Introduction^ etc. 15 



but such gardens as, by happy combinations of the 

 materials at our disposal, shall go far to satisfy 

 those in whom true taste has been awakened 

 and, indeed, all classes. For it is quite a mistake 

 to assume that because people, ignorant of the 

 inexhaustible stores of the vegetable kingdom, 

 admire the showy glares of colour now so often 

 seen in our gardens, they are incapable of enjoying 

 scenes displaying some traces of natural beauty 

 and variety. 



The fine-leaved plants have not yet been asso- 

 ciated immediately with the flowers ; hence the 

 chief fault. Till they are so treated we can hardly 

 see the great use of such in ornamental gardening. 

 Why not take some of the handsomest plants of 

 the medium-sized kinds, place them in the centre 

 of a bed, and then surround them with the gaily- 

 flowering subjects ? The Castor-oil plants would 

 not do so well for this, because they are rampant 

 growers in fair seasons, but the Yuccas, Cannas, 

 Wigandias, and small neat Palms and Cycads would 

 suit exactly. Avoid huge, unmeaning masses, and 

 associate more intimately the fine-leaved plants 

 with the brilliant flowers. A quiet mass of green 

 might be desirable in some positions, but even that 

 could be varied most effectively as regards form. 



