Far as the Lotus [ie Buddhism] travelled in Asia, its journeys were not completed there, for within recent years its spirit entered English gardens with the advent of the Japanese iris. Fresh points of view and a change of technique give an impetus to every art; details may with advantage be transplanted and transformed; but regardless of climate, to try and transplant bodily a whole national style, whether it be from Japan to England, or from England back to India, is an obvious mistake. Yet so-called Japanese gardens are planted in England without the spirit of their Buddhist symbolism, or the need of their wooden earthquake-proof houses; open mid-Victorian parks and gardens are planned in India without the possibilities of the flowers in the long grass and the fine green English turf; when all the time, climate and nationality are the very pith and soul of garden craft, just as character is the core of individual personal charm.
