38 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



parallel and geometrical in outline. They are in any 

 case purely formal, geometrical, arcliitectural ; and they 

 fit easily into an architectural composition and measur- 

 ably enhance its effect. 



Fountains are always appropriate to the style of 

 gardening here under consideration. Bat limited 

 stretches of still water, bound in by stone steps, walls or 

 edgings, also serve to beautify the scene while still fur- 

 ther hightening the effect which Ave are now seeking. 

 It may perhaps be permissible to refer again to the Court 

 of Honor at the World's Fair in illustration of the won- 

 derful effectiveness of water surfaces amid architectural 

 surroundings. The free use of water pieces in gar- 

 dens was a chief tenent of the Moorish, Persian and 

 Indian gardeners, and may be said to be the principal 

 attraction of so much of their work as remains to the 

 present day. 



Flower beds Avere notable features of the old Italian 

 villas. The typical disposition of them was Avithin an 

 enclosure walled by sheared trees, as already described. 

 Within these environs a large number of small flower 

 beds Avere laid off in geometrical shapes, edged Avith low 

 clipped borders of grass or shrubs, and separated by 

 gi-ayeled walks. Both hardy perennial plants and flow- 

 ering annuals were used in these little plots. Outside 

 these gardens, in any suitable jiosition, flowering or foli- 

 age plants may be found in pots or boxes. These recep- 

 tacles may be at the successive posts of a horizontal bal- 

 ustrade ; they may surmount the newel posts at the foot 

 of some stairs, or they may flank a path-side garden seat. 

 The lawn vases, such as one sees quite too often on nat- 

 uralistically treated lawns, may be used in this style 

 with greater freedom. 



Patteni bedding should 1)0 mentioned here because 

 it does not belong to the architectural ideal, though 

 some people may suppose that it does. Indeed, the pat- 



