Half the charm of the old-fashioned garden lies in that
look of happy rest among the plants, each of which seems
to say : " All plant life is sacred when admitted, my own
repose has never been disturbed, and I am confident it
never will be." You feel this to be a sort of heaven
of plant life, preserved by some hidden charm from the
intrusion of noxious weeds. The modern garden, on the
contrary, is too apt to assume a look of stir and change ;
here to-day, gone to-morrow. The very tidiness of the
beds and the neat propriety of the plants contribute to
this impression. We feel the omnipresence of a severity
which cannot tolerate straggling. None have been ad-
mitted but polished gentlemen, who will never break the
rules ; and we feel that the most cherished offender would
be instantly punished.
' I have been referring here to the herbaceous plants
NOVEMBER 237
and evergreens of the ordinary beds — Thujas, Junipers,
Khododendrons, &c. — rather than to the larger trees and
shrubs. To run down the glorious Rhododendrons in
themselves would be preposterous ; but they always have,
however large they may grow, an air of gentlemanly
restraint — a drawing-room manner, as it were — which must
produce the effect we have described wherever they are
very numerous. But the old garden impresses us always
by that loving tenderness for the plants. "That wall-
flower ought not to have come up in the Box edging — but
never mind, we must manage to get on without hurting
the wallflower ; " and it is this spirit of compromise — this
happy, genial, kindly character, as contrasted with the
sterner and less loving spirit, which you feel is ready to
descend upon any transgressor in a moment, that makes
the difference of which we speak.'
Mr. Watson is very severe in his condemnation of
double flowers, and in a way which, I think, indicates the
same nature that could not admire Rubens or the Venetian
painters. Surely many people with a sensuous tempera-
ment are no more to be blamed therefor than are people
who blush to be reprimanded by those who do not. In
their power of giving pleasure the strong-scented double
garden flowers are superior to the beautiful single ones,
and the Neapolitan Violet, the warm, exquisitely scented
Tuberose, the tender but full-odoured garden Rose, and
the Carnation, give great delight in a harmless way to
people of certain temperaments. Why should this be con-
demned, when that which pleases the eye in the beautiful
forms of the single flower is praised ? Mr. Watson says,
' Above all, scorn nothing ' ; yet he himself utterly condemns
the cultivator who prefers the double sweet-scented flowers.
It is the old story ; as Samuel Butler puts it, the damning
of the sins we are not inclined to. We all do it more or less.
To me some few flowers seem vulgar, partly from associa-
238 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN
Page 140
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
Half the charm of the old-fashioned garden lies in that
look of happy rest among the plants, each of which seems
to say : " All plant life is sacred when admitted, my own
repose has never been disturbed, and I am confident it
never will be." You feel this to be a sort of heaven
of plant life, preserved by some hidden charm from the
intrusion of noxious weeds. The modern garden, on the
contrary, is too apt to assume a look of stir and change ;
here to-day, gone to-morrow. The very tidiness of the
beds and the neat propriety of the plants contribute to
this impression. We feel the omnipresence of a severity
which cannot tolerate straggling. None have been ad-
mitted but polished gentlemen, who will never break the
rules ; and we feel that the most cherished offender would
be instantly punished.
' I have been referring here to the herbaceous plants
NOVEMBER 237
and evergreens of the ordinary beds — Thujas, Junipers,
Khododendrons, &c. — rather than to the larger trees and
shrubs. To run down the glorious Rhododendrons in
themselves would be preposterous ; but they always have,
however large they may grow, an air of gentlemanly
restraint — a drawing-room manner, as it were — which must
produce the effect we have described wherever they are
very numerous. But the old garden impresses us always
by that loving tenderness for the plants. "That wall-
flower ought not to have come up in the Box edging — but
never mind, we must manage to get on without hurting
the wallflower ; " and it is this spirit of compromise — this
happy, genial, kindly character, as contrasted with the
sterner and less loving spirit, which you feel is ready to
descend upon any transgressor in a moment, that makes
the difference of which we speak.'
Mr. Watson is very severe in his condemnation of
double flowers, and in a way which, I think, indicates the
same nature that could not admire Rubens or the Venetian
painters. Surely many people with a sensuous tempera-
ment are no more to be blamed therefor than are people
who blush to be reprimanded by those who do not. In
their power of giving pleasure the strong-scented double
garden flowers are superior to the beautiful single ones,
and the Neapolitan Violet, the warm, exquisitely scented
Tuberose, the tender but full-odoured garden Rose, and
the Carnation, give great delight in a harmless way to
people of certain temperaments. Why should this be con-
demned, when that which pleases the eye in the beautiful
forms of the single flower is praised ? Mr. Watson says,
' Above all, scorn nothing ' ; yet he himself utterly condemns
the cultivator who prefers the double sweet-scented flowers.
It is the old story ; as Samuel Butler puts it, the damning
of the sins we are not inclined to. We all do it more or less.
To me some few flowers seem vulgar, partly from associa-
238 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN