains faithful to the dominant idea.</p> - -<p>The picture shows a double flower-border in August dress; good groups of -the best hardy plants combining happily with some of the pyramids of -yew. To the right is the fine summer Daisy (<i>Chrysanthemum maximum</i>), -with the lilac Erigeron and the spiky blue-purple balls of the Globe -Thistle, the tall double Rudbeckia Golden Glow, Lavender, Poppies and -Phlox. To the left, Phloxes and the tall Evening Primrose, the great -garden Tansy (<i>Achillea Eupatorium</i>), seed-heads of the Delphiniums that -bloomed a month ago, White Mallow, and the grand red-ringed -Sweet-William called Holborn Glory. Everything speaks of good -cultivation on a rich loamy soil, for those fine yews want plenty of -nutriment themselves, and would also be apt to rob their less robust -neighbours. But then the good gardener knows how to provide for this.</p> - -<p>There is always an opportunity for beautiful treatment, when, as in</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_036" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_036.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_036.jpg" width="600" height="399" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>BRICKWALL, NORTHIAM</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. R. A. Oswald</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_89" id="page_89">{89}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">this case, the garden ground ascends from the house. The garden is laid -out to view, almost as a picture hangs on a wall, in the very best -position for the convenience of the spectator; and there is nothing that -gives a greater sense of dignity, with something of a poetical mystery, -than separate flights of steps ascending one after another in plane -after plane—as they do in that magnificent example, Canterbury -Cathedral. It matters not whether the steps are under a roof or not—the -impression received is the same. And there is much beauty in the steps -themselves being long and wide and shallow. Looking uphill we see the -steps; looking downhill they are lost. It is not the foot only that -rests upon the step, it is the eye also, and that is why any handsome -steps with finely-moulded edges are so pleasant to see. The overhanging -edge may have arisen from utility, in that, where a step must be narrow -it gives more space for the foot; but in the wide step it affords still -more satisfaction, giving a good shadow under the moulded edge, and -accentuating the long level lines that are so welcome to the eye.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_90" id="page_90">{90}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="STONE_HALL_EASTON" id="STONE_HALL_EASTON"></a>STONE HALL, EASTON<br /><br /> -<small>THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">It</span> was a pleasant thought, that of the lover of good flowers and firm -friend of many good people, who first had the idea of combining the two -sentiments into a garden of enduring beauty.</p> - -<p>Such a garden has been made at Easton by the Countess of Warwick. The -site of the Friendship Garden has been happily chosen, close to the -remains of an ancient house called Stone Hall, which now serves Lady -Warwick as a garden-house and library of garden books.</p> - -<p>The flower-plots are arranged in a series of concentric circles; the -plants are the gifts of friends. The name of each plant and that of the -giver are recorded on an imperishable majolica plaque. Many well-known -givers’ names are here, from that of the very highest in the land -downward. The plants themselves comprise many of the best and -handsomest.</p> - -<p>The picture shows the garden as it is about the middle of September; the -time of the great White Pyrethrum, the perennial Sunflowers and the -earliest of the Michaelmas Daisies. The bush of Lavender is blooming -late, its normal flowering time is a month earlier. But Lavender, -especially when some of the first bloom is cut, will often go on -flowering, as later-formed shoots come to blooming strength. Let us hope -that the giver is not shortlived like the gift, for Lavender bushes, -after a few years of strong life, soon wear out. Already this one is -showing signs of age, and it would be well to set a few cuttings in -spring or autumn, or, still better, to layer it by one of the lower -branches, in order to renew</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_037" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_037.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_037.jpg" width="600" height="407" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>STONE HALL, EASTON: THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Countess of Warwick</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_91" id="page_91">{91}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">the life of the plant when the strength of the present bush comes to an -end.</p> - -<p>Such a garden, full of so keen a personal interest, sets one thinking. -What will become of it fifty or a hundred years hence? The flowers, with -due diligence of division, and replanting and enriching of the soil, -will live for ever. The name-plates, with care and protection from -breakage, will also live. But what will these names be one or two -generations hence? Will the plants all be there? And what of the -Friendships? They are something belonging intimately to the lives of -those now living. What record of them will endure; or enduring, be of -use or comfort to those who come after?</p> - -<p>Then one thinks and wonders—what hand, perhaps quite a humble -one—planted the old apple-tree that has its stem now girdled by a -rustic seat. Its days are perhaps already numbered; the top is thin and -open, the foliage is spare; it seems to be beyond fruit-bearing age, and -as if it had scarcely strength to draw up the circulating sap.</p> - -<p>And then, for all the carefulness given to the making of the garden and -its tender memories of human kindness in giving and receiving, the plant -that dominates the whole, and gives evidence of the oldest occupation -from times past, and promises the greatest attainment of age in days to -come, is the Ivy on the old Stone Hall. Probably it was never planted at -all—came by itself, as we carelessly say—or planted, as we may more -thoughtfully and worthily say, by the hand of God, and now doing its -part of sheltering and fostering the Garden of Friendship. Should not -the Ivy also have its heart-shaped plate and its most grateful and -reverent inscription, as a noble plant, the gift of the kindest Friend -of all, who first created a garden for the sustenance and delight of man -and put into his heart that love of beautiful flowers that has always -endured as one of the chiefest and quite the purest of his human -pleasures?</p> - -<p>There is a rose-garden beyond the bank of shrubs to the left, where each -Rose, on one of the permanent labels, here shaped after the pattern of a -Tudor Rose, has a quotation from the poets. Here are, among others, the -older roses of our gardens, the Damask and the Rose of Provence, the -Cinnamon and the Musk Rose, the bushy Briers and the taller Eglantine -that we now call Sweetbrier.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_92" id="page_92">{92}</a></span></p> - -<p>Close at hand there is also a Shakespeare Garden, designed to show what -were the garden-flowers commonly in use in his time. Here we may again -find Rosemary—that sweetly aromatic shrub, so old a favourite in -English gardens. Its long-enduring scent made it the emblem of constancy -and friendship. And here should be Rue, also classed by Shakespeare -among “nose-herbs,” and the sweet-leaved Eglantine, and Lads-Love, Balm -and Gilliflowers (our Carnations), a few kinds of Lilies, Musk and -Damask Roses, Violets, Peonies, and many others of our oldest garden -favourites.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_93" id="page_93">{93}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_DEANERY_GARDEN_ROCHESTER" id="THE_DEANERY_GARDEN_ROCHESTER"></a>THE DEANERY GARDEN, ROCHESTER</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Those</span> who know the Dean of Rochester,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> either personally or by -reputation, will know that where he dwells there will be a beautiful -garden. His fame as a rosarian has gone throughout the length and -breadth of Britain, and far beyond, and his practical activity in -spreading and fostering a love of Roses must have been the means of -gladdening many a heart, and may be reckoned as by no means the least -among the many beneficent influences of his long and distinguished -ministry.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> These lines were in print before the lamented death of Dean -Hole.</p></div> - -<p>A few days’ visit to Dean Hole’s own home at Caunton Manor, near Newark, -will ever remain among the writer’s pleasantest memories. It must have -been five and twenty years ago, and it was June, the time of Roses. To -one whose home was on a poor sandy soil it was almost a new sight to see -the best of Roses, splendidly grown and revelling in a good loam. Not -that the credit was mainly due to the nature of the garden ground, for, -as the Dean (then Canon Hole) points out in his delightful “Book about -Roses,” the soil had to be made to suit his favourite flower. In this, -or some one of his books, he feelingly describes how many of the -visitors to his garden, seeing the splendid vigour of his Roses, at once -ascribed it to the excellence of his soil. “Of course,” they said, “your -flowers are magnificent, but then, you see, you have got such a soil for -Roses.” “I should think I had got a soil for Roses,” was the reply, -“didn’t I mix it all myself and take it there in a barrow?” I quote from -memory, but this is the sense of this excellent lesson. The writer’s own -experience is exactly the same. Of the quantities of garden<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_94" id="page_94">{94}</a></span> visitors -who have come—their number has had to be stringently limited of -late—not one in twenty will believe that one loves a garden well enough -to take a great deal of trouble about it.</p> - -<p>In fact, it is only this unceasing labour and care and watchfulness; the -due preparation according to knowledge and local experience; the looking -out for signal of distress or for the time for extra nourishment, water, -shelter or support, that produces the garden that satisfies any one with -somewhat of the better garden knowledge; a knowledge that does not make -for showy parterres or for any necessarily costly complications; rather, -indeed, for all that is simplest, but that produces something that is -apparent at once to the eye, and sympathetic to the mind, of the true -garden-lover.</p> - -<p>It must have been a painful parting from the well-loved Roses and the -many other beauties of the Caunton garden, when the new duties of -honourable advancement called Canon Hole from the old home to the -Deanery of Rochester; from the pure air of Nottinghamshire to that of a -town, with the added reek of neighbouring lime and cement works. But -even here good gardening has overcome all difficulties, and though, when -the air was more than usually loaded with the foul gases given off by -these industries, the Dean would remark, with a flash of his -characteristic humour, that Rochester was “a beautiful place—to get -away from,” yet the Deanery garden is now full of Roses and quantities -of other good garden flowers, all grandly grown and in the best of -health. Roses are in fact rampant. A rough trellis, simply made of split -oak after the manner of the hurdles used for folding sheep in the -Midlands, but about six feet high, stands at the back of the main double -flower-border. Rambling Roses and others of free-growing habit are -loosely trained to this, their great heads of bloom hanging out every -way with fine effect; each Rose is given freedom to show its own way of -beauty, while the trellis gives enough support and guides the general -line of the great hedge of Roses.</p> - -<p>The Dean is not alone among the flowers, for Mrs. Hole is also one of -the best of gardeners.</p> - -<p>The picture shows a portion of a double flower-border where a curving -path connects two others that are at different angles. In the</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_038" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_038.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_038.jpg" width="600" height="413" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE DEANERY GARDEN, ROCHESTER</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. G. A. Tonge</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_95" id="page_95">{95}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">distance, rising to a height of a hundred feet, is the grand old Norman -keep; the rare Deptford Pink (<i>Dianthus Armeria</i>) grows in its masonry. -The ancient city wall is one of the garden’s boundaries. Another old -wall, that is within the garden, has been made the home of many a good -rock-plant. On the left, in the picture, are masses of Poppies, Roses -and White Lilies, with Alströmeria, Love-in-a-Mist, and Larkspurs, both -annual and perennial; the background is of the soft, feathery foliage of -Asparagus. The Roses are of all shapes; single and double; show Roses -and garden Roses; standards, bushes and free-growing ramblers. On the -right are more Larkspurs, Irises in seed-pod, Lavender, and some -splendidly-grown Lilium szovitsianum, one of the grandest of Lilies, -and, where it can be grown like this, one of the finest things that can -be seen in a garden. Its tender lemon colouring has suffered in the -reproduction, which makes it somewhat too heavy.</p> - -<p>The upper part of a greenhouse shows in the picture. It is sometimes -impossible to keep such a structure out of sight, but one like this, of -the plainest possible kind, is the least unsightly of its class. It is -just an honest thing, for the needs of the garden and for a part of its -owner’s pleasure. The fatal thing is when an attempt is made to render -greenhouses ornamental, by the addition of fretted cast-iron ridges and -fidgety finials. These ill-placed futilities only serve to draw -attention to something which, by its nature, cannot possibly be made an -ornament in a garden, while it is comparatively harmless if let alone, -and especially if the wood-work is not painted white but a neutral grey. -In all these matters of garden structures; seats, arbours and so forth, -it is much best in a simple garden to keep to what is of modest and -quiet utility. In the case of a large place, which presents distinct -architectural features, it is another matter; for there such details as -these come within the province of the architect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_96" id="page_96">{96}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="COMPTON_WYNYATES" id="COMPTON_WYNYATES"></a>COMPTON WYNYATES</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> the very foremost rank among the large houses still remaining that -were built in Tudor times is the Warwickshire home of the Marquess of -Northampton. The walls are of brick, wide-jointed after the old custom, -with quoins, doorways, and window-frames of freestone, wrought into rich -and beautiful detail in the heads of the bays and the grand old doorway, -whose upper ornament is a large panel bearing the sculptured arms of -King Henry VIII.</p> - -<p>Formerly the house was entirely surrounded by a moat, which approached -it closely on all sides but one, where a small garden was inclosed. Now, -on the three sides next the building, grass lawns take its place. On all -sides but one, hilly ground rises almost immediately; in steep slopes -for the most part, beautifully wooded with grand elms.</p> - -<p>To the north is the small garden still inclosed by the moat. Straight -along it is a broad grass walk with flower borders on both sides, -leading to a thatched summer-house that looks out upon the moat. Lesser -paths lead across and around among vegetables and old fruit-trees. At -one corner is a venerable Mulberry.</p> - -<p>The space within the quadrangle of the building is turfed and has -cross-paths paved with stone flags. Bushes of hardy Fuchsia mark their -outer angles of intersection. At the foot of the walls hardy Ferns are -in luxuriance, and nothing could better suit the place. There are a few -climbing Roses, but they are not overdone; the beautiful building is -sufficiently graced, but not smothered, by vegetation. So it is -throughout the place both within and without; house and garden show a -loving</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_039" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_039.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_039.jpg" width="600" height="405" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>COMPTON WYNYATES</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. George S. Elgood</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_97" id="page_97">{97}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">reverence for the grand old heritage and that sound taste and knowledge -that create and maintain well and wisely.</p> - -<p>From the portions of the site of the old moat that are now grass, a turf -slope rises to a height of about eight feet. On the upper level is a -gravel walk, and beyond it a yew hedge about four feet high, with -ornaments of peacocks cut in it at the principal openings, and of ball -and such-like forms at other apertures. This is on the level of the main -parterre. A wide gravel path divides the garden into two equal portions, -swinging round in the middle space to give place to a circular -grass-plot with a sundial.</p> - -<p>This beautiful place offers so few details that can be adversely -criticised that these few are the more noticeable. The sundial has a -handsome shaft, but should stand upon a much wider step. The -introduction of pyramid fruit-trees at concentric points, both here and -in other parts of the design, is an experiment of doubtful value, that -will probably never add to the pictorial value of the design. The garden -critic may also venture to suggest that the pergola, which is well -placed at the eastern end of the parterre, deserves better piers than -its posts of fir. Here would be the place for some simple use of -specially made bricks, such as a pier hexagonal in plan built of bricks -of two shapes, diamond and triangle, two inches thick, with a wide -mortar joint. Each course would take two bricks of each shape, and their -disposition, alternating with each succeeding course, would secure an -admirable bond.</p> - -<p>The great parterre has main divisions of grass paths twelve feet wide, -each subdivision—four on each side of the cross-walk and sundial—of -eight three-sided beds disposed Union-Jack-wise, with bordering beds -stopped by a clipped Box-bush at each end. Narrow grass walks are -between the beds. The borders are roomy enough to accommodate some of -the largest of the good hardy flowers, for the garden is given to these, -not to “bedding stuff.” Here are some of the tall perennial Sunflowers, -eight feet high; the great autumn Daisy (<i>Pyrethrum uliginosum</i>); bushes -of Lavender with Pentstemons growing through them—a capital -combination, doing away with the need of staking the Pentstemons; the -last of the Phloxes; for the time of the picture, which was painted in -this part of the garden, is September.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_98" id="page_98">{98}</a></span></p> - -<p>This bold use of autumnal border flowers invites the exercise of -invention and ingenuity; for instance, August is the main time for the -flowering of Lavender, and, though a thinner crop succeeds the heavier -normal yield, yet the bushes then look thin of bloom. Clematises, -purple, lilac and white, can be planted among them, and can easily be -guided, by an occasional touch with the hand, to run over the Lavender -bushes. The same capital autumn flowers should be planted with the -handsome white Everlasting Pea. The Pea is supported by stout branching -spray and does its own good work in July. When the bloom is over it is -cut off, and the Clematis, which has been growing by its side with a -support of rather slighter spray, is drawn close to the foliage of the -Pea and spreads over it.</p> - -<p>The working out of such simple problems is one of the many joys of the -good gardener; and every year, with its increased experience, brings -with it a greater readiness in the invention of such happy -combinations.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_040" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_040.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_040.jpg" width="600" height="408" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>CHINA ROSES AND LAVENDER, PALMERSTOWN</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Kennedy-Erskine</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_99" id="page_99">{99}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="PALMERSTOWN" id="PALMERSTOWN"></a>PALMERSTOWN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> Earl of Mayo’s residence in County Kildare, Ireland, lies a few -miles distant from the small market town of Naas. The house is of -classical design, built within the nineteenth century. Around it is -extensive park-land that is pleasantly undulating, and is well furnished -with handsome trees both grouped and standing singly. In the lower level -is a large pool with Water-lilies, and natural banks fringed with reeds -and the other handsome sub-aquatic vegetation that occurs wild in such -places.</p> - -<p>There was an older house at Palmerstown in former days, whose large -walled kitchen garden remains. It is a lengthy parallelogram, divided in -the middle into two portions, each nearly a square, by a fine old yew -hedge with arches cut in it for the two walks that pass through. The -paths are broad, and some width on each side has been planted as a -flower border, giving ample space for the good cultivation and enjoyment -of all the best of the hardy flowers, so willing to show their full -growth and beauty in the soft genial climate of the sister island.</p> - -<p>It is a place that shows at once the happy effect of wise and sure -direction, for Lady Mayo is an accomplished gardener, and the inclosure -abounds with evidences of fine taste and thoughtful intention. One -length of border is given to Lavender and China Rose, always a -delightful and most harmonious mixture. There is a length of some twenty -yards of this pleasant combination—the picture shows one end—with a -few groups of taller plants, such as Bocconia, behind. Fruit-trees, -trained as espaliers, form the back of the border, or sometimes there is -a hedge of Sweet Pea. Vegetables occupy the middle portions of the -quarters. The flower-bordered paths pass across and across the middle -space, with others about<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100">{100}</a></span> ten feet within the walls and parallel with -them. Quite in the middle the path passes round a fountain basin, and -there are four arches on which Roses and Clematis are trained.</p> - -<p>Such flower borders give ample opportunity for the practising of good -gardening. The task is the easier in that only one of the pairs of -borders can be seen at a glance, and a definite scheme of colour -progression can easily be arranged. Such schemes are well worth thinking -out. The writer’s own experience favours a plan in which the borders -begin with tender colourings of pale blue, white and pale yellow, with -bluish foliage, passing on to the stronger yellows. These lead to -orange, scarlet and strong blood-reds. The scale of colouring then -returns gradually to the pale and cool colours.</p> - -<p>It is by such simple means that the richest effects of colour are -obtained, whether in a continuous border or in clump-shaped masses. A -separate space of flower-border may also be well treated by the use of -an even more restricted scheme of colouring. Purple and lilac flowers, -with others of pink and white only, and foliage of grey and silvery -quality, the darkest being such as that of Rosemary and Echinops, make a -charming flower-picture, with a degree of pictorial value that any one -who had not seen it worked out would scarcely think possible.</p> - -<p>The right choice of treatment depends in great measure on the -environment. When this, as at Palmerstown, consists of old walls and a -grand hedge of venerable yews, a suitable frame is ready for the display -of almost any kind of garden-picture.</p> - -<p>The yews are ten feet high and six feet through. Over a seat one of them -is cut into the form of a peacock. To the left of the green archway in -the Lavender picture, the yew takes the form of the heraldic wild-cat, -the Mayo crest. Outside the garden is a yew walk of untrimmed trees; -they show in the picture to the right, over the wall. Here, in the heat -of summer, the coolness and dim light are not only in themselves restful -and delightful, but, after passing along the bright borders, where eye -and brain become satiated with the brilliancy of light and colour, the -cool retreat is doubly welcome, preparing them afresh for further -appreciation of the flower-borders.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101">{101}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="ST_ANNES_CLONTARF" id="ST_ANNES_CLONTARF"></a>ST. ANNE’S, CLONTARF</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">There</span> is perhaps no place within the British islands so strongly -reminiscent of Italy as St. Anne’s, in County Dublin, one of the Irish -seats of Lord Ardilaun. This impression is first received from the -number and fine growth of the grand Ilexes, which abound by the sides of -the approaches and in the park-land near the house. For there are Ilexes -in groups, in groves, in avenues—all revelling in the mild Irish air -and nearness to the sea.</p> - -<p>The general impression of the place, as of something in Italy, is -further deepened by the house of classical design and of palatial -aspect, both within and without, that has that sympathetic sumptuousness -that is so charming a character of the best design and ornamentation of -the Italian Renaissance. For in general when in England we are palatial, -we are somewhat cold, and even forbidding. We stand aloof and endure our -greatness, and behave as well as we are able under the slightly -embarrassing restrictions. But in Italy, as at St. Anne’s, things may be -largely beautiful and even grandiose, and yet all smiling and easily -gracious and humanly comforting.</p> - -<p>As it is in the house, so also is it in the garden; the same sentiment -prevails, although the garden shows no effort in its details to assume -an Italian character. But apparent everywhere is the remarkable genius -of Lady Ardilaun—a queen among gardeners. A thorough knowledge of -plants and the finest of taste; a firm grasp and a broad view, that -remind one of the great style of the artists of the School of -Venice—these are the acquirements and cultivated aptitudes that make a -consummate gardener.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102">{102}</a></span></p> - -<p>The grounds themselves were not originally of any special beauty. All -the present success of the place is due to good treatment. Adjoining the -house, at the northern end of its eastern face, is a winter garden. -Looking from the end of this eastward, is a sight that carries the mind -directly to Southern Europe; an avenue of fine Ilexes, and, at the end, -a blue sea that might well be the Mediterranean. Passing to the left, -before the Ilexes begin, is a walk leading into a walled inclosure of -about two acres. Next the wall all round is a flower-border; then there -is a space of grass, then a middle group of four square figures, each -bordered on three sides by a grand yew hedge that is clipped into an -outline of enriched scallops like the edge of a silver <i>Mentieth</i>; a -series of forms consisting of a raised half-circle, then a horizontal -shoulder, and then a hollow equal to the raised member.</p> - -<p>The genial climate admits of the use of many plants that generally need -either winter housing or some special contrivance to ensure well-being. -Thus there are great clumps of the blue African Lily (<i>Agapanthus</i>); and -Iris Susiana blooms by the hundred, treated apparently as an ordinary -border plant.</p> - -<p>The picture shows a portion of a double flower-border in another square -walled garden, formerly a kitchen garden, and only comparatively lately -converted into pleasure-ground. Yews planted in a wide half-circle form -a back-ground to the bright flowers and to a statue on a pedestal. The -intended effect is not yet finished, for the trellis at the back of the -borders is hardly covered with its rambling Roses, which will complete -the picture by adding the needed height that will bring it into proper -relation with the tall yews. There is a cleverly invented edging which -gives added dignity as well as regularity, and obviates the usual -falling over of some of the contents of the border on to the path; an -incident that is quite in character in a garden of smaller proportion, -but would here be out of place. A narrow box edging, just a trim line of -green, has within it a good width of the foliage of Cerastium. The -bloom, of course, was over by the middle of June, but the close carpet -of downy white leaf remains as a grey-white edging throughout the summer -and autumn.</p> - -<p>Though this border shows bold masses of flowers, it scarcely gives an</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_041" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_041.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_041.jpg" width="600" height="413" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>ST. ANNE’S, CLONTARF</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Mannering</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103">{103}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">idea of the general scale of grand effect that follows the carrying out -of the design and intention of its accomplished mistress. For here -things are done largely and yet without obtrusive ostentation. They seem -just right in scale. For instance, in the house are some great columns; -huge monoliths of green Galway marble. It is only when details are -examined that it is perceived how splendid they are, and only when the -master tells the story, that the difficulty of transporting them from -the West of Ireland can be appreciated. For they were quarried in one -piece, and bridges broke under their immense weight. At one point in -their journey they sank into a bog, and their rescue, and indeed their -whole journey and final setting up at its end, entailed a series of -engineering feats of no small difficulty.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104">{104}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="AUCHINCRUIVE" id="AUCHINCRUIVE"></a>AUCHINCRUIVE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> mild climate of south-western Scotland is most advantageous for -gardening. Hydrangeas and Myrtles flourish, Fuchsias grow into bushes -eight to ten feet high. Mr. Oswald’s garden lies upon the river Ayr, a -few miles distant from the town of Ayr. The house stands boldly on a -crag just above the river, which makes its music below, tumbling over -rocky shelves and rippling over shingle-bedded shallows. For nearly a -mile the garden follows the river bank, in free fashion as befits the -place. Trees are in plenty and of fine growth, both on the garden side -and the opposite river shore. Here and there an opening in the trees on -the further shore shows the distant country. The garden occupies a large -space; the grouping of the shrubs and trees taking a wilder character in -the portions furthest away from the house, so that, mingling at last -with native growth, garden gradually dies away into wild. Large -undulating lawns give a sense of space and freedom and easy access.</p> - -<p>That close, fine turf of the gardens of Britain is a thing so familiar -to the eye that we scarcely think what a wonderful thing it really is. -When we consider our flower and kitchen gardens, and remember how much -labour of renewal they need—renewal not only of the plants themselves, -but of the soil, in the way of manurial and other dressings; and when we -consider all the digging and delving, raking and hoeing that must be -done as ground preparation, constantly repeated; and then when we think -again of an ancient lawn of turf, perhaps three hundred years old, that, -except for moving and rolling, has, for all those long years, taken care -of itself; it seems, indeed, that the little closely interwoven plants -of grass are things of wonderful endurance and longevity. The mowing</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_042" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_042.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_042.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>AUCHINCRUIVE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. R. A. Oswald</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105">{105}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">prevents their blooming, so that they form but few fresh plants from -seed. Imperceptibly the dying of the older plants is going on, and the -hungry root-fibres of their younger neighbours are feeding on the -decaying particles washed into the earth.</p> - -<p>But whether lawns could exist at all without the beneficent work of the -earthworms is very doubtful. Every one has seen the little heaps of -worm-castings upon grass, but it remained for Darwin, after his own long -experiment and exhaustive observation, partly based upon and -comprehending the conclusions of other naturalists, to tell us how -largely the fertility of our surface soil is due to the unceasing work -of these small creatures. Worms swallow large quantities of earth and -decaying leaves, and Darwin’s observations led him “to conclude that all -the vegetable mould over the whole country has passed many times -through, and will again pass many times through the intestinal canals of -worms.” This, indeed, is the only way in which it is possible for a -person with any knowledge of the needs of plant-life, to conceive the -possibility of any one closely-packed crop occupying the same space of -ground for hundreds of years. The soil, as it passes, little by little, -through the bodies of the worms, undergoes certain chemical changes -which fit it afresh for its ever-renewed work of plant-sustenance.</p> - -<p>There are some who, viewing the castings as an eyesore on their lawns, -cast about for means of destroying the worms. This is unwise policy, and -would soon lead to the impoverishment of the grass. The castings, when -dry, are easily broken down by the roller or the birch-broom, and the -grass receives the beneficent top-dressing that assures its well-being -and healthy continuance.</p> - -<p>The only part of the garden at Auchincruive that is obedient to -rectangular form, is the kitchen garden and the ground about it. The -kitchen garden lies some way back from the house and river, and, with -its greenhouses, is for the most part hidden by two long old yew hedges -which run in the direction of the river. One of these appears in the -picture, with its outer ornament of bright border of autumn flowers. -Here are Tritomas, Gypsophila in mist-like clouds, tall Evening Primrose -and Campanula pyramidalis, both purple and white, with many other good -hardy flowers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106">{106}</a></span></p> - -<p>The red-leaved tree illustrates a question which often arises in the -writer’s mind as to whether trees and shrubs of this coloured foliage, -such as Prunus Pissardi and Copper Beech and Copper Hazel are not of -doubtful value in the general garden landscape. Trees of the darkest -green, as this very picture shows by its dark upright yews, are always -of value, but the red-leaved tree, though in the present case it has -been tenderly treated by the artist, is apt to catch the eye as a -violent and discordant patch among green foliage. Especially is this the -case with the darker form of copper beech, which, in autumn, takes a -dull, solid, heavy kind of colour, especially when seen from a little -distance, that is often a disfiguring blot in an otherwise beautiful -landscape.</p> - -<p>The same criticism may occasionally apply to trees of conspicuous golden -foliage, but errors in planting these, though often made, may easily be -avoided by suitable grouping and association with white and yellow -flowers. Indeed it would be delightful to work out a whole golden -garden.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_043" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_043.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_043.jpg" width="600" height="422" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE YEW ARBOUR, LYDE</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Mr. George E. B. Wrey</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107">{107}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="YEW_ARBOUR_LYDE" id="YEW_ARBOUR_LYDE"></a>YEW ARBOUR: LYDE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">It</span> is not in large gardens only that hardy flowers are to be seen in -perfection. Often the humblest wayside cottage may show such a picture -of plant-beauty as will put to shame the best that can be seen at the -neighbouring squire’s. And where labouring folk have a liking for -clipped yews, their natural good taste and ingenuity often turns them -into better forms than are seen among the examples of more pretentious -topiary work.</p> - -<p>The cottager has the undoubted advantage that, as his tree is usually an -isolated one, he can see by its natural way of growth the kind of figure -it suggests for his clipping; whereas the gardener in the large place -usually has to follow a fixed design. So it is that one may see in a -cottage garden such a handsome example as the yew in the picture.</p> - -<p>The lower part of the tree is nearly square in plan, with a niche cut -out for a narrow seat. There is space enough between the top of this and -the underside of the great mushroom-shaped canopy, to allow the upper -surface of the square base to be green and healthy. The great rounded -top proudly carries its handsome crest, that is already a good ornament -and will improve year by year. The garden is raised above the road and -only separated from it by a wall which is low on the garden side and -deeper to the road. It passes by the side of the yew, so that the -occupier of the seat commands a view of the road and all that goes along -it, and can exchange greetings and gossip with those who pass by.</p> - -<p>The cottagers of the neighbourhood—it is in Herefordshire, about four -miles from Hereford—have a special fancy for these clipped yews; many -examples may be met with in an afternoon’s walk. Not very far<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108">{108}</a></span> from this -is a capital peacock excellently rendered in conventional fashion. It -stands well above a high pedestal, one side of which is hollowed out for -a little seat.</p> - -<p>One may well understand what a pride and pleasure and amusing interest -these clipped trees are to the cottage folk; how after each year’s -clipping they would discuss and criticise the result and note the -progress of the growth towards the hoped-for form. A pile of cheeses is -a favourite pattern, sometimes on a square base, with the topmost -ornament cut into a spire or even a crown.</p> - -<p>The English peasant has a love for ornament that always strives to find -some kind of expression. In many parts the thatcher makes a kind of -basket ornament on the top of his rick; and the pattern of crossed -laths, pegged down with the hazel “spars” that finishes the thatched -cottage roof near the eaves, is of true artistic value. The carter loves -to dress his horses for town or market, and a fine team, with worsted -ribbons in mane and headstall, and quantities of gleaming -highly-polished brasses, is indeed a pleasant sight upon the country -high road.</p> - -<p>Now, alas! when cheap rubbish, misnamed ornamental, floods village shops -and finds its way into the cottages, the cottager’s taste, which was -always true and good as long as it depended on its own prompting and -instinct, and could only deal with the simplest materials, is rapidly -becoming bewildered and debased. All the more, therefore, let us value -and cherish these ornaments of the older traditions; the bright little -gardens and the much-prized clipped yew.</p> - -<p>A usual feature of these cottage yews is that the seat is for one person -alone. The labourer sits in his little retreat enjoying his evening pipe -after his day’s work, while the wife puts the children to bed and gets -the supper. Probably he has been harvesting all day, and his strong -frame is tired, with that feeling of almost pleasant fatigue that comes -to a wholesome body after a good day’s work well done; and when the -hardly-earned rest is thoroughly enjoyed. So he sits quite quiet, with -one eye on the possible interests of his outer world, the road, and the -other on the beauty of his flower-border. And what a pretty double -border it is, with its grand mass of pink Japan Anemone and -well-flowered clump of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109">{109}</a></span> Goldilocks (one of the few yellow-bloomed -Michaelmas Daisies), looking at its near relation in purple over the -way.</p> - -<p>A graceful little Plum-tree shoots up through the flowers; its long free -shoots of tender green seem to laugh at the rigid surface of the clipped -yew beyond. Don’t be too confident about your freedom, little Plum; it -is more than likely that you will be severely pruned next winter. But -you need not mind, for if you lose one kind of beauty, you will gain -others; the pure white bloom of spring-time, and the autumn burden of -purple fruit; and be both handsome and useful, like your neighbour the -old yew.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110">{110}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="AUTUMN_FLOWERS" id="AUTUMN_FLOWERS"></a>AUTUMN FLOWERS</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">How</span> stout and strong and full of well-being they are—the autumn flowers -of our English gardens! Hollyhocks, Tritomas, Sunflowers, Phloxes, among -many others, and lastly, Michaelmas Daisies. The flowers of the early -year are lowly things, though none the less lovable; Primroses, Double -Daisies, Anemones, small Irises, and all the beautiful host of small -Squill and Snow-Glory and little early Daffodils. Then come the taller -Daffodils and Wallflowers, Tulips, and the old garden Peonies and the -lovely Tree Peonies. Then the true early summer flowers.</p> - -<p>If you notice, as the seasons progress, the average of the flowering -plants advances in stature. By June this average has risen again, with -the Sea Hollies and Flag Irises, the Chinese Peonies and the earlier -Roses. And now there are some quite tall things. Mulleins seven and -eight feet high, some of them from last year’s seed, but the greater -number from the seed-shedding of the year before; the great white-leaved -Mullein (<i>Verboscum olympicum</i>), taking four years to come to flowering -strength. But what a flower it is, when it is at last thrown up! What a -glorious candelabrum of branching bloom! Perhaps there is no other hardy -plant whose bulk of bloom on a single stem fills so large a space. And -what a grand effect it has when it is rightly planted; when its great -sulphur spire shows, half or wholly shaded, against the dusk of a wood -edge or in some sheltered bay, where garden is insensibly melting into -woodland. This is the place for these grand plants (for their flowers -flag in hot sunshine), in company with white Foxglove and the tall -yellow Evening Primrose, another tender bloom that is shy of sunlight. -Four o’clock of a June morning is the time to see these fine things at -their best, when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111">{111}</a></span> birds are waking up, and but for them the world is -still, and the Cluster-Roses are opening their buds. No one can know the -whole beauty of a Cluster-Rose who has not seen it when the summer day -is quite young; when the buds of such a rose as the Garland have just -burst open and the sun has not yet bleached their wonderful tints of -shell-pink and tenderest shell-yellow into their only a little less -beautiful colouring of full midday.</p> - -<p>By July there are still more of our tall garden flowers; the stately -Delphiniums, seven, eight, and nine feet high; tall white Lilies; the -tall yellow Meadow-Rues, Hollyhocks, and Sweet Peas in plenty.</p> - -<p>By August we are in autumn; and it is the month of the tall Phloxes. -There are some who dislike the sweet, faint and yet strong scent of -these flowers; to me it is one of the delights of the flower year.</p> - -<p>No garden flower has been more improved of late years; a whole new range -of excellent and brilliant colouring has been developed. I can remember -when the only Phloxes were a white and a poor Lilac; the individual -flowers were small and starry and set rather widely apart. They were -straggly-looking things, though always with the welcome sweet scent. -Nowadays we all know the beauty of these fine flowers; the large size of -the massive heads and of the individual blooms; the pure whites, the -good Lilacs and Pinks, and that most desirable range of salmon-rose -colourings, of which one of the first that made a lively stir in the -world of horticulture was the one called <i>Lothair</i>. In its own colouring -of tender salmon-rose it is still one of the best. Careful seed-saving -among the brighter flowers of this colouring led to the tints tending -towards scarlet, among which <i>Etna</i> was a distinct advance, to be -followed, a year or two later, by the all-conquering <i>Coquelicot</i>. Some -florists have also pushed this docile flower into a range of colouring -which is highly distasteful to the trained colour-eye of the educated -amateur; a series of rank purples and virulent magentas; but these can -be avoided. What is now most wanted, and seems to be coming, is a range -of tender, rather light Pinks, that shall have no trace of the rank -quality that seems so unwilling to leave the Phloxes of this colouring.</p> - -<p>Garden Phloxes were originally hybrids of two or three North<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112">{112}</a></span> American -species; for garden purposes they are divided into two groups, the -earlier, blooming in July, much shorter in stature and more bushy, being -known as the <i>suffruticosa</i> group, the later, taller kinds being classed -as the <i>decussata</i>. They are a little shy of direct sunlight, though -they can bear it in strong soils where the roots are always cool. They -like plenty of food and moisture; in poor, dry, sandy soils they fail -absolutely, and even if watered and carefully watched, look miserable -objects.</p> - -<p>But where Phloxes do well, and this is in most good garden ground, they -are the glory of the August flower-border.</p> - -<p> <br />  </p> - -<p>In the teaching and practice of good gardening the fact can never be too -persistently urged nor too trustfully accepted, that the best effects -are accomplished by the simplest means. The garden artist or artist -gardener is for ever searching for these simple pictures; generally the -happy combination of some two kinds of flowers that bloom at the same -time, and that make either kindly harmonies or becoming contrasts.</p> - -<p>In trying to work out beautiful garden effects, besides those purposely -arranged, it sometimes happens that some little accident—such as the -dropping of a seed, that has grown and bloomed where it was not -sown—may suggest some delightful combination unexpected and unthought -of. At another time some small spot of colour may be observed that will -give the idea of the use of this colour in some larger treatment.</p> - -<p>It is just this self-education that is needed for the higher and more -thoughtful gardening, whose outcome is the simply conceived and -beautiful pictures, whether they are pictures painted with the brush on -paper or canvas, or with living plants in the open ground. In both cases -it needs alike the training of the eye to observe, of the brain to note, -and of the hand to work out the interpretation.</p> - -<p>The garden artist—by which is to be understood the true lover of good -flowers, who has taken the trouble to learn their ways and wants and -moods, and to know it all so surely that he can plant with the assured -belief that the plants he sets will do as he intends, just as the -painter can</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_044" style="width: 478px;"> -<a href="images/ill_044.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_044.jpg" width="478" height="600" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>PHLOX AND DAISY</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF <span class="smcap">Lady Mount-Stephen</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113">{113}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">compel and command the colours on his palette—plants with an unerring -hand and awaits the sure result.</p> - -<p>When one says “the simplest means,” it does not always mean the easiest. -Many people begin their gardening by thinking that the making and -maintaining of a handsome and well-filled flower-border is quite an easy -matter. In fact, it is one of the most difficult problems in the whole -range of horticultural practice—wild gardening perhaps excepted. To -achieve anything beyond the ordinary commonplace mixture, that is -without plan or forethought, and that glares with the usual faults of -bad colour-combinations and yawning, empty gaps, needs years of -observation and a considerable knowledge of plants and their ways as -individuals.</p> - -<p>For border plants to be at their best must receive special consideration -as to their many and different wants. We have to remember that they are -gathered together in our gardens from all the temperate regions of the -world, and from every kind of soil and situation. From the sub-arctic -regions of Siberia to the very edges of the Sahara; from the cool and -ever-moist flanks of the Alps to the sun-dried coasts of the -Mediterranean; from the Cape, from the great mountain ranges of India; -from the cool and temperate Northern States of America—the home of the -species from which our garden Phloxes are derived; from the sultry -slopes of Chili and Peru, where the Alströmerias thrust their roots deep -down into the earth searching for the precious moisture.</p> - -<p>So it is that as our garden flowers come to us from many climes and many -soils, we have to bear in mind the nature of their places of origin the -better to be prepared to give them suitable treatment. We have to know, -for instance, which are the few plants that will endure drought and a -poor, hot soil; for the greater number abhor it; and yet such places -occur in some gardens and have to be provided with what is suitable. -Then we have to know which are those that will only come to their best -in a rich loam, and that the Phloxes are among these, and the Roses; and -which are the plants and shrubs that must have lime, or at least must -have it if they are to do their very best. Such are the Clematises and -many of the lovely little alpines; while to some other plants, many of -the alpines that grow on the granite, and nearly all the Rhododendrons, -lime is absolute poison; for, entering the system and being drawn up -into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114">{114}</a></span> circulation, it clogs and bursts their tiny veins; the leaves -turn yellow, the plant dies, or only survives in a miserably crippled -state.</p> - -<p>An experienced gardener, if he were blindfolded, and his eyes uncovered -in an unknown garden whose growths left no soil visible, could tell its -nature by merely seeing the plants and observing their relative -well-being, just as, passing by rail or road through an unfamiliar -district, he would know by the identity and growth of the wild plants -and trees what was the nature of the soil beneath them.</p> - -<p>The picture, then, showing autumn Phloxes grandly grown, tells of good -gardening and of a strong, rich loamy soil. This is also proved by the -height of the Daisies (<i>Chrysanthemum maximum</i>). But the lesson the -picture so pleasantly teaches is above all to know the merit of one -simple thing well done. Two charming little stone figures of <i>amorini</i> -stand up on their plinths among the flowers; the boy figure holds a -bird’s nest, his girl companion a shell. They are of a pattern not -unfrequent in English gardens, and delightfully in sympathy with our -truest home flowers. The quiet background of evergreen hedge admirably -suits both figures and flowers.</p> - -<p>It is all quite simple—just exactly right. Daisies—always the -children’s flowers, and, with them, another of wide-eyed innocence, of -dainty scent, of tender colouring. Quite simple and just right; but -then—it is in the artist’s own garden.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115">{115}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="MYNTHURST" id="MYNTHURST"></a>MYNTHURST</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">At</span> the time the picture was painted, Mynthurst was in the occupation of -Mrs. Wilson, to the work of whose niece, Miss Radcliffe, the garden owes -much of its charm.</p> - -<p>It lies in the pleasant district between Reigate and Dorking, on a -southward sloping hill-side. The house is a modern one of Tudor -character, standing on a terrace that has a retaining wall and steps to -a lower level. The garden lies open to the south and south-westerly -gales, the prevalent winds of the district, but it is partly sheltered -by the walls of the kitchen garden, and by a yew hedge which runs -parallel with one of the walls; the space so inclosed making a sheltered -place for the rose garden. Here Roses rise in ranks one above the other, -and have a delightful and most suitable carpet of Love-in-a-mist. This -pretty annual, so welcome in almost any region of the garden, is -especially pretty with Roses of tender colouring; whites, pale yellows, -and pale pinks. A picture elsewhere shows it combined with Rose -<i>Viscountess Folkestone</i>.</p> - -<p>Beyond the rose garden, a path leads away at a right angle between the -orchard and the kitchen-garden wall. Here is the subject of the picture. -A broad border runs against the wall, as long as the length of the -kitchen garden. A border so wide is difficult to manage unless it has a -small blind alley at the back rather near the wall, to give access to -what is on the wall and to the taller plants in the back of the border. -But here it is arranged in another way. The front edge of the border is -not continuous, but has little paths at intervals cutting across it and -reaching nearly to the wall. This method of obtaining easy access also<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116">{116}</a></span> -has its merits, though it involves a large amount of edging. Mynthurst -has a strong soil, an advantage not always to be had in this district, -so that Roses can be well grown, and some of the Lilies. Here the Tiger -Lily, that fine autumn flower, does finely. It is one of the Lilies that -is puzzling, or as we call it, capricious, which only means that we -gardeners are ignorant and do not understand its vagaries. For in some -other heavy soils it refuses to grow, and in some light ones it -luxuriates; but it is so good a plant that it should be tried in every -garden.</p> - -<p>It is a pretty plan to have the orchard in connexion with the -flower-borders; though from the point of view of good gardening the -wisdom is doubtful of having clumps of flowers round the trunks of the -fruit-trees. Shallow-rooted annuals for a season or two may do no harm, -but the disturbance of the ground needful for constant cultivation, with -the inevitable consequence of worry and irritation of the fruit-trees’ -roots, can hardly fail to be harmful, though the effect meanwhile is -certainly pretty. The evil may not show at once, but is likely to -follow.</p> - -<p>One does not often see so strong a Canterbury Bell in the autumn as the -one in the picture. It must have been a weak or belated plant of last -year that made strong growth in early summer. Sometimes one sees such a -plant that had remained in the kitchen-garden reserve bed; left there -because it was weaker than the ones taken for planting out in autumn. It -is not generally known that these capital plants will bear potting when -they are almost in bloom, so that when a few are so left, they can be -used as highly decorative room plants, and have the advantage of lasting -much longer than when in the open border, exposed to the sun. One defect -these good plants have, which is the way the dying flowers suddenly turn -brown. Instead of merely fading and falling, and so decently veiling -their decadence, the brown flowers hang on and are very unsightly. It is -only, however, a challenge to the vigilance of the careful gardener; -they must be visited in the morning garden-round and the dead flowers -removed. It is like the care needed to arrest the depredations of the -mullein caterpillar. It is no use wondering whether it will come, or -hoping it will not appear; <i>it always comes</i> where there are mulleins, -about the second week of June. When the first tiny enemy is seen, any -mulleins there may be should be visited twice a day.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_045" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_045.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_045.jpg" width="600" height="404" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>MYNTHURST</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Radcliffe</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117">{117}</a></span></p> - -<p>In the front of the picture, just under the red rose, is a patch of -<i>Mimulus</i>, one of the larger variations of the brilliant little <i>M. -cardinalis</i>. All the kinds like a cool, strong soil; they are really bog -plants, and revel in moisture. The old Sweet Musk, so favourite a plant -in cottage windows, likes a half-shady place at the foot of a cool wall. -Many a dull, sunless yard might be brightened by this sweet and pretty -plant. The Welsh Poppy, with its bright pale-green leaves and good -yellow bloom, is also excellent for the same use, but is best sown in -place from a just-ripened pod.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118">{118}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="ABBEY_LEIX" id="ABBEY_LEIX"></a>ABBEY LEIX</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> a picturesque, but little-known district in Queen’s County, Ireland, -lies Abbey Leix, the residence of Lord de Vesci. It is a land of -vigorous tree-growth and general richness of vegetation. Hedge-rows show -an abundance of well-grown ash timber, and the park is full of fine -oaks, a thing that is rare in Ireland, and that makes it more like -English parkland of the best character. This impression is accentuated -in spring-time when the oaks are carpeted with the blue of wild -Hyacinths, and when the broad woodland rides are also rivers of the same -Blue-bells.</p> - -<p>In this favoured land the common Laurel is a beautiful tree, thirty feet -high; the mildness of the winter climate allowing it to grow unchecked. -Only those who have seen it in tree form in the best climates of our -islands, or in Southern Europe, know the true nature of the Laurel’s -growth, or the poetry and mystery of its moods and aspects. The long -grey limbs shoot upward and bend and arch in a manner almost fantastic. -Sometimes a stem will incline downwards and run along the ground, -followed by another. In the evening half-light they might be giant -silver-scaled serpents, writhing and twisting and then springing aloft -and becoming lost to sight in the dim masses of the crowning foliage. -Seen thus one can hardly reconcile its identity with that of the poor, -tamed, often-clipped bush of every garden. The Laurel is so docile, so -easily coerced to the making of a quickly-grown hedge or useful screen, -that its better qualities as an unmutilated tree in a mild district are -usually lost sight of.</p> - -<p>The house at Abbey Leix is a stone building of classical design of the -middle of the eighteenth century. On the northern front is the entrance</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_046" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_046.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_046.jpg" width="600" height="419" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>ABBEY-LEIX</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir James Whitehead, Bart</span>.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119">{119}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">forecourt; on the southern, the garden. Here, next the house, is a wide -terrace, bounded on the outer side by the parapet of a retaining wall, -and next the building, by a running <i>guilloche</i> of box-edged beds filled -with low-growing plants. The terrace has a semi-circular ending, near -the eastern wall of the house, formed of an evergreen hedge, with a -wooden seat following the same line, and a sundial at the radial point. -At the other end, the terrace ends in a flight of downward steps leading -to large green spaces, with fine trees and flowering shrubs, and -eventually to the walled gardens. Straight across the terrace from the -house is the parterre, whose centre ornament is an unusually -well-proportioned fountain of the same date as the house. It is circular -in plan, with a wide lower basin and two graduated superimposed tazzas. -From this, four cross-paths radiate; the quarters are filled mainly with -half-hardy flowers such as Gladiolus; the design being accentuated at -several points by the upright growing Florence Court Yews. The parterre -is inclosed by a low wall, backed by a clipped evergreen hedge; on the -wall stand at intervals graceful stone figures of <i>amorini</i>, identical -in character with those shown in the picture of Phlox and Daisy, and -apparently designed by the same hand.</p> - -<p>The steps at the western end of the terrace are wide and handsome, and -are also ornamented with sculptured <i>amorini</i>. The path leads onward, at -first directly forward, but a little later in a curved line through a -region of lawn and stream, with trees and groups of flowering shrubs. -Here and there, on the grass by itself, is one of the free-growing -Roses, rightly left without any support, and showing the natural -fountain-like growth that so well displays the beauty of many of the -Roses of the old Ayrshire class and of some of the more modern ramblers. -The path passes one end of an avenue of large trees, and, after a while, -turning to the left, reaches the kitchen gardens, consisting of several -walled inclosures. One of these, of which one wall is occupied by -vineries, has been made into a flower garden, where hardy flowers, -grandly grown, are in the wide borders next the wall. A portion of such -borders, in an adjoining compartment of the garden, forms the subject of -the picture.</p> - -<p>The inner space is divided into two squares, one having as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120">{120}</a></span> centre a -rustic summer-house almost hidden by climbing plants; from this -radiating grass paths pass between beds of flowers. The outer borders in -the next walled compartment are ten feet wide, and are finely filled -with all the best summer plants, perennial, annual and biennial. The -fine pale yellow <i>Anthemis tinctoria</i> is here grown in the way this good -plant deserves, and its many companions, Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, Japan -Anemones, Phloxes and Lavender; annual Chrysanthemums, Gladiolus, -Carnations, Tritomas, and all such good things, are cleverly and -worthily used, and, with the graceful arches of free Roses and white -Everlasting Pea, make delightful garden pictures in all directions.</p> - -<p>The garden of Abbey Leix is one of those places that so pleasantly shows -the well-directed intention of one who is in close sympathy with garden -beauty; for everywhere it reflects the fine horticultural taste and -knowledge of Lady de Vesci, who made the garden what it is.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121">{121}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="MICHAELMAS_DAISIES" id="MICHAELMAS_DAISIES"></a>MICHAELMAS DAISIES</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Early</span> in September, when the autumn flowers are at their finest, some of -the Starworts are in bloom. Even in August they have already begun, with -the beautiful low-growing <i>Aster acris</i>, one of the brightest of flowers -of lilac or pale purple colouring. From the time this pretty plant is in -bloom to near the end of October, and even later, there is a constant -succession of these welcome Michaelmas Daisies. The number of kinds good -for garden use is now so great that the growers’ plant lists are only -bewildering, and those who do not know their Daisies should see them in -some good nursery or private garden and make their own notes. As in the -case of Phloxes, the improvement in the garden kinds is of recent years, -for I can remember the time when it was a rare thing to see in a garden -any other Michaelmas Daisy than a very poor form of <i>Novi-Belgii</i>, a -plant of such mean quality that, if it came up as a seedling in our -gardens to-day, it would be sent at once to the rubbish heap.</p> - -<p>When the learner begins to acquire a Daisy-eye he will see what a large -proportion of the garden kinds are related to this same <i>Novi-Belgii</i>, -the Starwort of New England. The greater number of the garden varieties -are derived from North American species, but they hybridise so freely -that it is now impossible to group the garden plants with any degree of -botanical accuracy. But the amateur may well be content with a generally -useful garden classification, and he will probably learn to know his -<i>Novi-Belgii</i> first. Then he will come to those <i>Novi-Belgii</i> that are -from the species <i>lævis</i>, rather wider and brighter green of leaf and -only half the height. Then, once known, he cannot mistake <i>Novæ-Angliæ</i>, -with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122">{122}</a></span> its hairy and slightly viscid stem and foliage, and strong smell, -and its two distinct colourings—rich purples and reddish pinks. Then -again, if he observes his plants in early summer, he can never mistake -the heart-shaped root-leaves of <i>cordifolius</i> for any other. This is one -of the most beautiful of the mid-season Starworts, with its myriads of -small flowers gracefully disposed on the large spreading panicles. Of -this the best known and most useful are <i>A. cordifolius elegans</i> and a -paler-coloured and most dainty variety called <i>Diana</i>.</p> - -<p>Once seen he can never forget the low-growing early <i>A. acris</i> or the -good garden varieties of <i>A. Amellus</i>, both from European species. -Several other kinds, both tall and short, early and late, will be added -to those named, but these may be taken as perhaps the best to begin -with.</p> - -<p>Where space can be given, it is well to set apart a separate border for -these fine plants alone. This is done in the garden where Mr. Elgood -found his subject. Here the Starworts occupy a double border about eight -feet wide and eighty feet long. They are carefully but not conspicuously -staked with stiff, branching spray cut out the winter before from oaks -and chestnuts that had been felled. The spray is put in towards the end -of June, when the Asters are making strong growth. The borders are -planted and regulated with the two-fold aim of both form and colour -beauty. In some places rather tall kinds come forward; in the case of -some of the most graceful, such as <i>cordifolius Diana</i>, the growths -being rather separated to show the pretty form of the individual branch. -In others it was thought that their best use was as a flowery mass. Each -kind is treated at the time of staking according to its own character, -and so as best to display its natural form and most obvious use. Like -all the best flower gardening it is the painting of a picture with -living plants, but, unlike painting, it is done when the palette is -empty of its colours. Still the good garden-planter who has intimate -acquaintance and keen sympathy with his plants, can plant by knowledge -and faith; by knowledge in his certainty of recollection of the habit -and stature and colour of his plants; by faith in that he knows that if -he does his part well the growing thing will be docile to his sure -guidance.</p> - -<p>In these borders of Michaelmas Daisies one other flowering plant is</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_047" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_047.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_047.jpg" width="600" height="426" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>MICHAELMAS DAISIES, MUNSTEAD WOOD</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. T. Norton Longman</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123">{123}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">admitted, and well deserves its place, namely, that fine white Daisy -<i>Pyrethrum uliginosum</i>, otherwise <i>Chrysanthemum serotinum</i>. There can -be no doubt that it is a daisy flower and that it blooms at Michaelmas; -facts that alone would give it a right to a place among the Michaelmas -Daisies. But it has all the more claim to its place among them in that -it is the handsomest of the large white Daisies, and, though there are -white kinds and varieties of the perennial Asters, not one of them can -approach it for size or pictorial effect. There is also the still taller -<i>Chrysanthemum leucanthemum</i> or <i>Leucanthemum lacustre</i>, but this is a -plant that has an element of coarseness, and unless the spaces are -large, and the Asters are thrown up to an unusual size by a strong and -rich soil, it looks heavy and out of proportion.</p> - -<p>Towards the front of the main portions of the Aster borders are rather -bold, but quite informal edgings of grey-leaved plants such as white -Pink, Stachys and Lavender-cotton; in places only a few inches wide, as -where the rich purple, gold-eyed <i>Aster Amellus</i> comes to within a few -inches of the path, in the white Pink’s region, or again, where the -grey, bushy masses of Lavender-cotton run in a yard deep among the -Daisies.</p> - -<p>About fifteen sorts are used in this double border; very early and very -late ones are excluded, so as to have a good display from the third week -of September for a month onward. They are mostly in rather large groups -of one kind together.</p> - -<p>There is a more than usual pleasure in such a Daisy garden, kept apart -and by itself; because the time of its best beauty is just the time when -the rest of the garden is looking tired and overworn—evidently dying -for the year. Some trees are already becoming bare of leaves; the tall -sunflowers look bedraggled; Dahlias have been pinched by frost and -battered by autumn gales, and it is impossible to keep up any pretence -of well-being in the borders of other hardy flowers.</p> - -<p>Then with the eye full of the warm colouring of dying vegetation and the -few remaining blooms of perennial Helianthus and half-hardy marigolds of -the fading borders, to pass through some screening evergreens to the -fresh, clean, lively colouring of the lilac, purple and white Daisies, -is like a sudden change from decrepit age to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124">{124}</a></span> brightness of youth, -from the gloom of late autumn to the joy of full springtide.</p> - -<p>Another excellent way of growing the perennial Asters is among shrubs, -and preferably among Rhododendrons, whose rich green forms a fine -background for their tender grace, and whose stiff branches give them -the support they need.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_048" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_048.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_048.jpg" width="600" height="396" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE ALCOVE, ARLEY</p> - -<p>FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Campbell</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125">{125}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="ARLEY" id="ARLEY"></a>ARLEY</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Throughout</span> the length and breadth of England it would be hard to find -borders of hardy flowers handsomer or in any way better done than those -at Arley in Cheshire. The house, an old one, was much enlarged by the -late Mr. R. E. Egerton-Warburton, and the making of the gardens, now -come to their young maturity, was the happy work of many years of his -life. Here we see the spirit of the old Italian gardening, in no way -slavishly imitated, but wholesomely assimilated and sanely interpreted -to fit the needs of the best kind of English garden of the formal type, -as to its general plan and structure. It is easy to see in the picture -how happily mated are formality and freedom; the former in the garden’s -comfortable walls of living greenery with their own appropriate -ornaments, and the latter in the grandly grown borders of hardy flowers.</p> - -<p>The subject of the picture is the main feature in the garden plan. A -path some fifteen feet wide, with grassy verges of ample width, and deep -borders of hardy flowers. What is shown is about one fourth of the whole -length. At the back of the right-hand border is the high old wall of the -kitchen garden; on the left, as grand a wall of yew, ten feet high and -five feet thick, its straight line pleasantly broken and varied by -shaped buttresses of clipped yew, whose forms take that distinct light -and shade, and strong variations of solidity of green colouring, that -make the surfaces of our clipped English yew so valuable a ground-work -for masses of brilliant flowers.</p> - -<p>The same yew buttresses are against the wall on the right, placed -symmetrically with the ones opposite. Near the end, as shown in the -picture, the last pair of buttresses come forward the whole width<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126">{126}</a></span> of -the border, each buttress ending in an important shaped finial to the -front. Between these and the well-designed alcove in stone masonry that -so satisfactorily ends the walk, is a space of turf, leading on the -left, through an arch cut in the ten-foot-high yew hedge, to the -bowling-green. Nothing can make a more effective shelter than such grand -yew hedges; the solid wall itself is scarcely better. Even on the -roughest days, with a storm of wind of destructive power outside, the -space within is calm and sheltered, and the flowers escape that cruel -battering from fierce blasts that add so much to the difficulty of -gardening in exposed places. But the planting and thus providing this -much-needed shelter is just good gardening, and when, in addition, it is -done to a design of happy invention and true proportion, with just such -refinements of detail and ornament as are suited to the garden’s calibre -and the owner’s endowment, then, with the addition of splendid masses of -good flowers grandly grown, do we find gardening at its best.</p> - -<p>The time of year of this picture is in or near the second week of July, -when the White Lily is at its finest, and the Orange Lily is in bloom, -with the Blue Delphinium and many another good garden flower. One can -see how all the best garden flowers are utilised here. There is the -White Sidalcea at the front of the border, one of the many plants of the -Mallow family that are so important in our borders; for our grand -Hollyhocks are Mallows too. This White Sidalcea has much the same value -as the large White Snapdragon, one good variety of which, the precursor -of the many good large kinds now grown, was the only one of its kind at -the time the picture was painted. Of late their numbers have greatly -increased, and also their stature and the variety of their beautiful -colourings, so that now they can be used as tall plants of great effect. -Six feet two inches was the measurement of one grand spike of soft, rosy -colouring in the writer’s own garden last autumn. These capital plants -have been “fixed,” as gardeners say, in ranges of different heights; -tall, intermediate, and the quite dwarf little cushions whose form is -perhaps as little suited to the character of the plant as the foolish -little dwarf Sweet Peas, that are only wilfully wanton, freakish -distortions of a beautiful and graceful plant, whose duty it is to climb -and bring its pretty blooms up to the level of our admiring eyes and -appreciative noses. A good strong</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_049" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_049.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_049.jpg" width="600" height="405" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>THE ROSE GARDEN, ARLEY</p> - -<p class="nind">from the picture in the possession of</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Huth</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127">{127}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">soil is shown by the well-being of the White Lily and Phlox, Sweet -Williams and double Scarlet Potentilla. Carnations are largely grown in -the borders; the great Orange Lily (<i>L. croceum</i>) has just given place -to the White; Canterbury Bells are in grand masses, and the sturdier -plants are interspersed with graceful fragilities, such as the -long-spurred yellow Californian Columbine.</p> - -<p>To the left of the alcove an archway cut in the yew hedge leads to the -bowling-green. This also is inclosed and sheltered by yew hedges. There -is a terrace all round, from which it is pleasant to watch the game. -Next to this, and following along the line of the yew hedge, is a square -inclosure of turf, with a few clipped yews. This is a kind of ante-room -to the rose-garden. High walls of yew are all around except to this -garden, where they are low and shaped. The middle space of the -rose-garden has beds concentrically arranged, leaving spandrils of beds -of other shape. At the end is a garden-house, and a wide way out to lawn -spaces with fine trees and flowering shrubs. A broad gravel walk at the -boundary of the lawn, with a wide grass outer verge and the knee-high -top of the wall of a sunk fence, that separates it from the park, leads -leftwards to the house. From this walk there is a very beautiful view -across the steeply-falling gradient of the park to the lake. The park -has grand old oak trees that fall into picturesque groups. Beyond the -lake again are fine masses of timber. The lake is a sheet of water that -takes a winding course and disappears among the trees.</p> - -<p>The kitchen-garden walls are interesting survivals of an old way of -treating fruit-trees. They are three feet thick and honeycombed with -flues for heating. It was a clumsy and unmanageable expedient practised -in the days before the circulation of water in pipes heated from one -boiler was understood. The modern orchard-house is much more convenient -and its working absolutely under control.</p> - -<p>The kitchen garden lies between the house and the newer gardens that -have been described. The maze should not be forgotten. It is at the back -of the alcove and the bowling-green. These old garden toys are very -seldom planted now. Perhaps people have not time for them. Also they are -costly of labour; the area of green wall of a maze of even moderate -size, that has to be clipped yearly, if computed would<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128">{128}</a></span> amount to an -astonishing figure. Now that the possibilities of other forms of garden -delight are so much widened, it is small wonder that the maze should -have fallen into disuse. It must have been amusing in the older days -when people’s lives were simpler and more leisured; but there are -puzzles and difficulties enough in our more complicated days, and the -influences that we now want in a garden are soothing tranquillities -rather than bewildering perplexities. Near the maze and alcove is a -group of three great Lombardy Poplars that tells with extremely fine -effect from many parts of the garden.</p> - -<p>On one side of the house is an old parterre of the kind now but seldom -seen out of Italy; with elaborate scrolls and arabesques of clipped box; -the more characteristically Italian form of the “knotted” gardens of our -Tudor ancestors. The English patterns were much nearer akin to those -used so lavishly on gala clothing in the form of needlework of cording -and braiding, and the strap-work of wood-carving, while the Italian -parterre designs were drawn more freely in flowing lines and less rigid -forms.</p> - -<p>Opposite the porch is a sundial, supported by a kneeling figure of a -black slave, of the same design as the one in the gardens of the Inner -Temple, that was formerly at Clement’s Inn, and is known as the -“Blackamoor.” Like this one the figure is of lead.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="ill_050" style="width: 600px;"> -<a href="images/ill_050.jpg"> -<img src="images/ill_050.jpg" width="600" height="396" alt="[Image unavailable.]" /></a> -<div class="caption"><p>LADY COVENTRY’S NEEDLEWORK</p> - -<p class="nind">from the picture in the possession of</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Appleton</span></p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129">{129}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="LADY_COVENTRYS_NEEDLEWORK" id="LADY_COVENTRYS_NEEDLEWORK"></a>LADY COVENTRY’S NEEDLEWORK</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">This</span> is a pretty Midland name for the good garden plant commonly called -Red Valerian, or Spur Valerian (<i>Centranthus ruber</i>), that groups so -well in the picture with the straw-thatched beehives. How the name -originated cannot be exactly stated, but may easily be inferred. There -are several estates in the Midland Counties belonging to the Coventry -family, and, bearing in mind what we know of the home life of our -great-great-grandmothers of the late eighteenth century, it may be -assumed that some Lady Coventry of that date was specially fond of the -pretty needlecraft so widely practised among the ladies of that time.</p> - -<p>Delightful things they are, these old needlework pictures, with a -character quite different from that of their predecessors of Jacobean -times. These were much stiffer in treatment and usually had figures; a -lady and gentleman and a dog being usual subjects, and trees looking -like those out of a Noah’s Ark, no doubt interpretations of the -stiffly-cut yew and box trees of the gardens of the same times.</p> - -<p>But the workers of the flower-pictures of a hundred years later, and -into the first quarter of the nineteenth century, for the most part -chose flowers alone for their subjects. Sometimes a drawing was made, -but many of them look as if they were worked direct from the flowers. It -would appear that the worker would begin in the spring, with a Hyacinth; -then would come Anemones, Tulips, Auriculas, Lilac, Roses and Lilies; a -jumble of seasons but a concord of pretty things, and all done with a -simplicity, a sweetness, a directness of intention and absence of strain -or affectation, that give them a singular charm. One such picture that I -have before me must have been begun in May, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130">{130}</a></span> finished, perhaps, in -August and September; for the first flower in the upper left-hand -corner, where the work would naturally begin, is a thyrse of Lilac, and -the last, low down on the right, is a Nasturtium; while the intermediate -flowers, following each other in what would be approximately their -natural sequence, come in between. These are Pansy, Rose, Sweet Pea, -Love-in-a-Mist, Lily, Larkspur, Convolvulus, Carnation, Jasmine and -Passion-flower; and one Daisy-shaped flower, whose identity, considering -the numbers of possible Composites and the somewhat vague manner of the -rendering, cannot be determined, though all the other flowers are -capitally done and could not be mistaken.</p> - -<p>The disk of the Daisy-flower is worked in a mass of those little knots -that sit closely together, the secret of whose making is known to every -good needlewoman. They are a capital direct imitation of the group of -anthers in the centre of a flower.</p> - -<p>The glory of the picture, and what was evidently the delight of the -worker, is the Love-in-a-Mist, which stands above the others in the -middle top of the picture. The tender blue of the flower, shading to -white, the sharply-jagged edges of the petals, the green upstanding -forms in the centre, and, above all, the fennel-like divisions of the -involucre and the leaves, all lend themselves to satisfactory portrayal -with the needle; while the prominent position given to this charming -midsummer flower shows how the worker rejoiced in its beauty and took -pleasure in painting its form and colour in tender stitchery upon the -white silken ground of her picture. The Jasmine flowers, too, are done -with evident enjoyment as well as the neat, clear-cut leaves. The Rose -is a Moss-Rose, shown in three stages of bud and half-blown bloom, when -this charming Rose is at its best; the mossiness of the calyx being -cleverly suggested by short straw-coloured stitches that catch the light -upon a ground of dull green. The working material is floss silk, whose -silvery, shining surface, dark in some lights, makes a distinct effect -of light and shade in the case of the white flowers, even though they -are worked upon a ground that is also white.</p> - -<p>Sometimes these pictures are of a bunch of flowers without a receptacle, -but often there is a basket or vase. In this case there is a basket of -very simple form, standing on a darker table worked in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131">{131}</a></span> chenilles, -which were also much used. They are tiny ropes of silk velvet with an -effect of rich short pile, like the old velvets of Genoa.</p> - -<p>It is easy to see how the Red Valerian came to be used as a model for -needlework. Short stitches and long would easily render the small -divisions of the calyx and the long slender spur and single pistil, and -a quantity of this, representing the rather crowded flower-head, would -have a very good effect on a white or light ground.</p> - -<p>The plant itself is a pretty one in any garden. Botanists say that it is -not indigenous, but it has taken to the country and acclimatised itself, -and now behaves like a native; haunting quarries and railway cuttings in -the chalk. It is a capital plant for establishing on or in walls or bold -rockwork, as well as in the garden border. It is always thankful for -chalk or lime in any form.</p> - -<p class="fint">Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.<br /> -London & Edinburgh</p> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME ENGLISH GARDENS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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