THE SPRING GARDEN
As my garden falls naturally into various portions, distinct enough
from each other to allow of separate treatment, I have found it well to
devote one space at a time, sometimes mainly, sometimes entirely, to
the flowers of one season of the year.
There is therefore one portion that is a complete little garden of
spring flowers. It begins to show some bloom by the end of March, but
its proper season is the month of April and three weeks of May.
In many places the spring garden has to give way to the summer garden,
a plan that greatly restricts the choice of plants, and necessarily
excludes some of the finest flowers of the early year.
My spring garden lies at the end and back of a high wall that shelters
the big summer flower border from the north and north-west winds. The
line of the wall is continued as a Yew hedge that in time will rise
to nearly the same height, about eleven feet. At the far end the Yew
hedge returns to the left so as to fence in the spring flowers from the
east and to hide some sheds. The space also encloses some beds of Tree
Peonies and a plot of grass, roughly circular in shape, about eight
yards across, which is nearly surrounded by Oaks, Hollies and Cobnuts.
The plan shows its disposition. It is of no design; the space was
accepted with its own conditions, arranged in the simplest way as to
paths, and treated very carefully for colour. It really makes as pretty
a picture of spring flowers as one could wish to see.
The chief mass of colour is in the main border. The circles marked V
and M are strong plants of Veratrum and Myrrhis. Gardens of spring
flowers generally have a thin, poor effect for want of plants
of important foliage. The greater number of them look what they
are--temporary makeshifts. It seemed important that in this little
space, which is given almost entirely to spring flowers, this weakness
should not be allowed. But herbaceous plants of rather large growth
with fine foliage in April and May are not many. The best I could think
of are _Veratrum nigrum_, _Myrrhis odorata_ and the newer _Euphorbia
Wulfenii_. The _Myrrhis_ is the Sweet Cicely of old English gardens.
It is an umbelliferous plant with large fern-like foliage, that makes
early growth and flowers in the beginning of May. At three years old a
well-grown plant is a yard high and across. After that, if the plants
are not replaced by young ones they grow too large, though they can be
kept in check by a careful removal of the outer leaves and by cutting
out some whole crowns when the plant is making its first growth. The
Veratrum, with its large, deeply plaited, undivided leaves is in
striking contrast, but the two kinds of plants, in groups as the plan
shows, with running patches of the large form of _Megasea cordifolia_,
the great _Euphorbia Wulfenii_ and some groups of Black Hellebore,
just give that comfortable impression of permanence and distinct
intention that are usually so lamentably absent from gardens of spring
flowers.
[Illustration: _PLAN OF THE SPRING GARDEN._]
Many years ago I came to the conclusion that in all flower borders
it is better to plant in long rather than block-shaped patches. It
not only has a more pictorial effect, but a thin long planting does
not leave an unsightly empty space when the flowers are done and the
leaves have perhaps died down. The word "drift" conveniently describes
the shape I have in mind and I commonly use it in speaking of these
long-shaped plantings.
Such drifts are shown faintly in the plan, reduced in number and
simplified in form, but serving to show the general manner of planting.
There are of course many plants that look best in a distinct clump or
even as single examples, such as _Dictamnus_ (the Burning Bush), and
the beautiful pale yellow _Pæonia wittmanniana_, a single plant of
which is marked W near the beginning of the main border.
For the first seven or eight yards, in the front and middle spaces,
there are plants of tender colouring--pale Primroses, Tiarella, pale
yellow Daffodils, pale yellow early Iris, pale lemon Wallflower, double
Arabis, white Anemones and the palest of the lilac Aubrietias; also a
beautiful pale lilac Iris, one of the Caparne hybrids; with long drifts
of white and pale yellow Tulips--nothing deeper in colour than the
graceful _Tulipa retroflexa_. At the back of the border the colours are
darker; purple Wallflower and the great dull red-purple double Tulip
so absurdly called Bleu Celeste. These run through and among and behind
the first clump of Veratrums.
[Illustration: _THE FERN-LIKE SWEET CICELY._]
[Illustration: _THE SPRING GARDEN FROM_ =E= _ON PLAN. "FURTHER ROCK" IS
ON THE NEAR RIGHT HAND._]
In the middle of the length of the border there is still a good
proportion of tender and light colouring in front: white Primroses and
Daffodils; the pale yellow Uvularia and _Adonis vernalis_; but with
these there are stronger colours. Tulip Chrysolora of fuller yellow,
yellow Wallflowers, the tall Doronicum, and, towards the back, several
patches of yellow Crown Imperial.
Then again in front, with more double Arabis, is the lovely pale blue
of _Myosotis dissitiflora_ and _Mertensia virginica_, and, with sheets
of the foam-like Tiarella, the tender pink of _Dicentra eximia_ and
pink and rose-red Tulips. At the back of this come scarlet Tulips, the
stately cream-white form of _Camassia Leichtlini_ and a bold tuft of
Solomon's Seal; then Orange Tulips, brown Wallflowers, Orange Crown
Imperial, and taller scarlet Tulips of the _gesneriana_ class. The
strong colouring is repeated beyond the cross-path where the patches
of Acanthus are shown, with more orange Tulips, brown Wallflowers,
orange Crown Imperial and great flaming scarlet _gesneriana_ Tulips.
All this shows up finely against the background of dark yew. At the
extreme end, where the yew hedge returns forward at a right angle, this
point is accentuated by a raised mound of triangular shape, dry-walled
and slightly curved forward on the side facing the border and the
spectator. On this at the back is a young plant of _Yucca gloriosa_
for display in future years and a front planting of the large growing
_Euphorbia Wulfenii_, one of the grandest and most pictorial of plants
of recent acquirement for garden use.
The Acanthus and Yucca are of course plants of middle and late summer;
between them are some Tritomas. These plants are here because one of
the most often used of the garden thoroughfares passes the point C,
which is a thick-roofed arch of Rose and Clematis, and, seen from this
point and framed by the near greenery, they form a striking picture of
middle-distant form and colour in the later summer.
The space marked Further Rock is an upward-sloping bank; the Hollies
standing in rather higher ground. Here the plants are between, and
tumbling over, rocky ridges. Next the large Holly, and extending to
the middle of the rocky promontory, are again the strong reds and
browns, with accompanying bronze-red foliage of _Heuchera Richardsoni_.
This gives place to dark green carpeting masses of Iberis with
cold-white bloom, and, nearer the path, _Lithospermum prostratum_;
the flower-colour here changing, through white, to blue and bluish;
_Myosotis_ in front telling charmingly against the dark-leaved
_Lithospermum_. At the highest points, next to a great crowning
boulder, is the Common Blue Iris and a paler one of the beautiful
Caparne series. Then down to the path where it begins to turn is
a drift of the bluish lilac _Phlox divaricata_, and, opposite the
cross-path, some jewels of the newer pale yellow _Alyssum sulphureum_.
This rocky shoulder is also enlivened by a natural-looking but very
carefully considered planting of white Tulips that run through both the
blue and the red regions.
The corner marked Near Rock is also a slightly raised bank. The dark
dots are cobnuts; the dotted line between is where there are garlands
of _Clematis montana_ that swing on ropes between the nuts. The
garlands dip down and nearly meet the flowers of some pale pink Tree
Peonies. Open spaces above the garlands and under the meeting branches
of the nuts give glimpses of distant points where some little scheme
has been devised to please the eye, such as the bit of bank to the
left of Seat A, where there are two little fish-like drifts of palest
Aubrietia in a dense grey setting of Cerastium.
The point of the Near Rock next the path agrees with the colouring
opposite, but also has features of its own; a groundwork of grey
_Antennaria_, the soft lilac-pink of the good _Aubrietia Moorheimi_
changing to the left to the fuller pink of _Phlox amœna_, and above
to the type colour of Aubrietia and the newer strong purples such as
the variety Dr. Mules. To the left, towards the oaks, the colouring is
mostly purple, with strong tufts of the Spring Bitter Vetch (_Orobus
vernus_), purple Wallflowers, and, under and behind the nuts, purple
Honesty. Thin streams of white Tulips intermingle with other streams of
pink Tulips that crown the angle and flow down again to the main path
between ridges of double Arabis, white Iberis, and cloudy masses of the
pretty pale yellow _Corydalis ochroleuca_, which spreads into a wide
carpet under the Tree Peonies and Clematis garlands.
Further along, just clear of the nuts, are some patches of _Dielytra
spectabilis_, its graceful growth arching out over the lower stature
of pink Tulips and harmonising charmingly with the pinkish-green
foliage of the Tree Peonies just behind. The pink Tulips are here in
some quantity; they run boldly into pools of pale blue Myosotis, with
more Iberis where the picture demands the strongest, deepest green, and
more Corydalis where the softer, greyer tones will make it better.
The space marked Shade, always in shade from the nuts and oaks, is
planted with rather large patches of the handsome white-flowered
_Dentaria_, the graceful North American _Uvularia grandiflora_, in
habit like a small Solomon's Seal but with yellow flowers much larger
in proportion; with Myrrhis and purple Honesty at the back and sheets
of Sweet Woodruff to the front.
There are Tree Peonies in the long border and the two others. It is
difficult to grow them in my hot, dry, sandy soil, even though I make
them a liberal provision of just such a compost as I think they will
like. I have noticed that they do best when closely overshadowed by
some other growing thing. In the two near beds there are some Mme.
Alfred Carrière Roses that are trained to arch over to the angles,
so to comfort and encourage the Peonies. These beds have an informal
edging of _Stachys lanata_, one of the most useful of plants for grey
effects. Through it come white Tulips in irregular patches.
[Illustration: _"FURTHER ROCK," FROM_ =G= _ON PLAN_.]
[Illustration: _"FURTHER ROCK" FROM_ =H= _ON PLAN: IBERIS, PHLOX
STELLARIA AND PHLOX DIVARICATA, WHITE TULIPS AND BLUE IRIS_.]
The long border has also Tree Peonies planted about two and a half
feet from the edge. Partly to give the bed a sort of backbone, and
partly to shelter the Tree Peonies, it has some bushes of _Veronica
Traversi_ and one or two _Leycesteria formosa_. In the middle of the
length is a clump of _Lilium giganteum_ and a biggish grouping of
_Dielytra spectabilis_. All along the outer border there are patches
and long straggling groups of the pretty dwarf Irises of the _pumila_,
_olbiensis_ and _chamæ-iris_ sections, with others of the same class
of stature and habit. Any bare spaces are filled with Wallflowers and
Honesty in colours that accord with the general arrangement. The narrow
border has mostly small shrubs, Berberis and so on, forming one mass
with the hedge to the left, which consists of a double dry wall about
four feet high, with earth between and a thick growth on the top of
Berberis, _Rosa lucida_ and Scotch Briers. Except the Berberis these
make no show of flower within the blooming time of the spring garden,
but the whole is excellent as a background.
Red primroses are in the narrow border next to the cross-wall; the wall
here is much lower than the longer one on the right. The Primroses
are grouped with the reddish leaved _Heuchera Richardsoni_, the
two together making a rich colour-harmony. Beyond them are scarlet
Tulips. The small shaded rounds in this border and its continuation
across the path into the near end of the main border are stout
larch posts supporting a strong growth of Rose Mme. Alfred Carrière
and _Clematis montana_. These have grown together into a solid
continuously-intermingling mass, the path at C passing under a low arch
of their united branches. The high wall on the right is also covered
with flowering things of the early year, Morella Cherries, _Rubus
deliciosus_ and _Clematis montana_, some of this foaming over from the
other side of the wall.
The wall is a part, about a third of the length, of the high wall that
protects the large border of summer and autumn flowers from the north,
and that forms the dividing-line between the pleasure garden proper and
the working garden beyond.
On the plan are letters with arrows referring to the illustrations.
The letter is at the spot where the camera stood; the arrow points to
the middle of the picture. Thus the one taken from D shows two-thirds
of the longest path with the end of the big wall and the Yew hedge
that prolongs its line on the right and the Nut-trees on the left. The
colouring on the right is of pale purple Aubrietia and double white
Arabis, with pale Daffodils, and, at the back, groups of sulphur Crown
Imperial.
The more distant colouring is of brown Wallflower and red Tulip and
the bright mahogany-coloured Crown Imperial. The picture from E is
done from among the reds and strong yellows and looks to point C, and
further, through the arch of Rose and Clematis, to the Peony garden
beyond. The other illustrations show groups of colouring more in
detail. The one from F looks at Near Rock from one side. Over the grey
Stachys and its milk-white Tulips is seen the flowery mass of pale and
deep lilac, and pinkish lilac with grey foliage, crowned with pink and
white Tulips near the foot of the Nuts. The picture from G looks at
the bit of bank called Further Rock with its big piece of sandstone
that looks as if it came naturally out of the ground. Here is a mass
of dead-white Iberis with Tulips of a softer white, then the lilac
white of _Phlox stellaria_ and the bluish lilac of _Phlox divaricata_.
The picture from H was done a few days later. It shows the further mass
of _Phlox divaricata_ more fully in bloom, and, among the white Tulips
above, a pretty pale lilac-blue hybrid Iris and some taller stems of
the common Blue Flag Iris just coming into blossom. This picture shows
the value of the dark Yew hedge as a background to the flowers. Just
at the back of the flowery bank are Hollies, and then the hedge. This
has not yet come to its full height and the top still shows a ragged
outline, but in two years' time it will have grown into shape.
[Illustration: _"NEAR ROCK" FROM_ =F= _ON PLAN: AUBRIETIAS, PHLOX AMŒNA
AND WHITE AND PINK TULIP._]
[Illustration: _THE PRIMROSE GARDEN._]
The Primrose garden is in a separate place among Oaks and Hazels. It
is for my special strain of large yellow and white bunch Primroses,
now arrived at a state of fine quality and development by a system of
careful seed-selection that has been carried on for more than thirty
years.