DISPOSITION OF FLOWERS IN PARKS 



with some relation to the laws of the Universe, and not like the comet 

 " in the infinite meadows of heaven! " 



Undoubtedly the loveliest way to use flowers, at least the old- 

 fashioned hardy perennials, is in riotous profusion along the edge of 

 shrubbery borders, enlivening the depth of the shadows and accenting 

 the points of high light. The Maria Josepha Park in Vienna is unex- 

 celled in planting composition of this sort ; and the grace and natural- 

 ness with which hollyhocks and phlox and tall-growing lilies seem 

 merely to happen to be in just the right spot in the foliage compositions 

 suggest the technique and finesse of the painter more than the hand 

 of the gardener. 



The English gardeners, while excelling in composition of perennial 

 borders and while adept in combinations of hedges and flower gardens, 

 do not seem to have realised yet the possibilities of shrub and perennial 

 flower composition. For that matter, they apparently have little 

 estimation for shrubs at all, " brush," as one Englishman called it. 

 A park from the English viewpoint has but one interpretation: that 

 of trees and open lawn arranged in what is known as the pastoral 

 style, shrubs and flowers belong to the garden. When there are 

 flower displays in English parks, as along the main drive in Hyde 

 Park and the various walks of St. James Park, they appear heedless 

 of design in their arrangement and without relation to their surround- 

 ings, presenting merely a vividness and brilliancy of colour. 



In the parks of Naples, shrubbery plantations are customarily 

 given a formal edging of annual flowers, kept in one variety and very 

 uniform and trim, which gives the planting a somewhat smart effect, 

 but at the same time a high-collared, manicured look. In like respect, 

 the pansies and English daisies edging the rhododendron beds in 

 Central Park, which are decorous blossoms in themselves, give a dandi- 

 fied appearance to the otherwise naturalistic and beautiful mass effects 

 there. 



282 



