THE 



ARBEN 6U!®E= 



. . ^*jjj: 



September, 1860. 





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(P^SEc^T OLOim IN GAEDEN SCENERY is less studied in the 

 ^S^V^yfy 7'vv. strictly horticultural sense than as a matter of art. There 

 ^ may be many horticultural objections to the unreserved 

 adoption of the principles laid down by Chevreul, and 

 some positive objections arising out of strictly artistic con- 

 siderations ; nevertheless, we may, if unprejudiced, find 

 those principles confirmed in the main in the examples set 

 before us everywhere in public and private gardens. The 

 remarkable character of the present season, too, affords a 

 peculiar opportunity for a consideration of the laws of colour ; 

 and while the plants remain on the ground, we may take 

 note of their several capabilities for effecting certain com- 

 binations predetermined in the mind, as those which will 

 give pleasure to aa ej-e educated in harmonies of colour and contrast. 

 Taking the system of bedding at Sydenham this season as one of the best 

 examples anywhere set before the public, and giving Mr. Gordon praise 

 for the accomplishment of more agreeable effects than have ever been 

 attained in those gardens by his predecessors, all who view the planting 

 with artistic eyes must see defects that cannot fail to be instructive. 

 Looking down from the upper terrace on the beds round the fountain 

 basins, the predominance of yellow in the chain patterns is anything but 

 agreeable, because the yellow shows itself, en masse, not as a relief to its 

 complementary,' but as an incongruous element in company with a great 

 breadth of the green turf. Yellow and green are admitted to be out of 

 harmony with each other, unless the mingling of the two closely related 

 colours in the eye is prevented by the addition of a suitable colour in 

 sufficient proportion to enhance the distinctness of both. In this garden 

 calceolarias rarely succeed, though they have always been largely planted. 

 In 1857, it was with difficulty they were kept alive, and the frequent 

 patching of the beds with plants from the reserve was visible all through 

 the season. The excessive moisture of 1860 has done for calceolarias 

 there as it has in all private gardens, given them a vigour of growth and 



VOL. III. — NO. IX. K 



