The bulk of the plants in the garden are what are called hardy perennial plants that are at home in the English climate, and of these the collection is very rich. They have been contributed by Mr. Ware, of Tettenham, near London, who possesses the most extensive nursery of hardy plants in the world. The aim has been not to make a full collection of hardy American plants, as the temporary nature of the Exhibition Gardens forbade it, but a representative garden of native plants from the mountains, plains, prairies, swamps, and woods of North America, and Mr. Goldring has endeavoured to create a perennial glow of colour throughout the whole period of the Exhibition, and he has also grouped the plants so as to produce either a pleasing harmony of colour or a decided contrast. For instance, in one part is a large mass of yellow-flowered plants of the sunflower tribe, intermingled with the glowing scarlets of the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma), and the Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), of the south-western States. In another part is a mass of the gorgeous Tiger flower of Mexico (Tigridia pavonia), whose large, showy flowers, though they last but a day, are succeeded by others which maintain a display of bloom for weeks during the height of summer. The little rockery near the band stand is planted with swamp-loving plants, such as the Mocasson flower of the swamps of the Eastern States, the Trilliums from the shady pine woods, the cowslip of Virginia (Mertensia Virginiaca), and the American cowslip (Dodecatheon), which by the way is one of the earliest flowering American plants. The opposite rockery teems with a variety of mountain plants, phloxes, poppies, gentians, and others. Near these is a mass of the Camassa esculenta, the Quamash of the North American Indians, by whom its bulbous roots are used as an article of food. The edible qualities of the quamash are not appreciated in this country, though the plant happens to be among the showiest border flowers. Many other prairie flowers may be found about the grounds, but those who have seen them in their native habitats will hardly recognize them in the improved state to which they have been brought by cultivation.
