October 23, 1873. 1 



JOUBNAti OF HOBTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



305 



I From ob-servations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 55.7^; and its night temperatare 



37.8'. The greatest heat was 67', on the 23th aud 29th, 1833, and 26th, 1853 ; and the lowest cold 17^, on the 23rd, 1859. The greatest fall of rain was 

 1.03 inch. 



FRENCH GARDENING. 



' OR some time I have been mtending to send 

 you a few notes on the subject of French 

 gai-tleuing, arising from my recent trip to 

 Paris, but I have been so much occupied since 

 my return home that I have not been able 

 to find time. I now, however, venture to 

 . forward these few notes, and hope your 

 readers will pardon their Iseing very hastily 

 -^ put together. 



In the first place, I must remark that I 

 had heard and read so much lately of the good taste of 

 the French in gardening, and of the bad taste of the 

 English, that I had my expectations much raised, and 

 expected to learn a good deal from the French parks and 

 gardens. I certainly did learn much, but it was chiefly 

 what to avoid, and not what to imitate. I am aware 

 that, when I was in Paris in the second week in Septem- 

 ber, the gardens were somewhat past their best, but when 

 I returned to England, English gardens were still so 

 good that it was not difficult to make allowances ; and, 

 though I should have seen them to better advantage in 

 August, still there was no difficulty in judging what they 

 had been. 



I do not wish to enter into lengthened details, but will 

 premise that the parks and gardens I especially took 

 notice of were the Pare Monceaux, Jardin des TuUeries, 

 Luxembourg, Versailles, and the beds, &c., along the 

 Avenue de I'lmpi'ratrice, &c. The best taste was dis- 

 played in the Pare Monceaux, which, for a small park, is 

 tastefully laid out with good variety, but the whole much 

 marred by some very bad planting. For instance, one 

 large bed, from 70 to 80 feet long, was enlu-ely filled 

 in the centre with Acer Negundo variegatum edged with 

 a purplish Phlox, and in front of that a hue of scarlet 

 Geranium, either Stella or Tom Thumb, I forget which. 

 There was also another large bed of Acer Negundo varie- 

 gatum quite unrelieved by other evergi-eens or foliage. 

 Now, if these beds had happened to have been white- 

 leaved Geraniums, as Ahna or Bijou, everyone would 

 have said it was bad taste to have had such a mass of 

 white fohage, but because it was a hardy deciduous tree, 

 of course, in the opinion of many, it was quite correct. 

 This is not the first time, however, I have seen the Acer 

 much overdone ; it is pretty in small plants, and fine for 

 isolated and individual specimens, but when planted ot 

 masse it becomes hea^'y and lumpy ; besides, it is so free 

 and quick a grower that it very easily overpowers other 

 things. Then, again, in another bed were plants of Be- 

 gonia Rex on a groundwork of white Alyssum, not the 

 white-leaved Koniga maritima, which might have been 

 effective, but the white-flowered Sweet Alyssum, which 

 looked very poor and insignificant when overpowered 

 with the Begonia, .\nother bed was much more effective 

 — a centre of Begonia nitens I think it was, but as none 

 of the beds was labelled either here or anywhere else 

 where I went, which is a great oversight in public gar- 

 dens, I cannot be quite sure. This Begonia was mixed 



No. «S«.-VoL. XXV., NEir Seriks. 



with Coleus Queen Victoria, edged with Coleus Verschaf- 

 felti, and the whole margined with blue Lobelia. The 

 contrast of the two Coleuses was good, and the green leaves 

 of the Begonia with pink flowers and crimson buds stood 

 out well from the Coleus Queen Victoria. This on the 

 whole was the most effective bed I noted. Another bed of 

 Coleus, planted in divisions and edged with Alternanthera, 

 was very badly arranged, some of the Coleuses being 

 much too tall for the others, and the contrasts of colour- 

 ing were anything but effective, Coleus Beauty of Wid- 

 more making hai'dly any growth, having to balance a 

 strong-gi-owing variety of the Hendersoni type. Some 

 of the double scarlet Hibiscus and also the large single 

 Hibiscus looked well, as also did some single specimens 

 of Musa Ensete. 



In the Pare Monceaux were almost the only attempts 

 I saw at producing effects either by harmony or contrast 

 of colom-s, planting geometrically ; nearly everywhere the 

 mixed system of planting was adopted, except with regard 

 to fohage plants, such as Cannas, Caladium esculentuin, 

 Wigandia caracasana, &c. These were generally massed 

 together in large beds, and though often effective in the 

 distance, yet wanting relief when seen nearer. Such 

 plants as Cannas and Wigandias, Bicinus, &c., are much 

 handsomer when planted more as individual specimens, 

 so as to show their form, than massed together in round 

 or oval beds. I noticed this especially in the Avenue de 

 rimperatice, where large beds of the kinds I have named 

 were planted unreUeved by any flowers at all, except in 

 one instance, where there was a background of Tamarix 

 galhca with beautifully feathering pink racemes of flowers, 

 and also in the Luxembourg gardens, where the only 

 self beds I noticed were made of large ornamental-foUaged 

 plants ; while almost every bed in the principal gardens 

 was planted with mixed plants, slu'ubs, herbaceous and 

 perennial plants. Dahlias, &c., in the centre, and the sides 

 chiefly with diflferent kinds of Geraniums, interspersed 

 with Ageratums, Calceolarias, Asters, Pyrethrums, &c. 

 The greatest part of the flowers were what we usually 

 call in England bedding-out flowers, but the effect was 

 monotonous in the extreme, because there was an endless 

 repetition of the same sort of mixtures in long lines 

 of beds. 



AVliat I here noticed of the Luxembourg gardens is 

 equally true of the Versailles and Tuilerics gardens. 

 Those who like mixed borders might have a surfeit of it 

 here, and I think would have their propensities cured. I 

 know many wUl regard me as prejudiced ; they think that 

 it is a weakness of mine always to stand up for bedded-out 

 gardens arranged geometrically, &c. Now, I am far from 

 admiring the taste so commonly displayed by many of 

 repeating the same plants and same colours ad infinitmn. 

 And I think there is a place both for perennial gardens, 

 mixed borders, alpine rockeries, roseries, geometrical 

 gardens, &c. In fact, if anyone with space and appliances 

 to boot should throw all liis energy into any one thing 

 only in gardening, whether it be in summer bedding-out, 

 or perennial borders, or spring flowers, or whatever it 

 may be, he by so doing will deprive hunself of many 



No. 1308.— Vol. L., Old Seeies. 



