which the gardener reaches his plants. The arrange- 

 ment of vines on the high stucco wall is an exceed- 

 ingly good one the lower part of it covered with 

 climbing-roses, which are fastened to it with slender 

 bamboo sticks attached to the wall, and the upper part 

 for grape-vines, which, having grown up to a point 

 above the roses, are made to grow laterally in lines 

 one above the other, forming a sort of frieze. The 

 grove of Castello is reached by two stairways, one at 

 either end of the terrace. It is quite unpretentious in 

 character, its one embellishment being a fountain, now 

 very much overgrown with moss. 



Quite near Castello is the Villa Petrasa, another 

 seat of the Medici. Here the flower-garden is in 

 front of the house, being semicircular, with a high 

 hedge at the north, and a terrace forming its southern 

 limit. The abrupt nature of the hill-side is, however, 

 ill adapted to form a flower-garden, and it has long 

 since been filled with trees and shrubs, so that at 

 present it is more interesting from the point of view 

 of horticulture than that of design. 



There are many interesting small gardens surround- 

 ing Florence, most of them being occupied by their 

 owners, and are somewhat difficult of access to a 

 stranger. If, however, he is fortunate enough to gain 



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