REVIEWS AND EXTRACTS. 161 



.kind is sometimes grafted on single stems of the Laburnum, from four ^o six 

 !'.•« t high, and by forming pendulajjt, heads of drooping branches has a very 

 slmwv and pleasing etl'ect. Most of the other species of Cytisuses an' treated 

 iu the same way, and when interspersed amongst standard roses, produce a 

 picturesque and striking appearance, Cytisus, is derived frohi Ci/thmus, an 

 island now called Thermia ; where, according toPuNV, the plant was indi- 

 genous. 



Strictures on disposing Plants in Masses. 



Tlh' svsioin of disposing plants in masses, so frequently and ably advo- 

 cated In this Magazine, is becoming very general, and certainly produces a 

 much better effect than the tedious monotony of an indiscriminate mixture. 

 In the practice, however, Of this superior method, it should be remembered 

 Uiut the groups and masses ought to be considered as parts of a whole, and 

 a* such, should harmonise' and unite with each other, with regard to form 

 ami colour. Without attention to this point, the several disunited and in- 

 dependent part) "ill no more form a gardeuesque landscape, than the colours 

 arranged on the painter's palette will of themselves form a picture. I have 

 known more than one small garden spoiled by a disregard of proportion, the 

 nl.s and flowers Wing disposed in groups of far too large a size. In such 

 .million, a single plant, or a group of two or three, must be considered to 

 t>Mir the same proportion to the whole, as much larger masses or groups bear 

 in the cased' a park. Although I approve, as I have said above, of the 

 principle of placing different species in groups and masses, I think that thtira 

 are rutin in which, like all other principles, it may be carried too far. Iu a 

 siiiall lion ci garden which I very much admire, I have seen a group, coni- 

 toatd of myrtles and China roses, planted alternately in quincunx order, 

 tin- larger plants being in the centre ; and, in my opinion, a better effect, was 

 produced than if the two species bad been in separate masses : the rich green 

 colour of the myrtles' leaves, forming a ground to the beautiful white of the 

 llower; the light and elegant foliage and pendant bloom of the rose j the 

 miuv'h'd eulour, arid the associations connected with both, made an impression 

 upon me which I shall not easily forget. In the same garden there is a 

 group consisting of an acacia, the broader and more shadowy plumes of the 

 ■umach, and the pendulous clusters of /lowers of the laburnum, composing 

 ■ little picture of the most highly finished character. 



Gardeners might find much instruction lYon an examination of cottage 

 gardens, in many of which I have seen a degree of good taste that is not 

 alwavs found where there is more reason to expect it. Ill such gardens, it 

 oiieii happens that very striking effects are produced by a judicious disposition 

 of plants of thi- most common description; and I think it would be a very 

 useful study to endeavour to imitate them with plants of more rare and choice 

 specks*. I was OHM much struck by a particular effect (not, however, of 

 ■ubV ient general interest for a place in your Magazine,) produced by a plant 

 of the common bop; and it was not until after many trials that I could find a 

 hubstitiilc for it among more choice plants: at length, however, I succeeded 

 to my own satisfaction by means of one of the genus Clematis; the species 

 1 <1» not mill certainty know. 



I o -mail gardens, nothing can be more unpleasing than a want of neatness 



awl high finish ; it reminds me of a flowaj painter of the hist century, who 



■ i (he most dingy and sombre colours that he could find, saying that he 



imitated lUiphuel, and painted (or posterity. In the case of a small garden, 



It should ho remembered that, whatever may be the beauty of the design, 



slant ttilcuioiu, and the frequent removal of plants, are indispensable ! 



- of neglect H'odld lease nothing, either to posterity or the 



denigiier liiiiis. If, but a tangled and matted thicket of such plants as might 



esuiie oil . onqie i..i> iu th- snuggle for life incident to vunt of butlicient 



space*— Gardner's Mayazinc. 



■ -'Hi 



Vol. II. y 



