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,
“GLOIRE DE DIJON,” PENSHURST
FROM THE PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF