14 Subtropical Gardening. 



Cannas, numbering 500, in one long formal bed — 

 next you arrive at a circle of Aralias, or an oval 

 of Ficus, in which a couple of hundred plants are 

 so densely packed that their tops form a dead 

 level. Isolated from everything else as a rule 

 these masses fail to throw any natural grace into 

 the garden, but, on the other hand, go a long way 

 towards spoiling the character of the subjects of 

 which they are composed. For it is manifest that 

 you get a far superior effect from a group of such 

 a plant as the Gunnera, the Polymnia, or the 

 Castor-oil plant, properly associated with other 

 subjects of entirely diverse character, than you 

 can when the lines or masses of such as these 

 become so large and so estranged from their sur- 

 roundings that there is no relieving point within 

 reach of the eye. A single specimen or small 

 group of a fine Canna forms one of the most 

 graceful objects the eye can see. Plant, a rood of 

 it, and it soon becomes as attractive as so much 

 maize or wheat. No doubt an occasional mass of 

 Cannas, etc., might prove effective — in a distant 

 prospect especially — but the thing is repeated ad 

 nauseam. 



The fact is, we do not want purely " Subtropical 

 gardens," or " Leaf gardens," or " Colour gardens," 



